Anonymous process and absent architect: Behind the scenes of Chinese rural regeneration

The concept of architect and the authorship of architecture in traditional China were shared by the literati and craftsmen. In the process of architecture, the boundary between designer and builder was blurred. The master-builder/carpenter-architect designed and constructed the physical building, and the literati represented and conceived the building through visual and textual practices. This paper intends to capture the relatively anonymous process of those carpenter-architects behind the scenes of the ongoing rural regeneration in China, through tracing the construction of his own family house done by a retiring carpenter in Bishan village, Anhui province.