When concrete was considered sustainable: ecological crisis, technological transition and the prefabricated concrete rural houses in Jiangsu Province from 1961 to the 1980s

Abstract

This paper explores the creation, development, and dissemination of prefabricated concrete rural houses in Jiangsu Province in East China from 1961 to the 1980s, an example of the technological transition provoked by the depletion of forest and timber in China. Through archival research, fieldwork and interviews, the paper examines the two waves of design and dissemination of prefabricated concrete rural houses between 1961 and 1965 and their subsequent ‘vernacularisation’ in the 1970s and the 1980s. This research provides a twofold insight into the current scholarly debates surrounding built heritage and global climate change. On one hand, it addresses a historical context of concrete overuse in contemporary China, a matter of critical importance in relation to carbon emissions and global climate change. On the other hand, it offers a counter-argument to today's call for reintroducing timber structures in many places, as evidenced by the case of East China, where the widespread use of materials like concrete was primarily a consequence of the ecological crisis following decades of deforestation and timber resource depletion. In addition, the ‘vernacularisation’ of concrete structures manifested by this case still provides lessons for today’s efforts to popularise more eco-friendly construction materials and technologies, especially in rural areas, and the prefabricated concrete houses possess potential heritage values as trackers of ecological changes.