Y2 architectural studio, HKU

Spring 2020, 2021: Haotian Zhang

Spring 2022: Tianying Li

Teaching team: Chiara Oggioni, Su Chang, Yi Sun, Aron Tsang, Lidia Ratoi (coordinator 2022), John Lin (coordinator 2020-2021) 

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By bringing together two worlds - the contemporary one and the vernacular, the process of design looks both backward and forwards, and the role of the architect is questioned. In the context of Hong Kong and Mainland China, the rural way of living is heavily influenced not just by ancestral knowledge of building, but also by cultural tendencies, such as multigenerational households, which leads to contrasting lifestyles brought together.

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The question that rose from trying to understand the contemporary postures of rural living was a simple one: what defines a home, and how do we explore the relationship between design and the conditions of living? Therefore, how can one design a house which responds to shaping the qualities and functions of domestic living?

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Our continuous investigation took place in An Zhen Castle, a closed city that heightens the division and collision between two realms of living: the collective and the individual.