2019 UIA-CBC International Colleges and Universities Competitive Construction

Competition Introduction: The International University Construction Competition, which began in 2016 and has been held for three sessions, provides an "action-oriented" architectural practice platform. It encourages students to step out of the classroom, face real environments and problems, and complete the translation from design to construction. Through practical construction, students gain a deeper understanding of the spirit of the place, perceive architectural space, and guide future design and practice.

The 2019 UIA-CBC International University Construction Competition, for the first time, entered the town of Aiyuan in Siyang County, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. The competition took place in a hundred-year-old pear orchard, with the theme "Pear Orchard Huts," aiming to create a beautiful life in the pear orchard. The collaborative teams from universities will design 15 forest huts as focal points, connecting the pear orchard design map and exploring various ways to "design activate the countryside," promoting the revival of the "hundred-year-old pear orchard."

Competition Title: Pear Orchard Huts; 2019 UIA-CBC International University Construction Competition is based in the pear orchard village of Aiyuan Town in Siyang, a typical border trade town. The region is famous for its "Siguoyuan Baosu Pears," and the "Seven Gentlemen Pear Trees" in the orchard have aged over a hundred years, making it a "hundred-year-old pear orchard." However, during the process of rural development, the village faces issues of relatively basic and single industries, and the orchard hinterland requires activation.

The competition, with the theme "Pear Orchard Huts," relies on the hundred-year-old pear orchard, extending the entire orchard area as the design and construction base. Fifteen joint teams from well-known domestic and international architectural schools are selected to collectively explore methods to "design activate the countryside." Each team will design and construct forest huts in the limited space, providing more activity solutions for villagers and visitors. The design takes the "pear" element as a starting point, imagining future activity scenes from concept to construction, creating rural space experiences related to the "pear."

As a crucial part of rural revitalization, the construction competition aims to explore a rural public building form suitable for natural villages. It attempts to use 15 "Pear Orchard Huts" as focal points, connecting a map-like flow line of the hundred-year-old pear orchard. The competition experiences the joy of exploring the pear orchard, deeply activates the hinterland of the village, integrates the power of design into the basic production methods of the village, drives changes and improvements in rural lifestyles, and provides a paradigm for rural construction.

Siyang County, often referred to as the "Plain Forest Sea," is located in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. It is not only known as the "Land of Poplar Trees" but also hides a hundred-year-old pear orchard. Siyang is situated in the northern plain of Jiangsu, at the intersection of the Huaihai Economic Zone, the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, and the axis of towns along the canal. As the capital of the ancient Han dynasty state of Sishui, the area is rich in natural resources, with five major water systems converging here, making it famous for the "Siguoyuan Baosu Pears."

The orchard village in Aiyuan Town belongs to Siyang County, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. The town oversees six communities, featuring a mild climate and possessing unique natural and historical advantages. In the town, there is a hundred-year-old pear orchard, planted since the 38th year of Qianlong (1773). More than two hundred years later, the "Seven Gentlemen Pear Trees" still flourish, serving as a historical witness to continuity.