The Walls Children’s Teaching Restaurant
Xiamutang, China

2019
The Scarcity and Creativity Studio
*Young Talent Architecture Award YTAA 2020 Asia Edition

scs.aho.no
archdaily.com/921847/the-walls-childrens-teaching-restaurant-n-a
archdaily.com/948969/young-talent-architecture-award-2020-announces-winners

China’s explosive growth has been fueled by a predominantly rural to urban migration, leaving large parts of the countryside depopulated. At present, China is losing around 300 rural villages per day. As a result, the Chinese government is looking for rural development models capable of preserving rural life, considered the foundation of traditional Chinese culture and values. The project was developed through practical, trans-continental cooperation, which involved design, production, and building.

The site for the project is located between the village of Xiamutang and surrounding agricultural fields, on a steep and narrow site containing mature camphor trees. Adding to the fact that the area was not much larger than the program to be housed, these conditions defined the design concept. Five free-standing parallel walls run along the site's contours, stepping down to follow the site's topography. In between these walls are the functions of the building: a store, a kitchen, a dining room, and adjoining external spaces.

Each wall is free-standing and cantilevering from reinforced concrete foundations on clay soil. The walls are built of hollow concrete blocks with reinforced concrete columns inside. The walls are rendered, inside and out, in the sand and white-cement pigmented with ferric oxide to produce a distinctive 'Chinese' red, ubiquitous in historic buildings, such as The Forbidden City in Beijing, and symbolic of happiness in Chinese culture.