Adam tells story of home renovation in Jiangsu

2022-10-09 15:26:00

An architect from the US and students from Kazakhstan, Iran and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who major in architecture have formed a research group called Home Story in Jiangsu. In this coastal province, an economic powerhouse featuring a high-level of opening up and cultural diversity, the group studies buildings, their relationship with urban or rural residents, and community development efforts.

Over the past ten years, Jiangsu has been committed to meeting people's aspiration for a better life through various measures, particularly efforts to improve the living environment. The achievement was recognized by both local people and foreigners. With a focus on architecture, the team conducts research on the relationship among family, people and community. They look at changes at the family level and then understand the positive interaction between the space renovation and people’s life and social governance in China's urban and rural areas.

Soniya Falahatdoost from Iran has completed her PhD thesis and is about to receive her degree in urban and rural planning from the School of Architecture, Southeast University. With a dream to stay and work in Nanjing in the future, she sees this field study as a successful conclusion of her student life.

Ntangu Eliezer from the DRC became a PhD student at the School of Architecture last year. He has settled into the local environment quickly as he speaks Chinese fluently. Using a popular Chinese phrase “the knowledge you get from reading is always shallow,” he said he wants to get more information on architecture around Jiangsu during this research trip.

Irina Ossipova from Kazakhstan, who is pursuing her master’s degree at the school, expects to gain new ideas for her thesis topic.

The team leader of the group is Adam Brillhart, an American architect who once studied under the renowned architect Wang Shu at the China Academy of Art. Since 2017, Adam has been a teacher at the Department of Architecture of the Design School, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. In his spare time, he is passionate about the conservation of the ancient city of Suzhou, which helps him get deeper knowledge of Chinese culture and Chinese living spaces.

He renovated an old residential house he bought in Gusu District, Suzhou. During the project, he personally worked on the design and supervised the entire refurbishment process including the right use of all kinds of building materials, both large and small. Last summer, Adam and his wife finally moved into their own home. The remodeling was challenging but the couple has really enjoyed the environment.