atelier zhouling plans a new 'old village' community in rural china

mugou village: reinventing rural housing in china

Situated in China‘s Jiangsu Province, and with architecture by Atelier Zhouling, the new Mugou Village lies in the heart of the Li-Xi-He Plain. In response to the ‘New Rural Community’ initiative launched in 2020 by Jiangsu Province, the team seeks to enhance living conditions for villagers, combat rural hollowing out, and foster an integrated relationship between urban and rural areas in the modern era. The project at once introduces new community programming and a centralized government to the Old Village of Mugou, while also developing a new village sited two hundred and fifty meters west of the old one to construct resettlement homes. As part of its first phase, a total of thirty houses will be relocated to this new village.

images © Bowen Hou

responding to the agricultural landscape

In the design of the new Mugou Village community, Atelier Zhouling prioritizes the preservation of the original geographical features of rural northern China to the fullest extent possible. The architects note that the area’s geography is defined by its well-established water system, with interconnected networks of water fields and ponds which surround the village layouts. The houses in The New Village are deliberately organized to fit into this current state, with careful consideration given to preserving the integrated geomorphic elements of ‘water-field-village’ and the scenic atmosphere of the existing environment. Nature is intervened with meticulous attention to detail to ensure the maintenance of the original landscape.

the community planned by atelier zhouling

The spatial arrangement in Atelier Zhouling’s Mugou Village is characterized by a stylized approach. A group of four units are arranged around a central courtyard, while clusters of six to ten units are formed in five different styles. The central courtyard serves as the main feature of the layout, facilitating the natural clustering and formation of the settlement into the growth mode of ‘monomer-courtyard combination-cluster-settlement.’

Mugou Village is a contemporary community with a fresh approach to the ‘water village settlement.’ It highlights the connection between the old and new villages and incorporates contemporary design to reinterpret traditional language. The new village updates the region’s fabric with contrasting geometric surfaces, lines, and solids using ‘whiting’ brick walls and dark gray tile. It captures ‘the beauty and aesthetic vision of traditional dwellings in the waterside villages of northern Jiangsu.’