Junwei Li is a MA graduate from Environmental Architecture in Royal College of Art. His interests range from Architecture, Society, Humanity, ecological protection and Urban Planning. He completed his undergraduate degree in Urban and rural planning in China, 2021.
Junwei Li
This project works to preserve the unique semiology and knowledge of the Simpang Dayak by designing an interactive device that helps record knowledge share between the environment and the community. In order to safeguard the longevity and land rights of the community, the project works to make tangible the intangible and ancient relationships between the Dayak and their land—linking the intangible cultural heritage of landmarks and the intangible cultural heritage of language and people. The project aims to build the case for the Dayak Simpang culture to be recognised as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO—a status that would help them achieve safety from industrial expansion.
The use of symbology and traditional motifs is important in Dayak culture, and to make the research more convincing, the participatory perception of the registered button is subtly integrated into the art of Dayak traditional motifs. The button is designed to be placed into the Dayak Simpang community and embedded in the symbology and traditional motifs they use for specific plants, animals, natural phenomena and 'supernatural' elements. These were co-designed with children from the Arus Kualan school in West Kalimantan.
