Atelier Xu

Pushan Village is located in the southeast of Meilin Town, Nanjing County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, at 117 degrees east longitude and 24 degrees north latitude.
It is an ancient village with a long history, known for its ancient paths, earthen building structures called Tu Lou, and picturesque landscapes with mountains and rivers. These characteristics also represent Fujian Province, which is predominantly mountainous and hilly, accounting for approximately 90% of the total land area in the province.

Unlike other regions in China, Fujian’s coastal areas have a maritime civilization, while the inland Hakka regions have an agricultural civilisation. The Hakkas who settled in the mountainous region of southwestern Fujian province developed a unique form of architecture known as the Tulou. With rammed-earth walls and assembly timber structure,Tulou buildings are considered the most ecological architecture on earth. Pushan Village is famous for its Tulou and natural landscape. One good example is the UNESCO-listed Hegui Tulou, which is situated in Pushan.
The design task for this semester will be an architectural intervention, to connect various Tulou in three specific sites of Pushan Village. Collectively the interventions will build-up a new circulation to revive the village; a new view corridor integrated with the typology of the Tulou as assets and identity, and influenced by the landscape. 

The study trip will take place in China in the region of Fujian, Nanjing and Lishui, from the 10th to the 17 of September.