A wealth of regional characteristics, public traditions, local cultures, and social systems govern the fabric of a village. In the context of rural revitalisation, this spirit—brimming with a distinctive personality rooted in specific history—must be considered, preserved and revived. In China’s Zhejiang province, in the quaint village of Wanghu, The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD) restored and redesigned a villagers’ home attuned to perspectives stemming from ancient Chinese architectural philosophies. With a scarcity of public spaces and limited availability of land, the local government hopes to revive the village with this design intervention, carving out a community centre that is open for all.

Situated on abundant, mountainous lands with fertile soils, Wanghu Village carries abandoned architectural fragments that have played witness to centuries of history and the passage of time. As technology progressed and rural productivity faltered, memories of this past eroded. Mud houses built to cultivate mushrooms eventually formed today’s rammed earth walls. It is on one such site—home to a few crumbling rammed earth relics that were originally part of three mushroom breeding houses—that UAD intervenes.

During research and conception, while diving into age-old architectural wisdom, UAD’s study of building philosophy in ancient China revealed the existence of a ‘natural prototype’ – a natural form that could almost spontaneously grow from the land over time. According to this perspective, buildings always align with nature, and space (with its materials) undergoes renewal, evolution and succession in step with our surroundings. Natural prototypes are youthful and robust when facing the future, yet they carry the ancient wisdom of rustic villages. UAD’s design approach to this community centre set carries a deference reserved for this natural prototype, respecting multiple layers and intricate nuances that both enhance and preserve the existing architecture.

UAD turned to spatial and construction patterns of Wanghu’s traditional folk homes for inspiration, infusing the restoration with historical memory. A sloping roof block, placed within the existing walls, allows the residence to almost ‘grow’ from these remnants. A vocabulary of harmony is prioritised as old and new coalesce, complementing one another. With rammed earth and bricks walls being susceptible to weathering and erosion—as evidenced by their current state—UAD employed concrete to build the new structure, a sharp and evocative contrast against the original materiality. This design decision lends itself to a textural interplay of visibility and invisibility between the existing and supplementary design elements, as different elements assume the spotlight at different times of the day.

The mechanical properties of rammed earth presented construction limitations back then, leading to small and evenly distributed windows. The original purpose of the house also called for a sensitive inflow of natural light, making the existing facade appear closed-off and almost brutalist in nature. With increasing requirements for lighting and ventilation, the designers incorporated a spectrum of window forms and openings in the new construction. The contrast between solids and voids provides glimpses of the internal logic of the space. Large corner windows in the exhibition hall bathe the space in abundant light, skylights on the roof facing the hills frame verdant vistas, and the cafe enjoys an expansive view of the lush yard through floor-to-ceiling glass windows. This not only redefines the relationship between building and nature but also anchors and actively responds to the village’s built landscape, carving out visual connections.

Modularity is another characteristic of the vernacular identified by UAD. The village homes manifest as organic entities formed by a near-continuous aggregation of individual elements. From the unit to the whole, fundamental design principles find echoes, such as the long and sloping roof structure, the rhythm of the external street-facing facades and the aesthetic of the alleyways. The design intervention preserves this architectural typology, maintaining the external spatial environment of the ancient village.

While built with the mission to revitalise the community’s collective public culture, the relatively small footprint of the activity centre (400 square metres) demanded a certain level of flexibility. The multifunctional exhibition hall accommodates a range of activities, including village meetings, receptions, sports and fitness, and community leisure activities such as movie screenings. This diversity increases the use of the design, not only in function but also across time. As the day winds down, different functions take over, allowing the full-time utilisation of this cultural centre. “For us, the design not only encourages a new lifestyle in the village but also reconstructs the relationship between architecture and community,” the design team at UAD tells STIR. On the site of the third mushroom breeding house, the previously existing home has been recreated exactly as it was, evoking collective memories among the villagers.

For UAD, the project presented an opportunity to establish a larger commentary on the cycle of neglect that perpetuates most rural revitalisation projects. “It is this neglect that destroys the original state of the villages, including an erasure of their historical memory, and the loss of precious indigenous cultural resources,” the studio explains. With this village home-turned-community centre, UAD bridges the gap between architecture, environment and time to propose a harmonious way in which nature, structure, history and community can co-exist.

Project Details

Name: Villager's Home in Wanghu Village
Location: Zhejiang, China
Typology: Community Centre
Client:  Xianju County Baita town Xianjing village stock economic cooperative
Architect: The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD)
Design Team: Mo Zhoujin, Wu Hegen, Guo Lidong
Collaborators:
Structural Design: Jin Zhenfen, Chen Dong
Plumbing Design: Sang Songbiao, Wu Weihao
Electrical Design: Shen Yueqing, Li Zhaoyu
Intelligent Design: Lin Minjun
Landscape Design: Sun Dongming
Area: 400 sqm
Year of Completion: 2023