Today we bring you a very inspiring project, in which brick is treated in a sensible, coherent and also contemporary way.

It is a rural primary school in the Chinese province of Guangdong, in which the classrooms orbit around a series of micro open spaces that lead to the main courtyard, where children play in the open air within the reflections of the material and the amazing landscape.

The Mulan Primary school is located close to Huaiji, a county of approximately 100,000 in Guangdong Province. Working with the local education authority and a Hong Kong based charity, we were asked to expand an existing primary school of 5 classrooms by adding an additional building of 6 classrooms.

The motivation behind this expansion is through the government’s desire to consolidate the total number of primary schools. In the process, some older schools will be demolished and others enlarged to make up for the loss and also to provide for a larger sphere of population distribution. The existing school is a simple tiled roof block with an overhanging eave supported on columns. The building forms part of an edge of a wall, which frames a courtyard. The strategy of the design was not only to extend the school but also to extend the courtyard and organize the site through a series of open, linked spaces.

The new building defines the edge of the site as a U-section with one side of the courtyard left open. The roof plane is a continuous ribbon that rises from the ground as a series of steps forming a new public space and outdoor classroom that then becomes roof, before dropping down again to form a ground plane that defines the edge of the courtyard.

The steps are punctuated with small micro-courtyards that continue into the library. The roof is clad in old, recycled tiles collected from numerous villages in the local area. At three moments the roof tiles become vertical walls and help direct run-off water to the ground. A perforated screen wall encourages climbing plants that then cool the air in the hot summer months. Smooth, mirror-tiles are deployed on the courtyard façade and on the vertical faces of the steps. This creates visual mirages and distorted reflections that animate as children play in the courtyard and steps. Through the provision of this open public space and library, the school can become a community focal point opened to all as the village evolves.

Text.- Rural Urban Framework (RUF)

CREDITS.-

Location.- Huaiji County, Guangdong Province, China
Commissioning donor.- Power of Love Ltd.
Additional donors.- Luke Him Sau Charitable Trust.
Design.- John Lin and Joshua Bolchover.
Landscape design.- Dorothy Tang.
Project manager.- Maggie Ma.
Project team.- Ho King Hei, Huang Zhiyun, Crystal Kwan, Jessica Lumley, Yau Ching Kit.
Commission Date.- May 2010.
Completion Date.- Sep 2012.
Size: 500 m2
Total Cost.- 90,000 USD (573,000 RMB)
Unit Cost.- 180 USD/ m2 (1,150 RMB/ m2) 

Read more
Read less

Rural Urban Framework (RUF). En 2005 el gobierno chino anunció su plan para urbanizar la mitad, o aproximadamente 350 millones de los 700 millones de ciudadanos rurales hacia 2030. Al mismo tiempo, Joshua Bolchover y John Lin fundaban Rural Urban Framework (RUF), una iniciativa de  investigación y diseño basada en la Universidad de Hong Kong. Planteada como una organización sin ánimo de lucro que provee servicios de diseño a organizaciones benéficas y ONGs que trabajan en China, RUF ha construido o esta en proceso de construir más de 15 proyectos en varios pueblos de China. Los proyectos incluyen escuelas, centros comunitarios, hospitales, viviendas, puentes y planes de crecimiento urbano. Como resultado de su compromiso activo, RUF ha podido investigar las conexiones entre los procesos sociales, económicos y políticos y la transformación física de cada pueblo.

Su trabajo ha sido expuesto internacionalmente, como en Get it Louder 2012, la Bienal de Chengdu 2011, la Bienal de Venecia 2010 y recientemente el MAK Viena;y también han recibido varios premios internacionales. The House for All Seasons, un prototipo de casa rural construido en la provincio de Shaanxi, China, fue premiado con el WA Chinese Architecture Award 2012 y el Architectural Review’s House Award 2012.

Tanto Bolchover como Lin actualmente trabajan como profesores asistentes en la Universidad de Hong Kong.

Read more
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...