The document discusses the Ningbo Museum in Ningbo, China. It aims to accentuate local cultural values through sustainable building materials and spatial planning strategies. The museum employs traditional local construction methods like using salvaged bricks and tiles in its Wapan wall construction. This honors traditional materials and vernacular methods while making the structure sustainable through recycled materials. The museum was also built by local artisans as a way to preserve construction methods and comment on erasure of the past in modern Chinese cities. It combines tradition with modernity to allow urban vernacular culture to evolve innovatively while maintaining traditions.

1. LIM JERN JACK 0317139 TUTOR: SHAHRIANNE MOHD SHAH
ASIAN ARCHITECTURE [ARC60403/ARC2234] ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Abstract
Ningbo, a seaside city with its proximity to Shanghai, acts as a major port on the Silk
Road since Tang Dynasty, has been undergoing redevelopment projects to adhere
to the idea of modernity. The architectural intention of erecting Ningbo Museum is
to accentuate the importance of cultural values based on its local context where it
has been compromising under the rapid development in China.
Objectives of this study are to investigate and comprehend the cultural conservation
in Ningbo city through the usage of sustainable building materials in Ningbo
Museum as well as the spatial planning strategies to achieve green architecture. The
methodology is to review data from the Internet and thesis written by Wang Shu
who proposed his ways of architecture.
The analysis on local cultural heritage is conducted and translated into
comprehensive information to facilitate Ningbo Museum which owns a few of the
significant features as a cultural conservation and landmark. In order to substantiate
the conservation elements, this paper will emphasise on the salvaged materials and
vernacular construction method that applied on the building by the local workers.
The building envelope of Ningbo Museum employs the local traditional Wapan
tiling. It is a construction practice that proceeded as a method of building walls
rapidly using salvaged materials in a region, which is subject to frequent typhoons.
The old bricks and tiles used on the Wapan wall were collected entirely from the
ruins of villages that once occupied the site. Moreover, cavity walls are created as an
excavation to help it stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter. This not only
reflects the aspiration to reinstate traditional materials in their architecture, but also
has an additional benefit of making the structure inherently sustainable for its use of
recycled materials.
The museum built by local artisans and craftsmen is a way of honouring and
preserving vernacular construction methods. In the meanwhile, it became a
commentary on the Chinese cities’ erasure of the past in the name of progress.
Nonetheless, by combining the tradition with modern industry, it enables the urban
vernacular to grow and yet, still keep the area's traditions in innovative ways.