Contemporary Architecture Reinvigorates Aging Fishing Village in Rural China

2019-03-14 14:25

The exponential development of China’s urban centres over the last decades has posed immense challenges to urban planners and architects, but one important aspect that has nevertheless been overlooked is the resulting decline of rural areas. One such locality is Jiangshan, a fishing village on the shores of Gucheng Lake, south of the city of Nanjing, which has recently commissioned a revitalization plan that aims to both renovate derelict buildings that have been abandoned and modernize the village’s public amenities. This year saw the completion of the first phase of its ambitious plan with the transformation of two adjoining old houses into a library that also functions as a tea house and a three-bedroom guest residence by Chinese practice Mix Architecture who also designed two new public toilet blocks. The architects’ approach centred on preserving the two stone houses at their disposal to the fullest extent but at the same time they set out to create contemporary interior spaces combining modern comforts and welcoming elegance. To this effect, masonry walls and timber roofs have been painstakingly refurbished and the narrow courtyard that separates the two buildings thoughtfully preserved while the interiors have been prudently reconfigured.

中国城市中心在过去几十年的迅猛发展给城市规划者和建筑师带来了巨大的挑战，但被忽视的一个重要方面是农村地区的衰落。南京市以南古城湖畔的一个渔村江山就是一个这样的地方。该渔村最近委托了一项振兴计划，旨在对废弃的废弃建筑进行翻新，并使该村的公共设施现代化。今年，其雄心勃勃的计划的第一阶段完成了，将两座毗邻的老房子改造成一座图书馆，该图书馆还可作为茶馆和中国实践混合建筑(ChinaPractiveMixArchitecture)的一套三居室客用住宅，他还设计了两座新的公共厕所。建筑师们的做法集中在最大限度地保护这两座石屋，但同时他们开始创造现代室内空间，结合现代舒适和欢迎优雅。为此，砖墙和木屋屋顶经过了精心整修，分隔这两座建筑的狭窄庭院得到了深思熟虑的保存，而内部则经过了审慎的改造。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

As the original houses had very few windows, the architects have made two bold interventions in order to improve daylight penetration without modifying the exterior walls. The introduction of a light-well in the middle of the larger building floods the library with natural light, while the insertion of a glass tea pavilion that protrudes into the courtyard ushers more daylight into the interiors and visually connects the library with the courtyard and the guest house beyond. The same approach has also been applied to the guest house where the architects only tampered with the courtyard-facing façade thereby keeping the house’s street-facing exterior intact. The interior design seamlessly combines the rustic elements of the age-old houses with a contemporary aesthetic of minimalist sensibility. Tall floor-to-ceiling wooden bookcases wrap around the central light-well, whose footprint is hemmed by white gravel, concealed lighting softly illuminates the timber-framed roof, and simple wooden furniture discretely populate the open-plan area, while the glass-front tea pavilion, also delineated by white gravel, is internally lined with smooth timber panelling.

由于原来的房子只有很少的窗户，建筑师们采取了两种大胆的干预措施，以便在不改变外墙的情况下提高日光的渗透性。在这座更大的建筑中间引入了一口光井，使图书馆充满了自然的光线，而插入一座玻璃茶馆，将更多的阳光引入室内，并将图书馆与庭院和外面的招待所从视觉上连接起来。同样的方法也被应用于招待所，那里的建筑师只是篡改了庭院面对的外观，从而保持了房子的街道外观完好无损。室内设计完美地结合了古老房屋的乡村元素和当代极简主义情感的美学。高大的从地板到天花板的木制书柜围绕着中央的灯光井，其脚印被白色的砾石包围，隐秘的灯光柔和地照亮木框屋顶，简单的木制家具分散地填充开敞的区域，而玻璃前面的茶馆也由白色的砾石所描绘，内部内衬着光滑的木镶板。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Photo by Hou Bowen.

侯博文摄。

Situated at the edge of the village, the two public toilet blocks have been inspired by the region’s traditional architecture albeit designed in a thoroughly modern fashion. One of them features a gabled roof created out of metal mesh sitting slightly disjointed on top of a concrete block, a reinterpretation of a typical village house, while the other has been designed as two interlocking volumes unified by a slender mono-pitch roof supported by slatted screens that bring to mind traditional lattice-work shutters. Small-scale as they may be, it is projects like these that can have a lasting impact on the lives of locals and visitors alike. As the architects point out themselves, “rural revival begins in the practice of design”.

这两座公共厕所座落在村庄的边缘，受到了该地区传统建筑的启发，尽管其设计采用了一种完全现代化的方式。其中之一的特点是一个由金属网组成的门廊屋顶，位于混凝土砌块的顶部，略微脱节，这是对一所典型乡村房屋的重新诠释，而另一个则被设计成两个联锁空间，由一个细长的单间距屋顶组成，屋檐由板条支撑，让人想起传统的格子式百叶窗。尽管规模很小，但这样的项目会对当地人和游客的生活产生持久的影响。正如建筑师们指出的那样，“乡村复兴始于设计实践”。