Architectural Heritage Preservation for Rural Revitalization: Typical Case of Traditional Village Retrofitting in China

Abstract

With the massive urbanization and industrialization in China, the paradox between fast modernization and cultural preservation arouses challenges on new insight into green construction and sustainable development strategies throughout the nation. Particularly, how to strike a balanced cultural–modern rural revitalization has become a research priority, especially for cultural and historical villages in relatively under developed western regions. In this paper, taking Gaotunzi Village, a traditional ethnic village in western high-altitude plateau as an illustrative example, the typical green design manner and optimization strategy are proposed for cultural and architectural heritage preservation. The detailed architecture and structure design is conducted for both old temple retrofitting and new museum construction, with consideration for retaining traditional building colors, styles, and materials. Moreover, land use planning is demonstrated for local public space and services upgrading. The overall design strategy has been taken into practice for the local renovation construction program. The preliminary results indicate that this green retrofitting idea and approach are quite locally feasible for sustainable rural revitalization with local heritage conservation, including traditional wooden buildings, Buddhism belief, Tibetan icons, and ethnic symbolic culture preservation and promotion. This work can provide a typical design reference and application prototype for rural construction and modernization with local heritage preservation considerations, especially for those traditional villages in developing countries.

Structural Analysis in the Sympathetic Restoration and Conservation of the Gopinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal

“…The interplay between cultural heritage, including historic buildings, monuments, and cultural landscapes, and sustainability, embodies a profound overlap of social, economic, and environmental dimensions [4][5][6][7][8]. This interconnection offers a rich context for examining the potential contribution of cultural heritage conservation to sustainability and resilience in the face of global challenges such as climate change, urbanization, and socio-economic disparities [9][10][11]. Sympathetic restoration and conservation studies have the potential of elucidating the significance of conserving built cultural heritage in the context of sustainable development, underscoring the potential of these historical assets in achieving key sustainability goals, and fostering resilience within communities.…”

Is China’s Rural Revitalization Good Enough? Evidence from Spatial Agglomeration and Cluster Analysis

“…Provinces with distinct social customs and cultural traditions may integrate these elements into their RR strategies. They may promote cultural tourism, support local handicrafts, and preserve architecture heritages as part of their schemes to promote RR development [8][9][10]. According to Geng et al, it is justifiable to take into account the heterogeneity of provinces [11].…”

Trends and Future Directions in Research on the Protection of Traditional Village Cultural Heritage in Urban Renewal

“…The preservation of traditional village cultural heritage is becoming an increasingly important issue in urban renewal [17][18][19]. Numerous studies have addressed the challenges and opportunities related to safeguarding the cultural heritage of traditional villages worldwide [20,21].…”