Chinese Small Scale Architecture
Small-scale architectural projects that explore intimate spaces, cultural expression, and localized design solutions.
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.
Chiasmus Partners Wraps a Concrete Crescent House Around a Hillside Lawn in Yongin
In Yongin's Hyangrindongsan, a 198 m² house curves its glass and white concrete around a courtyard lawn, turning a slope into a private enclosure.
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.
