Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of Tsinghua University

Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Interior Photography, Cityscape, WindowsBig Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior PhotographyBig Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography, FacadeBig Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Interior PhotographyBig Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - More Images+ 11

Changzhi, China
  • Design Team: Zetong Jiao, Yu Zhou, Ziming Huang, Shuai Si, Dan Li, Brian Wong, Sijia Liu, Pengpeng Lu, Xudong Liu, Youxin Chen, Gongming Jiang, Qi Wang, Jie Zhou, Xuejing Du
  • Client: Qinhe Town Government, Qinyuan County
  • City: Changzhi
  • Country: China
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Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Interior Photography, Cityscape, Windows
© Yu Zhou

Text description provided by the architects. The rise of rural constructions attracts architects to rush into the wild rural area as aliens, hunting for the meaning of construction there. Most architects focus on rural cultures and consider “nostalgia” as a major concept in their design works. The difficulty here is how to represent this poetic, yet abstract concept with a physical presence of architecture. For us, to regain nostalgia is to regain the lost sense of belonging to the community and the homeland by means of architecture.

Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Interior Photography, Cityscape
© Yu Zhou
Courtesy of Architectural Design and Research Insititute of Tsinghua University
Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography
© Weiqi Jin

There used to be a core public space in Chinese villages, but most of them have become desolate nowadays as the removal of the village host. Therefore, it requires designers, from the beginning of a rural project, to locate that lost space and start from there. In Qinquan Village, we found that core public space defined by an east-west axis, which starts from the village memorial gate and ends at where the village committee building is. Core area as such naturally became our design priority.

Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography, Windows, Brick, Facade
© Yu Zhou

Across the entire plaza, we designed a series of zigzag short walls, enclosing multiple micro plaza spaces on both sides of the axis, which provide seats and canopies with the existing trees and Roman columns. Introducing into our design more graphics is an extra experiment we did in this project. We took advices from the local residents for themes of the paintings on the short walls, which did enrich the spatial experience with paintings that are more familiar to the local, bringing the project closer to the village.

Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography, Facade, Windows
© Yu Zhou

Apart from being the village committee, the two-story building contains a few public programs, so it’s not only the geometric center, but also the activity center of Qinquan Village. Renovation for this building is therefore the highlight of the whole project. We proposed a low-tech “breathing skin” façade system, which is a matrix of 28,736 pieces of translucent acrylic panels with 15 colors, forming a huge fish image. The fish is the village totem from a famous local historical story, thus conveying the most emotional connection with the local inhabitants. In addition, to guarantee the basic environmental performance of the existing building, the new façade shades the west elevation while allowing for a decent amount of daylighting and ventilation. More importantly, we simplified the construction process and designed the last step of construction to allow unprofessional local residents to hang the acrylic panels onto the wire mesh themselves, participating in the creation of their own life scenes. So that the project became a collective work that evokes a sense of belonging among local residents.

Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Weiqi Jin
Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography
© Weiqi Jin
Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography, Windows, Facade
© Yu Zhou

The project made Qinquan Village one of the most successful rural revitalization projects in Qinyuan County. “Big Fish”, as the local call its nickname with the long-lost pride.

Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Yu Zhou
Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of  Tsinghua University - Interior Photography
© Yu Zhou

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Project location

Address:Qinquan Village, Qinyuan County, Changzhi City, Shanxi, China

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Big Fish, Revitalization of Qinquan Village Plaza / Architectural Design and Research Insititute of Tsinghua University" 16 Mar 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/935568/big-fish-revitalization-of-qinquan-village-plaza-architectural-design-and-research-insititute-of-tsinghua-university> ISSN 0719-8884

© Yu Zhou

大鱼,琴泉村广场更新 / 清华大学建筑设计研究院有限公司产业园区研究中心

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