A CULTURAL PATH BETWEEN NATURE AND LANDSCAPE SHAPED BY MAN
Jinyun Quarries, Zhejiang Province, China
XU TIANTIAN/DnA_Design and Architecture
The natural landscape in the northern area of Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province, has been shaped for years by the action of local people, working in a big number of stone quarries. The quarries, over three thousand, are now all in disuse. The extraordinary landscape of the region, shaped by the work the inhabitants and punctuated by the presence of bizarre-shaped volcanic rock formations, is today the scene of an interesting conversion project. To try to counter the exodus from rural regions and offer alternative income possibilities to the population, in 2021 the local administration commissioned DnA_Design and Architecture to recover and transform nine of the abandoned quarries. In this context, architect Xu Tiantian has created a pilot project through small-scale interventions, which convert the quarries into social and cultural places. Of the nine quarries involved, three were completed in spring 2022, while the other stations of this cultural route between nature and landscape shaped by man are still under construction.
