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PROJECT, ARCHITECTURE 24.04.2018

Connective Extensions

#public space #library #china #rural architecture #atelier archmixing

Transforming two rural buildings into a social and educational space in China, the project aims at exploring beauty of the original structures and the surrounding landscape, using additional connections to enhance interaction

Located in the South of Zhouchong Village, at the foot of the dam of Zhouchong Tank, Huashu Rural College was renovated from two old rural houses. It is designed as a rural studio, later used as a rural library and an activity room of the village. It has attracted booklovers from the city center to experience the traditional Chinese lifestyle of “reading when it’s rainy and working when it’s sunny”.

One of the original houses was a barn for rice, the other was a farmhouse. The barn had its exterior walls constructed of stones, while the farmhouse had exterior walls of bricks with cement plaster on the surface. The villages nearby, the factories far away, the tank at the high place and the surrounding farmland, pools, mountains and forests form a quiet and serene landscape. Considering the interior environment, the farmhouse was brighter and the warehouse was dimmer. The two houses stood next to each other, just at the foot of the dam. The dam was a bit higher than the roofs, thus you could catch all the surrounding landscape in your eyes once you stand on the dam.

Site plan
Ground floor plan
Section
Sections
Exploded viewv of extension and renovation

The design strategy is addition and adjustment. It aimed at discovering the characteristics and beauty of the original buildings and their surroundings, and building unique relationship between them. One focus is to reorganize. After reorganization, the bright brick farmhouse was turned into a tidy and clear reading room with a sense of rituality, while the dark stone barn was turned into a social space with quiet atmosphere and rich texture. The other focus is to expand and connect. An entrance courtyard and a lifted courtyard in the air were added to the bright house. The lifted one offered a view to the surrounding landscape. While the dark house added a curved long courtyard extending to the lotus pool to the north, where people could party outside.

Tags:

HUASHU RURAL COLLEGE
ATELIER ARCHMIXING
PHOTOGRAPHY
Atelier Archmixing
CREDITS

ATELIER ARCHMIXING

Atelier Archmixing based in Shanghai was co-founded by Shen Zhuang and Hao Ren in July, 2009. Joined partners are Yu Tang and Jie Zhu. The office draws inspiration from everyday urbanism and builds reputation on innovative and flexible design strategies deeply rooted in China’s complicated urban and rural context. Their work boasts a broad range of typologies and scales and has won numerous awards.

Project Name: Huashu Rural College
Location: Zhouchong Village, Huashu, Nanjing, China
Architects: Atelier Archmixing; Shen Zhuang, Hao Ren, Yu Tang, Jie Zhu Design Team: Shen Zhuang, Yu Tang, Di Wang, Chen Xiangpeng, Qitao Wu Structural Engineering: Shanghai Wildness Structural Des. Firm Inc. (General Partnership)
Size: 252 m2
Year: 2014/2015

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