Article source: SUP Atelier

On the mountainside of Guniujiang Resort sits Qifeng Village of Shitai County, Chizhou City, Anhui Province. Our first visit there took us an hour’s drive around the steep and winding mountain roads. At the entrance of the village stood two ginkgo trees, which were said to be over 1,000 years old, with trunks so strong that at least two or three people were needed to encircle one. Flat farmlands with crops as tall as a man stretched in front of the village, and farmhouses with white walls and black tiles lined along the hillside. Qifeng Village seemed to have receded into the bamboo groves in the mountain.

On first sight, houses in the village revealed roughness simple and practical. Unlike Huizhou courtyards with complex layout and mansions with delicate decorations, the village houses stayed simple with black-tiled pitched roofs and square windows revealing a sense of time, while draped eaves and gable walls were the only decorative elements. Buildings at the entrance of the village were mostly for public use, such as mills, tool storage rooms and the commune’s house, while villagers’ homes receded deep into the mountain.

After Renovation, Image Courtesy © Wang Rui

• Architects: SUP Atelier
• Project: History Museum of Qifeng Village
• Location: Qifeng Village, Shitai County, Chizhou City, Anhui Province
• Photography: Wang Rui
• Client: Qifeng Village Committee
• Architectural Design: SUP Atelier/ School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
• Architectural Design Team: Song Yehao, Sun Jingfen, Jiang Chunyu, Chen Xiaojuan, Xie Dan, Chu Yingnan， Huang Zhihao
• Illumination Design & Consultation: Zhang Xin Studio of School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
• Structural Consultation: Sun Xiaoyan, Gong Zheng
• Exhibition Design: Hefei Yijian Interior Design Company
• Contractor: Huangshan Yongzhu Construction Co., Ltd.
• Building Area: 245 Square Meters
• Time of Completion: 2018/10/15

(more…)