Best Non-Public Project – Residential

Winner: gad x line+ studio, China
Contemporary Rural Cluster: Dongziguan Affordable Housing, Fuyang, China

Judges’ Comments

‘On a very tight budget this project has created a varied, imaginative and liveable community that looks much more special than most worthy affordable architecture. Lovely materiality evocative of local building types with a delightful overall presence.’ Tina Norden

‘This project is a seemingly effortless synthesis of culturally specific aesthetic references with the universal human need for a balance between private and communal space. It has the feel of an upscale resort, belying the challenging budget.’ James Dilley

This project tackles the increasing urban–rural disparity of living conditions in China by creating high-quality affordable housing for relocalised farmers in Dongziguan, a village in the Fuyang district near Hangzhou in eastern China.

Financed by the municipal government of Hangzhou, the project provides 15,300 sq m of affordable housing for 50 households. With a constrained project budget, one of the primary challenges was how to design and construct high-quality housing that also suited the farmers’ lifestyle of collective living.

The project organises the buildings in the vernacular style of a courtyard typology. Every six houses surround a courtyard as a place for communal gathering and participation. Thus, the project consists of clusters for collective living; this departs from previous affordable housing projects in rural China where traditional modes of communal living have not been maintained.

During the design process, the architect talked to different families about their living habits and family structure, using the feedback gathered to inform the project plan. Three distinct courtyard forms (an open front yard, quiet courtyard and private backyard) are designed to create a public-to-private spatial sequence. The traditional dual-slope roof is developed into a continuous, asymmetrical roof. For cost, the materials chosen were simple and stripped back, including grey brick and concrete.

The project is part of a rural regeneration effort, helping attract activity and development in Dongziguan Village, including hotels and other recreational and commercial ventures.

Highly Commended

Josep Camps & Olga Felip Arquitecturia, Spain
House 09, Girona, Spain

Commended

studio mk27, Brazil
Planar House, Porto Feliz, Brazil

Finalists

Architecture for London, UK
House for a Stationer, London, UK

CHROFI, Australia
Lune de Sang Pavilion, New South Wales, Australia

Craftworks, UK
Chapel, London, UK

Davide Macullo Architects, Switzerland
Swisshouse XXXII, Rossa, Switzerland

Levitt Bernstein, UK
Sutherland Road, London, UK

Mercurio Design Lab Srl, Italy
Villa Otto, Singapore

Miguel Arruda Arquitectos Associados, Portugal
House in Fuseta, Fuseta, Portugal

RSAA with Büro Ziyu Zhuang, China
Tongling Recluse, Tongling City, China

WilkinsonEyre with Jonathan Tuckey Design, UK
Gasholders London, London, UK

Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
520 West 28th, New York City, USA

Category sponsored by: The Bold Look of Kohler

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