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How two architects are transforming Chinese villages

Source: CNN

By Oliver Giles, CNN

As young architects in Hong Kong in 2005, Joshua Bolchover and John Lin were in the right place at the right time.

China was urbanizing at an unprecedented rate and had become a playground for architects. Zaha Hadid’s design for the Guangzhou Opera House had broken ground, Rem Koolhaas had unveiled plans for Beijing’s CCTV Headquarters, and dozens of other headline-grabbing, big-budget projects were being built in cities across the country.

But Bolchover and Lin weren’t interested.
“At the time, many people were talking about the cities in China,” Bolchover recalls. “But we were thinking, ‘What else is going on? What’s happening to the rest of the country? What does the rural look like in China, given that this process of urbanization is occurring?'”
These questions led the duo to establish Rural Urban Framework (RUF), a design lab operating out of the University of Hong Kong. The not-for-profit organization works on public service projects — including hospitals, schools and houses — for rural communities around China.

Categories: Architecture, Asia, China

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