Under the Eaves' is the Frist Prize winning entry for the 'Village: Revisited' competition in Hainan, China. The project challenges the viability of redeveloping underutilized structures in rural settings, and questions what it means to repurpose an abandoned primary school into a guest accommodation.
"Under the Eaves," phonetically evoking "hot summer" in Chinese, intends to capture lush greenery and vitality of scorching summer days.
The project advocates a return to a village-centric residential concept, encouraging guests to embrace a slow-paced, close-to-nature lifestyle, nurturing harmony with the natural environment.
The design approach starts with preserving, restoring, and enhancing the existing buildings, focusing on reusing original walls, structures, and openings. This includes removing surface lime from the exterior walls and restoring the interior red bricks to accentuate their distinctive features, creating a traditional, ecologically authentic ambiance inside.
The emphasis is on the form and shape of eaves and roofs, where walking beneath them blurs the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces with shifting light and shadow.
