House of cornfield
This is a countryside home. It is a preliminary exploration of the sample of " living in-between " lifestyle that lies between nature and the city, with the expectation of containing a degree of freedom and vitality of life.
xiān ARCHITECTS was established in pursuit of the vast environment. Considering the origin of the mountains, rivers, villages and fields, we are particularly concerned about the core question that comes with it: how should people and buildings be standing in a village, standing in the vast landscape of mountains, rivers and fields, standing in the modern context? he special folk customs of rural areas, or whom the permanent ownership of this land or this building belongs to won’t change its essence.
The village where the homestead is located is surrounded by continuous mountains to the north and south. In between the village and the northern mountain lay a flowing rivers and large fields. We settle and gather in such "ancient" landscapes of mountains, rivers, villages and fields, and the memories of many past generations were shaped make us temporarily retain the instinct of closeness to the nature.
In the north, sunlight is precious in winter, you have to "compete for sunlight" (rotating 15 degrees from due south to east). Each courtyard has the most important building facing south, which is called “Zheng Fang” in Chinese. The layout of Zheng Fang, passed down from generation to generation, gradually evolves to be dignified, natural and graceful, which is exactly the simple process of the village gathering and standing. As we follow this traditional layout, the facade of Zheng Fang, where the question of how should a building be standing will be looked into, ought to be carefully considered. The courtyard is not the exterior of the indoor space but the interior of the living space.
The roofs of each household gather together, constituting a continuous landscape. As "new villagers", a gable roof is chosen to blend in to the vernacular landscape. The open cultivated fields, the continuous mountains and the setting sun exert a powerful call on the roof, but we respond with different sections. The Architecture becomes the eyes of the landscape, the ears of the environment, and the horn of signals . Due to the structure of the architecture, the breadth and intensity of the outside can continuously manifest in daily life, providing people with a support to connect to non-predetermined signals while wandering peacefully in their thoughts.
This is also a story of receiving information and sending out signal. For us, a need related to survival lurks when we first arrived at the homestead: to seeking a very direct and affirmative quality for the broader existence, with simple standing and absolute stillness.
