The seeds of urban vernacular. Possible evolution and spread of self-built architecture in metropolitan environments

Architecture without Architects is a book published by Bernard Rudofsky in 1964 and it is the first architectural book to categorize Anonymous building as architecture. I went trough this book at the very beginning of my architectural path and since then it has always been a referring guidance that allows me to go back to the roots of architecture whenever I feel lost in the contemporary design’s panorama. Out of this book I learned that China is probably the country whit the most extraordinary presence of vernacular architecture in the world, considering that a great part of the pictures selected by the author to represent vernacular architecture in its absolute terms have been taken in China. When I moved to China I had few chances to get in contact with traditional architecture of the rural areas and I spent most of my time In Shanghai. Although I realized by impact the strong international influences on this city, I’ve also been struck very soon by the feeling of a still very strong linkage with the roots of its civilization that is revealed trough glimpses of vernacular behaviours in between frenzy streets and skyscrapers: a quality that worth to be passed on. Shanghai is totally different from what it used to be and even though it is clear and positive what it gained in the last decades, what has it left behind that would still be fundamental and useful in a future that is threatened by the issues of over-population, sustainability and social alienation? This research aims to give relevance back to vernacular architecture of Shanghai, considered as a great potential for Urban development of one of the most fast growing city in the world. It starts with a research that moves from a general and personal overview on the urban environment of contemporary Shanghai to a semantic study around vernacular and its modern values. A historical digression describes the traditional features and generative dynamics of vernacular architecture in Shanghai up to disclosing contemporary form of it and the categories of people behind it. The research part is followed by an introductory chapter that explains metaphorically the method I proposed to tackle the issue of promoting a new form of urban vernacular, a method that I later try to apply on the particular case of the old informal settlement of block 167 in Youdian Xincun, Shanghai. The final part of the paper presents considerations on the role of the architect facing urban vernacular situations and the preliminary outcomes of the application of the method. It moves from different ways of surveying the case study to proposing an architectural intervention that is featured with potential information and suggestions for a vernacular renaissance that has to be considered a counter-solution to go beyond the limits of the official city. A series of four different scenarios are presented to open up innovative solutions that go trough upgrading process to redeem vernacular Shanghai from neglect.