The Wild Great Wall
How Historical Infrastructure Changes Through Use, Neglect, and AdaptationRole Concept, Researcher, Project Manager
AdvisorPeter G. Rowe
Former Dean
Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture and Urban Design
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
TeammateYupeng Gao
MArch I
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Great Wall project studies how a large-scale system operates after formal maintenance and control break down. Focusing on unpreserved sections of the Wall, it documents how the structure degrades, how materials are reused, and how people interact with it in everyday contexts.
Across different locations, the Wall shifts from a defined infrastructure into a set of fragments shaped by local use, environmental conditions, and informal decision-making. Stones are repurposed, paths cut through existing structures, and sections are abandoned or absorbed into surrounding land.
The project brings these observations together to understand how systems evolve without central coordination, how use, neglect, and adaptation reshape them over time. .
FundingGraduate Research Grant
The Fairbank Center at Harvard University
Research Fund
Penny White Project Fund
AwardDistinguish project presentation at 2026 Penny White Fund Session, Harvard GSD
ValidationThe research and its concept were developed through engagement with local NGOs, Tsinghua University, and the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture. Community feedback and fieldwork with local residents directly shaped our work.
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