As Found Houses: Experiments from self-builders in rural China

In rural China, an informal wave of building has created densities more often found in urban areas, generating remarkable hybrid experiments where rural builders use generic construction methods to adapt, modify, graft, cleave, and wrap traditional vernacular typologies. This book looks at instances where families transform these typologies to account for new ways of living, presenting innovative, informal design responses that negotiate between traditional housing forms and the changing conditions of the rural village. It challenges ossified understandings of vernacular architecture that treat historical and cultural tradition as static.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 212 pages
\n Publication date: 15 February 2021
\n Publisher: Oro Editions
\n

In rural China, a remarkable transformation has taken place, driven by economic and social developments. An informal wave of building has swept through villages, resulting in densities more commonly found in urban areas. This building boom, occurring in a context with limited regulations, has given rise to innovative hybrid experiments where rural builders adapt, modify, graft, cleave, and wrap traditional vernacular typologies. These typologies, which have existed for hundreds of years, represent a rich accumulation of localised building knowledge and cultural identity. While some of these typologies are preserved and maintained as tourist destinations, this book explores instances where families transform them to accommodate new ways of living.

By closely examining these transformations, As Found Houses uncovers innovative, informal design responses that navigate the interplay between traditional housing forms and the evolving conditions of rural villages. The book presents the intelligent and surprising solutions applied to house typologies conceived by builders in four regions of rural China. Through photographs, axonometric drawings, and interviews with the villagers who inhabit these hybrid experiments, the book situates design solutions within the broader context of their human narratives, challenging rigid notions of vernacular architecture that view historical and cultural tradition as static.

The book argues that the manifold evolution of the vernacular is an integral part of the villagers' daily lives, and that architecture remains a vital component of their homes. As Found Houses serves as a guide to the surprising design decisions found in rural China's domestic architecture and provides a valuable resource for thinking about the evolving nature of vernacular practices.

\n Weight: 520g\n
Dimension: 174 x 243 x 17 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781943532797\n \n