Chinese Small Scale Architecture
Small-scale architectural projects that explore intimate spaces, cultural expression, and localized design solutions.
Chaoffice Shelters a Terracotta Family House Beneath Old Beijing Trees and a Faceted Timber Roof
In Beijing, Chaoffice's 438 m² terracotta house folds kitchen, dining and a double-height living room around mature trees and a garden courtyard.
CM Design Docks a Corrugated Steel Box beside a Vernacular Brick House in a Dongguan Village
In Dafeng Village, Dongguan, a 109 m² renovation pairs rammed earth rooms and family memory with a metal annex, spiral stair and shared courtyard.
Hongkou Cemetery: A City of the Dead
The design seeks to respond to the ever-increasing need for more accessible burial places in Shanghai by exploring a balance between efficient density and quality of space, drawing from the concepts of qi – 氣 – and the well-field system – 井田制度 – which are traditional to Chinese planning.
Very ambicious project, there is a very well understanding of process concerning the city fabric; probably a little bit dense in terms of dimensions in relationship with the site, but structurally well planned.
S-AR Builds a Five-Square-Meter Concrete Chapel in a Mexican Garden from Thin Walls and Old Bricks
In Santiago, Nuevo León, a tunnel of 8 cm concrete walls tilts down to a steel cross, floored with crushed brick from the chapel it replaced.
COLORFULL YUJING DESIGN Stacks a Jinjiang Tea House, Shoe Market and Sky Garden into a Five-Level Brand Showroom
In Quanzhou's Jinjiang, a 275 m² retail building wraps local footwear, tea and souvenirs in terracotta, mesh and glass beneath a giant red mascot.
Yinyuan Studio Stacks an Eleven-Room Earthen Guesthouse Against the Cliffs of Linzhou, Henan
In Gailouquan Village, Linzhou, a 1,395 m² homestay stacks eleven rooms over a water-lit dining hall, using earthen walls and voids to frame cliffs.
MAD Architects Buries a Shenzhen Culture Complex Beneath a Park and Lets Granite Pebbles Break the Surface
In Shenzhen's Houhai district, a 188,000 m² cultural complex hides most of its program under walkable roofs and answers the glass skyline with stone.
Office Canopy of Architecture Retrofits a Tiled Shaoxing Block into an Open-Source Community Commune
In Shangyu's old city centre, a 4,416 m² renovation stacks a library, canteen, shops and kiosks into one porous public building.
REAL Architects and Challenge Design Plant a Timber Gridshell Seed at the Heart of Shanghai's West Bund
On Shanghai's Xuhui Waterfront, a 230 m² glazed timber lattice dome anchors a terraced garden and lets its structure do all the talking.
Vari Architects Turns the Roof Above Its Own Chongqing Studio into a Three-Tier Public Market
A 4,000 m² rooftop market in Chongqing that stacks shops, walkways and a sky garden on a retained concrete frame, run by the architects who built it.
Modum Atelier Grafts a Glass and Timber Pavilion onto a Qing Dynasty Qilou to Make a Zhongshan Café
On Zhongshan's Minzu Road, a 77 m² café keeps its Jiaqing-era brick firewalls and timber frame while steel, glass and timber add a modern pavilion.
3XN, B+H and ZHUBO Design Shape the Shenzhen Natural History Museum as a Walkable Geological Landscape
Beside Yanzi Lake in Shenzhen's Pingshan District, a 105,300 m² museum folds its galleries under a public roof that behaves like a river-carved hillside.
Vari Architects Turns an Abandoned Show-Villa Island in Chengdu into a Lakeside Retail Village
On Luxe Lakes in Chengdu, a field of abandoned show villas becomes a loose cluster of shops, terraces and gray spaces that soften into the landscape.
Atelier Z+ Builds a Temporary Office Around a Single Tree on Shanghai's Yangpu Waterfront
On Guangde Road in Yangpu, Shanghai, a two-storey bar of corrugated metal, brick and steel walkways treats temporary construction as a serious civic act.
1Y Architects Stacks Red Plastic Stools into a Tapering Tower for Foshan's Creative Week
In Foshan, China, a 36 m² installation turns the humble Cantonese red plastic stool into a steel-framed tower you can sit beneath and look up through.
Atelier Ma_BIAD Lifts a 240-Metre Office Ring over a Forest Plaza for Midea in Shanghai
In Shanghai's Xi-Hongqiao district, a cable-stayed steel ring for 15,000 Midea staff floats on cores, freeing the ground for parks, courts and water.
Shenzhen Huahui Design and iDEA Stack a Library and Youth Center Around a Hanging Garden in Luohu
In Shenzhen's dense Luohu District, two offset towers split reading and youth programs, then meet in a multi-level sky garden that frees the ground.
Z&Z STUDIO Steps a Shenzhen High School Down a Hillside and Lifts Its Running Track into the Air
In Shenzhen, a 46,447 m² terraced courtyard campus stacks classrooms, gardens and a raised 300m track between park, mountain and harbour.
line+ studio Turns a 1958 Hangzhou Chemical Fiber Factory into an Industrial Garden on the Grand Canal
Along Hangzhou's Grand Canal, two retained factory buildings anchor a weathering steel campus of offices, shops and public courtyards at LOFT49.
Compelling final scheme--especially the axon. Unlike other schemes, there was a lot of attention to the ground level. Bringing water into the parcel is a thoughtful design gesture.