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Course Description
Chengdu is a dynamic city located in Sichuan, China. The city’s economy is rapidly transitioning
from the industrial to the service sector and the information economy is coming to dominate
economic activity. Located in the burgeoning Tianfu New District of Chengdu City, the
Luxelakes Eco-City is a 1400-acre new town integrating residential, business, recreation and
entertainment areas in a rehabilitated lakeside environment. Considering the area's lack of
ecologically grounded developments, the new Eco-City offers a new alternative to city dwellers
and a new paradigm of future city development in China.
The course led nine graduate students at MIT School of Architecture and planning to investigate
Chinese city development and propose innovative design solutions to activate the new
development Luxelakes in Chengdu city’s periphery.
The course operated in two phases:
1) A two-week fieldwork in China from January 3 to 18, 2020. Students first traveled to
Shanghai and connected with MIT SA+P alumni who are leading innovative design ventures.
Students then traveled to Chengdu to conduct regional study and engage with local
stakeholders.
2) During the Spring semester, students developed their research projects either individually or
in teams through weekly meetings with the teaching team and continuous virtual engagement
with stakeholders in Chengdu.
Students
Alberto Meouchi
Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS) Candidate
Eve Allen
Master of City Planning Candidate
Thaddeus Lee
Master of Architecture Candidate
Wendy Wu
Master of Architecture Candidate
Ruoming Fang
Master of City Planning Candidate
Zhifei Xu
Master of Architecture Candidate
Yi (Catherine) Yang
Bachelor of Science Candidate
Yujie Wang
Master of Architecture Candidate
Yun (Cloe) Wang
Master of Architecture Candidate
Instructor
Brent D. Ryan
Associate Professor of Urban Design and Planning; Head, City Design and Development Group
Brent D. Ryan is Head of the City Design and Development Group and Associate Professor of
Urban Design and Public Policy in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. His
research focuses on the aesthetics and policies of contemporary urban design, particularly with
respect to pressing issues like deindustrialization and climate change. Professor Ryan’s first
book Design After Decline: How America rebuilds shrinking cities , was one of Planetizen ’s ten
best urban planning books of 2012, and his second book The Largest Art: A measured
manifesto for plural urbanism , was published by MIT Press in 2017.
Professor Ryan has published research in the Journal of Urbanism, Journal of Urban Design,
Journal of Planning History, Urban Design International, Urban Morphology , and the Journal of
the American Planning Association , which awarded his article “Reading Through A Plan” its best
article of 2011. Professor Ryan has contributed chapters to The Companion to Urban Design,
The City After Abandonment, The Oxford Handbook of Urban Planning , and others.
Professor Ryan conducts urban design research and practice around the world, including China,
Ukraine, Russia, Japan, and the United States. Current research includes a study of
sustainability in Siberian cities, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and a study of
new town design conducted in collaboration with MIT China Future City Lab. Professor Ryan
has consulted for the World Bank, Google, and the Armenian Tumo Foundation relating to
cities, urban design, economic and demographic shifts.
Prior to joining MIT, Professor Ryan taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the
University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was also Co-Director of the City Design Center.
Professor Ryan holds a B.S. in biology from Yale University, a M. Arch. from Columbia
University, and a Ph.D. in urban design and planning from MIT.
Helena H. Rong
MIT SMArchS Urbanism ‘19; Phd Candidate at Columbia University; Founder of CIVIS Design and Advisory LLC
Helena H. Rong is an urbanist and designer working at the intersection of design, technology and urban research. She is currently a PhD student at Columbia University, focusing on digital city applications and civic engagement. She received her Master of Science in Urbanism degree from MIT and Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University. Ms. Rong works as a Research Associate at the MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab, where she leads the “Value of Design” research pillar. Previously, Ms. Rong was a researcher at the MIT Senseable City Lab, where she led the development of a travel optimization model to museums in Amsterdam using autonomous boats. Ms. Rong is the founder of CIVIS Design and Advisory LLC, an interdisciplinary design and research practice based in Boston.
Teaching Assistant
Mengqi (Moon) He
MIT SMArchS Urbanism ‘20
Ms. Mengqi (Moon) He is an architectural and urban designer. She received her Master of Science from MIT and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Southern California. During her time at MIT, she has gained interdisciplinary experience from projects on architectural and urban design, resilience, smart city, and multimodal transportation systems. Her graduate thesis investigated the impact of river restoration on urban space and culture, and proposed a participatory design method with transmedia storytelling. Previously, She has worked at the MIT Senseable City Lab, junya.ishigami+associates, and Preliminary Research Office.
Organizers
MIT School of Architecture and Planning (MIT SA+P)
