In 2016, Wang Shu designed 8 architectural types for Wen Village
And he built 24 different houses
With local materials and methods
Which provides a model
For the renovation and protection of Chinese villages
Wen Village is located in the south of Hangzhou
It’s an ordinary small village
In the mountains of Dongqiao Town
The Fuyang District wanted to invite us to do the Fuchun Shanguan project
Which is a really complicated public compound composed of three buildings
Mr. Wang made a request
That he needed to do some renovation
For a village first
It was a “semi-disabled” village
Composed of new and old buildings
It was not a so-called ancient village
From the perspective of tradition conservation, it was “disabled”
Really typical
On the other hand I was touched by the village
It was wired
As it faced the north and it was backed by the south
It was located in the shadows of the mountains
All the sunshine was left to the fields
Farmland was a scarce resource there
The villagers would rather live in a worse environment
How to make the villagers be proud of their own cultures again
My solution was to use local materials
And the local methods
We adopted the same method in the construction of the museum in town
The museum looks so magnificent
But the villagers would find it’s constructed in the same way as their rural residences
According to our plan
The west part of the village would be able to
Accommodate 24 households
Each house would basically be as big as 250 m2
And the cost would be 500,000 to 600,000 yuan
I designed 8 architectural types then
And there would be 24 variants
By changing the materials such as rammed earth and stones
And walls and tiles
All the 24 houses are different
The cornice can be used to place firewood or hide air-conditioners
It’s multi-functional
If someone is upstairs and I’m downstairs
Then the two of us can chat here
And we can pass things to each other
It’s really practical
We learned it from our observations in old villages
This house is special
It’s inspired by Chinese rural auditoriums in the 1970s
There’s a small designing skill
On the gable wall
If the column reaches the ceiling, it would look too tall
And the ratio would be inappropriate
So we extended the flooring
And we gave up building the column to the ceiling
Then a balcony with a triangular space was formed
Distant views can be seen from the window
It’s a really big balcony
And you can see how we made it from the top of the cornice
Very exquisite
A baffle made from solar panels is used
To protect the walls
Traditionally, a Chinese house should have a courtyard
A space to see the sky and the earth
There’re diversified courtyards
Such as sanheyuan, siheyuan
And front and back courtyards
This household utilizes their courtyard
They add a glass ceiling
Which is ventilated
It’s not completely closed, so air can come in and out
They have learned to use it effectively
The last time I visited here, I saw them having a meal in the hallway
So the mendou is really useful
The kitchen is there
They actually don’t have a dining room
So the space was intentionally designed
They set a table here
The four of them can have meals while enjoying views
Look at their stove, which is typical
It’s made of earth and it uses firewood
And there’s a gas stove beside
So it’s a combination of old and new stoves
Nearly all the households are the same
The houses are arranged along the river
In a dynamic order
It looks like they’re growing
They’re close to the language of nature to the utmost extent
For those ugly new houses
We discussed with the villagers
We could build new houses for them
6 new houses are added
If someone didn’t agree to the removal
Then we could renovate his house
Some small public places have been made
And two public toilets have been also built
I take a picture
“Wen Village’s Pavilion for Females”
The villagers could choose one among the 24 houses
When they didn’t like any of them
Then they could build their own house
At the opposite of the river
Young people liked them
They searched on the internet
And they found I was a renowned architect
But the elder villagers didn’t care who I was
They felt it had nothing to do with them
The senior villagers didn’t want the houses, and the young generation began to worry
They returned in a rush to hold family meetings
In the end, only 13 households decided to accept the houses
Several years later, some regretted
When the construction was just completed
People came from the city
They wanted to buy one with 3 million yuan
And the price for one even reached 8 million
Then the villagers realized the value of the houses
The project of the village succeeded
Then similar projects appear across the nation
Now you can see such walls are restored
In some remote places of Daxi Village
It’s actually influenced by the project