GO WITH THE FLOW

By Tao Zihui

All 18 classrooms of a former village school have been converted into 22 hotel-style guest bedrooms. The secondary wing of the complex is now home to a cafe， several dining rooms and a rooftop canteen， while its previous playground gave way to a swimming pool.

Located in Ningbo， Zhejiang Province， the newly finished hotel has become a tourist attraction and its host village of Qinyong is now a prime example of how architecture could provide a concrete answer to rural vitalization.

“The school replaced the traditional ancestral hall and became the center of public life in Qinyong， as well as an important carrier of the villages collective memory，” Liu Kenan， co-founder of Atelier XUK， an architecture studio based in Shanghai， and design instructor at Shanghais Tongji University， told Beijing Review.

Liu is recognized as an important voice in the new generation of architects. Many of his scenariobased designs focus on creating a new balance between society， the urban landscape and the natural environment.

In each room of the hotel， a section of the original floor was retained and turned into a sunken stone garden， framed by a metal railing. The design aims to create the impression of being in an archaeological site， where visitors can take in the original dimensions of the room and its history.

“We restored the old houses and modernized their functions. And all the while I was thinking about how to make the houses more dynamic，” Liu said. “For me， born in the 1980s， and also for local residents， there is a growing sense of responsibility to preserve the landscape and promote its cultural merits， a kind of nostalgia deep in our soul.”

Connecting the past

With modernity and globalization， the concept of harmony between city and village has deeply influenced Chinese architecture. Consequently， Qinyong straddles the past and the future， as it proudly maintains its historical roots while adapting to and embracing modernization.

According to Liu， comfortable architecture should be not only connected with the history， but also aligned with its environment. This kind of architectural conception has been shared by many more young Chinese architects. Zhuang Ziyu is one of them.

Imagine working in one of Beijings traditional courtyard houses， known as a siheyuan， with views of the centuries-old Bell and Drum towers. For Zhuang， this traditional and modern office environment is not a dream； its a daily reality.