B.A.R.C.

Beyond Architectural Regulations in China (BARC) is a collaborative design-research project that brings together 10 teams from Holland and China in a study on new sustainable cities, involving concepts that go beyond the realm of engineering and design.

Beyond Architectural Regulations in China (BARC) was initiated by the Dynamic City Foundation, aiming to deliver a holistic planning model for green cities.

In a constantly changing environment, goals for future urban development must evolve with changing conditions and new knowledge. BARC simulates such an evolution of ideas to produce a long-term sustainable vision for a city in China. The approach is ground-breaking: 10 renowned architecture offices, 5 from The Netherlands and 5 from China, will design an urban expansion of 100.000 people in relay. Each team strategically builds on top of the previous team's proposal, until a city of 1 million is built from scratch; not top-down but through a process of organic emergence. Together the ten plans form a growth scenario from 2010 to 2040 for Caofeidian, China’s most ambitious new eco-city.

In an exhibition at the Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai in September 2010, the designing process was gathered into a sculptural installation of 10 private boxes in which animation and interviews are projected and renderings and diagrams are suspended as light-boxes introducing the concepts. A large model reveals the culmination of thirty years of fast-forward planning. 

This exhibition formed the basis of a public forum in which the ideas were scrutinized, with realization of the final concept as an ultimate goal. BARC is coordinated by The Dynamic City Foundation, that was specifically founded to investigate the topic of sustainable urban development in China.

More information on BARC, Greening the Metropolis website.