House G

Amid the intense commercial development of China’s countryside, House G is an atypical mode of rural intervention. Rather than serving investors, the design is honestly based on the fundamental needs of users and their living habits. It is a house that reflects the domestic lives and activities of the family, as opposed to be a spectacle inserted in the suburban landscape.

House G is located in a village two hours away from Shanghai. The village has a set of rigid regulations governing the design of the house in terms of areas, height, etc. Local customs such as cultural traditions and building methodologies form another layer of constraints. The two sets of "rules" define the current domestic vernacular landscape in the rural areas of Southern China. As a response to these constraints, the house adopted a form that elegantly and humbly exists in the surrounding as opposed to be an icon imposed onto the landscape. It took the form of a linear pitched-roof volume that naturally blends in the context, with its overhanging horizontal roof deriving from the traditional vernacular architecture in Southern China. South facade is elongated to increase exposure to sunlight and views towards the paddy. Extended roof and continuous balconies emphasized the horizontality of the house, which perceptually reduces the height of it, and unifies the two separate volumes into a whole. The continuous balcony on the South façade also defined a shaded effective public space on the first level that allows house owners daily interaction with neighbors.