Page 132 - Green Building Award 2012

PROJECT INTRODUCTION
Over the past 30 years, mass migration of rural villagers has not
only enabled the growth of Chinese cities but also imposed an
equally dramatic effect on their rural homeland. This results in a
transformation in the vernacular architecture of China: a wholesale
shift from regionally specific building types to generic, concrete,
brick and tiled buildings. The Shijia Village Ecological House
project bridges between the old vernacular and the new building
type as well as preserve the intelligence of local materials and
techniques. It serves as a prototype for the modern Chinese mud
brick courtyard house. However the project is not simply a traditional
courtyard house. It is a result of investigation into the modern village
vernacular and represents an architectural attempt to consciously
evolve vernacular house construction in China.
SITE CONTEXT
Shijia Village is located in the northern part of Shaanxi Province,
near the city of Xi’an. It began as a summer workshop with students
who documented and interviewed various families in the village,
collectively compiling a portrait of the modern Chinese village house
– a portrait not only of building types but of a lifestyle in transition. All
houses in Shijia Village are originally of mud brick construction and
occupy plots of the same configuration: 10 m x 30 m. These plots
are walled off and contain internal courtyards. Often the older mud
houses are retained for storage and a new brick extension is built
at the other end of the plot. The courtyard typically spans between
these two buildings. The houses are each in the midst of a long
process of change as villagers continually renovate and build upon
the courtyard typology.
COURTYARD DESIGN
In the Chinese context, rural livelihood can perhaps be best-
expressed through the utilization of the domestic courtyard, where
much of life takes place. Indeed, the majority of a village’s open
space is contained within the walls of the house. This sets up an
intimate relationship between the courtyard and other interior rooms
that is both visual and functional. Our prototype house design
includes four functional courtyards as the primary element of the
house. The courtyards are inserted throughout the house to relate
to the main functional rooms: kitchen, bathroom, living room and
bedrooms. Each courtyard is spatially unique. One could say the
house is designed around the courtyards.
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
Traditional and modern sustainable concepts are implemented to
improve environmental efficiency in the house. Smoke from the
stove is channeled through the traditional heated bed before it
exits the chimney. Apart from providing a space for drying food and
steps for seating, the multifunctional roof is also a means to collect
rainwater which is channeled down and stored in the courtyard for
usage during the long and dry seasons. A reed bed system filters
the grey water for irrigation in the planting courtyards. The courtyard
also houses pigs and an underground biogas system utilizes human
and animal waste to produce renewable energy for cooking. Thermal
comfort is also achieved through the use of materials. The mud
brick infill wall protected by the brick screen is a traditional means
of insulation in the continental climate while the porous brick screen
allows summer breeze pass through into the courtyards.
CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS
The house prototype demonstrates how the traditional and new
structural systems can be brought together. The concrete column
and roof structure are combined with traditional mud brick walls as
infill which in turn serves as an insulation layer for the house. The
entire peripheral mud wall is ‘wrapped’ and protected by a brick
screen.While preserving the traditional construction techniques,
the new concrete framework provides structural strength and anti-
seismic resistance which is not possible in the traditional building
method. Mud bricks used in the construction are either recycled or
manufactured locally in the village.
As part of the communication process with local village contractors, models were built
which helped to facilitate a better understand of the building.The models conveyed the
building procedure as well as clear articulation of each building element.
A family of three generations living in a traditional mud brick house
Floor plan
130 Green Building Award 2012
Towards Zero Carbon
Shijia Ecological House
石家村生態農宅
Building under Construction-Asia Pacific 興建中建築 - 亞太區
Merit Award 優異
New Building Category
新建建築類別