Tulou Housing Guangzhou / URBANUS Architects by Iwan Baan

Urbanus\' project

Architecture photographer Iwan Baan once again shared with us an impressive photo set on a social housing project by Chinese architects Urbanus.

The commission was to design a 220 apartment housing complex for people for low income families in Guangzhou. decided to give the complex a nice and intimate atmosphere, by reinterpreting the traditional Hakka Houses. This housing typology correspond to 300 year old houses in the south of China, and as you can see on some pictures after the jump, they are basically a large housing project where complete families live as a community (aunts, nieces, nephews, etc.)

You can take a look at the Urbanus’ complete photo set over here, and the Hakka Houses photos over here.

Original hakka houses
Original Typology

Original hakka houses
Original Typology

Urbanus\' project

Urbanus\' project

Urbanus\' project

Cite: Saieh , Nico. "Tulou Housing Guangzhou / URBANUS Architects by Iwan Baan" 08 Jun 2009. ArchDaily. Accessed 23 May 2013. <http://www.archdaily.com/24210>

21 comments

  2. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    wasn’t this already featured on this site?
    It actually has a nice grounding in chinese architectural history. I actually think it is a decent attempt at low cost housing. Compared to the millions of shitty high rise apartment blocks going up throughout china this is spectacular.

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  3. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Quite Chinable. Feels really chinese and humble, unlike the gay western designed social housing projects that often appear to be too luxurious for a non-market program.

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  4. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    This is a set of nice Chinese postcards. With no plans we can only speculate on a real value of this architecture.

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  7. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Agreed, it’s a good low-income housing project, and the attempt to ground the circular plan idea from a historical architectural legacy is a valid one.
    As a sidenote, the set of photos of the hakka houses is great!

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  8. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    In the previous post everybody thought this was inhumane, brutal and not sensitive to the context. Funny.

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  10. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Well, low-income housing is a tricky thing. I mean, I look at the pictures and think to myself that I would not like to live there myself. But the real question here is, are the people moving into this building improving their quality of life or not?

    It’s extremely easy to criticize low-income housing, as if poverty was a sin and an attack on good taste, but few of us have any idea of the budget restrictions on these kind of projects.
    Once again, I think they did a decent job here.

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  12. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    there is a deeper layer of social issues within this typology that westerners could hardly feel and understand~
    and the meaning to represent it in China’s nowaday urban society

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  13. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    how amazing the buiding and the case study. Chinese modern architecture is getting better and better!

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  15. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Mr. Cheap I haven’t changed my mind ;P

    I still think it’s a circular prison, yep…looks “cool”, but stills a prison.

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  16. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    the most fastinating fact about this building is that it takes its’ begining in chinese traditional architecture. And what european great blury stuff is based on?! Mies or Le Corb?
    Yeah, it might look like a prison, but is it bad if nearby runs huge highway with noise pollution? don’t you think you will feel yourself safetier inside of such a small and warm community than in the whatever residential open-planed and fully-glazed european development with absoliutely no sence of place?
    Like it a lot.

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  18. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Just got back from Fujian Province. Saw all the Tulous.

    Obviously, their will be parallels made between Bentham’s Panopticon and this design, but this might not be a bad thing. A central courtyard provides plenty of light, space, ventilation, and can allow for visual connections, keeping activity on view and acting as a deterrent for any illicit activities.

    This project is ridiculous in terms of its motivations. I can understand utilizing existing typologies, and interpreting them differently, but to exhibit pictures of the original Tulous is in bad taste. The original earth dwellings have unique characteristics particular to their situations (i.e. Fortification and protection, construction technique, etc.).
    In this sense, it is a copy, and not a very good one.

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  19. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Hi !

    I am currently in China ,Guangzhou and I am an Architect from Africa looking for a Chinese Architect to partner up with.Can I visit your office.If so please give me direction.

    Regards

    J. Maina

    Reply

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