Huashu Rural College
Huashu Rural College is a renovation of two old bungalows with gable roof: one is heaped up with stones, while the other is a brick-and-concrete building.
Located in South of Zhouchong Village, Huashu, Nanjing, at the foot of the dam of Zhouchong Tank, this project is renovated from two old rural houses as a part of a model program exploring new leisure village and urban-rural interaction. The design strategy is addition and adjustment, aiming at discovering the characteristic and beauty of the original buildings and their surroundings. The bright brick residence was turned into a tidy and clear reading room with a sense of rituality, while the dark stone barn changing into a social room with quiet atomosphere and rich texture. Two added courtyards applied light steel structure. Standing on the elevated yard, you can enjoy the scenes of surrounding tank, mountains and villages, while sitting in the long yard, you build communication beside the lotus pond and vegetable garden. These buildings are now used as a free book club, attracting urban readers to join in public communication and experience the semi-planting and semi-reading culture, meanwhile it also serves for the villagers as a locale cultural center.
