Dongziguan Afordable Housing is an Elegant Proposition with a Reduced Material Palette

Dongziguan Afordable Housing is an elegant proposition with a reduced material palette. Its predominant white is splendidly outlined by a running strip of black at the uneven top of the buildings, while the occasional stretch of grey is adding a precious grace. It plays on regional traditions through roof silhouettes, and the plan organisation of units around communal courtyards accomplishes a degree of modern abstraction that sets up variations in form, fenestration, and localised details. Sensitive to scale and the urban condition, it balances privacy with community, ofering housing that’s far more than just afordable. 

This project tackles a current social issue within the urbanisation process in China – the increasing urban-rural disparity. Currently the living conditions in large parts of rural China are poor. One such place is Dongziguan Village in Fuyang Hangzhou, where most of the farmers still live in the aged housings of various states of disrepair. The local government decided to fund an exemplary afordable housing project in the village with the aim of improving the living conditions. During the design process, the architects conducted investigations and meetings to communicate with diferent families of the relocalised farmers for first-hand information on their living habits. 

The intention was to organise the buildings in the vernacular style of the courtyard typology, a traditional local morphology. The design of the courtyard makes it vary into four prototypes, which can then be developed into clusters, eventually growing into a larger rural settlement. The layout tries to balance traditional rural lifestyles with high-quality modern living conditions. The design is not a carbon-copy of local historic buildings, but instead abstracts and refines the features of the traditional local architecture into a contemporary syntax. The design team also strived for the best building quality within a very low budget whilst exploring contemporary ways of representing local traditional architectural characteristics. 

Project Information

Project Name: Dongziguan Afordable Housing

Location: China

Architect: Fanhao Meng