Author(s)/Creator(s)

Ximeng Luo
Shihui Zhu

Document Type

Thesis, Senior

Degree

B. ARCH

Date

5-2022

Keywords

Northeastern China, Heilongjiang, border between China and Russia, government infrastructure, man-made landscape, authority, questioning borders

Language

English

Disciplines

Architectural History and Criticism | Architecture | Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis | Landscape Architecture

Description/Abstract

The scene is set along Heilongjiang. The river feeds populations in the Russian Far East and Northeastern China, while simultaneously delineating the long and winding national border between contemporary Russia and China. The Chinese Northeast has been flattened and re-established as a cultural icon, yet when we peel off the pictures from streaming media, what kind of marks does the northeast- once called "the eldest son of the Republic" for its rapid industrial development in the last century- leave on the land? Infrastructure - such as collective farms in fields, tree farms in forests, road and electric towers- becomes a device for the government to exercise control from a distance, and between the network formed by these structures lie scattered villages and towns among untamed wilderness. The project traces over the river downstream, investigating specific man-made landscapes in the forms of nomad camps, temporary settlements, villages, towns, and cities in this borderland far from the state's central power - looking into the natural landscape and environment, the presence of the authority, and the resulting forms of living.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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