China Room is a research team founded in 2016. It is composed of faculty members and researchers from the Department of Architecture and Design (DAD) and from the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST).
The “room” is a shared space – located at the Castello del Valentino - in which Chinese architecture and urbanisation processes are studied with a multi-disciplinary approach, often developed within the framework of international cooperation projects.
The primary objective of the China Room is the conduction of joint research with Chinese universities. It also organizes workshops, summer schools and exhibitions (such as the 2019 Shenzhen Biennial of Urbanism /Architecture). In addition, the China Room is involved in applied research and develops urban regeneration projects in Chinese Universities working in cooperation with its partners. The China Room also works to encourage a wide network of Italian firms and designers to transfer their projects to China.
Thanks to the contributions of both senior and junior researchers from different disciplines (including architecture, urban planning, geography, and urban history), the China Room is a potential focal point for Chinese institutions that are keen to a transnational vision of practices and research. Urban and territorial development of rapidly transforming Chinese cities, the role of the historical-architectural context within new metropolitan scenarios, the new relations between residents and urban spaces are among the research fields of the China Room.
The long–term cooperation projects with the South China University of Technology, Tsinghua University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Ecole Nationale d'Architecture Paris Belville (ENSA-PB) are among the most important projects that are helping to create a wide network of scholars and institutions.