There is no doubt that village architecture is the hottest architectural topic at the moment. Numerous architects are flocking to the village stage to show their skills. Among them, there are some excellent buildings with great national identity and creativity – the village building has become a gathering place for local architects to practice their own cultural lineage. But the results are mixed. There are those who are desperate to shout; there are those who are pretentious and even produce rubbish.

The countryside must not be turned into a tool for architects’ sentiments to proliferate. We are clearly opposed to the design of ostentatious, eye-catching, noisy and even “French”, “Italian” and “post-modern fauvist” buildings in the Chinese countryside. This is as ridiculous as the appearance of a Huizhou village in a Nordic forest. If we need a “style” at all, I hope it is based on the village, as if it grew out of the land.

▼顶视图，top view ©10 STUDIO

“The field and the lane are the origin of rural beauty. It is essentially a spatial aesthetic of contrast and transformation. Rural architecture must be rooted in the land. Building for the user, or building for perception? We firmly choose the former.” –Wang Chen

Village²/Hongzhuang Art Lane was built in Hongzhuang Village, Shiyan Town, Dongtai City, Jiangsu Province. It took one year to complete and put into use from the initial design, with a construction area of about 4,300m², including the Master Wu Weishan Art and Literature Museum, the villagers’ festival hall, the village banquet and village accommodation, and the idyllic book bar. It successfully blends into this beautiful countryside without any sense of abruptness.

Two settings were proposed early in the creation process and have been implemented throughout. 1. to aim for the project to achieve its own business survival after completion, to achieve its own ecological cycle and not to rely on government subsidies. 2. The completion of the project is not the end, but the beginning of the spontaneous formation of tourism services by the villagers in the vicinity, controlling the amount of construction and forming a “fire”.