villagers' home by UAD grows out of ancient mud house remnants in rural china

由专筑网韩慧慧，小R编译

浙江大学建筑设计研究院（UAD）在中国浙江王户村设计了一个村民活动中心，名为村民之家，设计师在该项目中构思了很多公共活动空间，设计重点是将传统建筑元素融入到现代设计手法中，使得该地区的建筑特色得以传承。设计师将原有房屋的夯土墙残余与现代混凝土结构技术相结合，使得该活动中心就像是传统建筑进一步发展的现代模样。该项目中设计的功能有多种，如村民会议室、接待室、体育健身活动区以及电影放映室等。

The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD) has created The Villagers’ Home, a series of public spaces in Wanghu Village, Zhejiang Province, China. The project focuses on preserving the architectural features of the region by incorporating elements of traditional structures into the design. Old mud houses and remnants of rammed earth walls were integrated with new concrete structures and modern technology, with the  resulting building ‘growing’ naturally from the village’s historical context. The space serves various purposes, including village meetings, receptions, sports and fitness activities, and leisure events like movie screenings. 


▲ 村庄肌理——图片来源于UAD
the texture of the village | image © UAD

王户村地处山区，地质土壤肥沃，农产品丰富。遗留的夯土墙就是村民以前用来种蘑菇的泥土房遗址。随着现代科技的发展，农村生产方式发生了很大的转变，曾经的生产方式逐渐被淘汰甚至遗忘。泥土房遗址就是时间的见证，夯土墙上遗留下的窗口、门洞能够让人们联想起曾经的功能用途。

UAD设计的“村民之家”亮点是将传统建筑元素融合到现代的建筑空间中，使其得以传承。在该项目场地内的两座泥屋遗址旁，设计师又发现了另外的夯土墙，询问当地村民才得知，原来该场地内有三座蘑菇屋，后因过于破旧而拆除。设计师巧妙地将这些遗址残骸设计成建筑的一部分，使得新建建筑就像是从原有夯土墙中“生长”出来的一样。这种设计手法使得传统建筑元素能够与现代结构进行有机融合，村庄的建筑形式得以延续，建筑空间完整协调。设计师在夯土墙旁采用现代混凝土砖墙，使得建筑与周边环境相互融合，成为历史与现代的纽带。建筑屋顶延续当地建筑形式采用坡屋顶，增加村民使用的熟悉感，整个建筑设计采用新结构和传统形制，使得建筑整体更融合于当地的建筑历史背景中去。

Wanghu Village, located in a mountainous area with fertile soil, is known for its rich agricultural products. Historically, villagers cultivated mushrooms in mud houses with rammed earth walls. However, with modern advancements and declining rural productivity, these old practices have faded from memory. Today, the remnants of these mud houses, including crumbling rammed earth walls, stand as historical witnesses, bearing traces of former windows and doorways that hint at their past usage.
The Villagers’ Home by UAD (find more here) revives these memories by integrating traditional architectural elements into new public spaces. Next to the ruins of two mud houses, additional sections of rammed earth walls were discovered. Local villagers revealed that there were originally three mushroom breeding houses, almost entirely demolished over time. The new design incorporates these remnants, allowing the new building to ‘grow’ naturally out of the old walls. This creates a harmonious blend of new concrete structures and historical fragments, preserving the village’s architectural typology and maintaining its traditional spatial environment. By using modern concrete walls alongside the old rammed earth structures, the design harmonizes with the surrounding environment and bridges the past and present. The sloping roof design continues the local architectural scale and creates familiar spaces for the villagers, ensuring that the new structures resonate with the village’s historical and cultural context.


▲ 新与旧的碰撞——摄影：Zhao Qiang
coexistence of old and new | image © Zhao Qiang

王户村内缺少用于展示当地文化的公共活动空间，无法满足村民的物质文化需求。由于村落土地面积有限，因此该项目占地很小，充分利用空间，容纳多种功能，如在白天，这里可用于商业或者儿童阅览，在晚上，则可变成电影放映室或视觉文字展厅，可以展示村落历史文化和蘑菇生产技术。多功能空间的设计方法使得该建筑具有适用性和可持续发展性。

这种设计策略将功能性场所转变成为公共性活动场所，使其空间被重新定义。原有保留的夯土墙上的窗户是阵列均匀的小窗，这是因墙体结构而限制了洞口大小，进而影响室内采光，且蘑菇养殖房对光线要求也极为严格。在“村民之家”的建设中，设计师在立面上设计了不同形式种类的窗户，让路过的人们可以通过窗户的变化来感知其室内功能的不同。展厅有着角部较大的转折窗，增加了采光，咖啡厅入口采用大面积玻璃窗，可以将室外景观渗透至室内。建筑的坡屋顶上增设高窗，可遥望山坡景观，增加其室内舒适性，且重构建筑与景观之间的关系。“村民之家”设计积极呼应村中的巷道、民居和周围的远山，让建筑内部与外界环境相互关联，从而发生更多的视线联系以及内外之间的感知。

Wanghu Village currently lacks public spaces that can preserve collective culture and meet the material and cultural needs of its residents. Given the limited land available, the activity center is designed to occupy a small area while offering diverse, flexible functions. This multifunctional approach maximizes the building’s usage time: during the day, it serves commercial purposes or provides reading spaces for children, and in the evening, it hosts movie screenings for the villagers. The exhibition hall doubles as a space for visual and textual displays, showcasing the village’s history and mushroom processing techniques. By prioritizing full-time utilization, the design ensures adaptability and sustainability.
This functional approach transforms the space from a productive area to a social public venue, redefining the relationship between architecture and the community. The existing windows on the rammed earth walls are small and evenly spaced, limiting larger openings and affecting light requirements, especially for the mushroom breeding houses. To address this, the Villagers’ Home incorporates various window forms, contrasting solid and void elements to highlight different interior functions. The exhibition hall features large corner windows to enhance natural light, while the café’s entrance is equipped with expansive glass windows to maintain a natural ambiance. High windows on the sloping roof facing the hillside introduce natural scenery and improve spatial comfort, redefining the building’s relationship with nature and enhancing visual connections with the village’s alleys, folk houses, and distant mountains. These design elements create a seamless interaction between the interior and exterior environments.


▲ 重筑立面——摄影：Zhao Qiang
facade reconstruction | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 立面上的虚实对比——摄影：Zhao Qiang
contrast between solid and void elements | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 坡屋顶上的高窗——摄影：Zhao Qiang
high windows on sloping roof | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 室内庭院——摄影：Zhao Qiang
interior courtyard | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 历史与现代的对比结合——摄影：Zhao Qiang
transition between the past and the present | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 历史与现代的对比结合——摄影：Zhao Qiang
transition between the past and the present | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 室内与室内空间——摄影：Zhao Qiang
indoor and outdoor spaces | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 转角窗——摄影：Zhao Qiang
corner windows | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 延续本土建筑形体——摄影：Zhao Qiang
continuing the local architectural ‘modulor’ | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 王户村“村民之家”夜景——摄影：Zhao Qiang
night scene of the Villagers’ Home in Wanghu Village | image © Zhao Qiang


▲ 沿河街景透视图——摄影：Zhao Qiang
perspective along the river | image © Zhao Qiang

项目信息：
项目名称：王户村“村民之家”
建筑设计：浙江大学建筑设计研究院(UAD)
建筑设计师：Mo Zhoujin, Wu Hegen, Guo Lidong
结构设计：Jin Zhenfen, Chen Dong
给排水设计： Sang Songbiao, Wu Weihao
电气设计：Shen Yueqing, Li Zhaoyu
智能设计： Lin Minjun
景观设计：Sun Dongming
位置：中国浙江台州王户村
面积：400㎡
摄影：Zhao Qiang

project info: 
name: Villagers’ Home in Wanghu Village
architects: The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University(UAD)
architectural design: Mo Zhoujin, Wu Hegen, Guo Lidong
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
location: Wanghu Village, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China
area: 400 sqm
photography: Zhao Qiang