China. A library framed by ruins as a concrete folie

For the second episode of the series of miniatures made in Xiuwu County, China, Atelier Xi creates a new volume dedicated library surrounded by the existing walls of an old residential building.

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020

Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Axonometric explose

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Site plan

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Ground floor plan

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Second floor plan

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Roof plan

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 South elevation

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 North facade

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Longitude section

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Cross section

Drawing Atelier Xi

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Maquette

Photo Atelier Xi

In the Chinese county of Xiuwu – located in the central Henan province – architecture firm Atelier Xi completes the construction of a library for the surrounding villages. The project is actually part of a more extensive itinerary of seven point buildings with cultural-recreational functions. The original assignment proposal was only for the design of a 300 square meter public building. However, considering the large catchment area and the difficulty of travelling between scattered villages, the architect preferred to divide the program into a series of miniature structures in different locations to better serve the local communities. These cast-in-place concrete miniatures, all different in form and program, are “interpreted in a series of tree-like spaces with tentacles reaching up to the sky, immersing themselves in light and shadow.”

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020. Photo Zhang Chao

Twenty kilometres away from the first intervention, the second episode of the miniature series, Library in Ruins, interfaces with an old residential building in Sunyao Old Village, an ancient village in a mountainous area far from the city centre now entirely abandoned. After an initial attempt to reuse the original rammed-earth technique, architect Chen Xi integrated a new concrete construction into the existing walls, allowing the new structure to grow out of the old ruin.

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020. Photo Zhang Chao

The elevation and interior spaces are unfolded in a topographical approach, with the undulating profile of the roof echoing the terrain and distant mountains. The building’s serpentine plan – which houses a tiered library and small screening room inside – also reverberates in the network of connecting paths, becoming an extension of the labyrinthine cave system of the surrounding context.

  • Miniature Series II: Library in Ruins
  • Atelier Xi
  • Chen Xi
  • Zhu Jing, Tian Di, Huang Jiajie, Wang Xingyao, Xu Lvbao, Wang Weiguo, Wen Weijian, Cao Suying
  • Li Jianhui (architecture), Su Zhimeng, Huang Xiaolong (structure), Gan Bin, Xiao Liangmin (MEP)
  • AURA Lighting Design Consultant
  • Henan Yuantuo Construction Company + Xiuwu County Construction Company
  • Xiuwu County
  • Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, Henan Province
  • 66 smq
  • 2020
Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Zhang Chao

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

Axonometric explose

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

Site plan

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

Ground floor plan

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

Second floor plan

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

Roof plan

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

South elevation

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

North facade

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

Longitude section

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Drawing Atelier Xi

Cross section

Atelier Xi, Library in Ruins, Sunyao Village, Xiuwu, China, 2020 Photo Atelier Xi

Maquette