Project Site @ Guangming Village, Longtoushan Town, Ludian County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, China
Project Background
Work Progress
Award
Ludian Countyis located between 568 m to 3356 m above sea level in Zhaotong Prefecture, Northeast Yunnan. Its total area is 1519 square kilometers, of which 87.9% is mountains and valleys. Such terrain makes transportation inconvenient and impedes the development of the area. Lidian has a low latitude upland monsoon climate. There is no significant temperature difference between the four seasons. The annual average temperature is 12.1 ℃ and annual average rainfall is 923.5mm. In 2012, there are 435,000 people in Ludian, of which 89,000 people (about 20.5%) are 13 ethnic minority groups including Hui, Yi and Miao.
The 2014 Ludian earthquake struck Ludian County, with Richter scale of 6.5 and a focal depth of 12km on 3 August 2014. The earthquake has claimed 617 lives. A further 112 people were reported missing and at least 3,000 people were injured. Over 80,900 houses collapsed and 129,100 were severely damaged.
Current challenges:
bad anti-seismic performance of traditional rammed-earth building
the price of construction materials rise seriously
how to deal with the earth of damaged building in earthquake
poor thermal performance of brick-concrete building
After earthquake, the villagers have lost confidence in traditional rammed-earth buildings. They are eager to have their houses which are anti-seismic, cheap and comfortable. In the collaboration with Professor Bai, Faculty of Architecture and City Planning of Kunming University of Science and Technology, our team has launched a Village Rebuilding Assistance Programme in Guangming Village since Oct. Its aim was to design an anti-seismic village house of rammed earth with traditional features at a low cost, but at the same time, with enhanced and comfortable living environment. In addition to rebuilding, we also wish to provide a demonstration for the local government to formulate reconstruction strategies.
The 2nd demonstration village house has been completed on 20 May. Despite of structure improvement, new design of the house makes maximum use of natural lighting and improves air circulation in the house. Please click here for more details.
Jun 2015 - project progress
The 1st demonstration village house has been completed in the end of Mar. Please click here to see its project summary.
In the past two months, the team concluded the building techniques and experiences gained from the construction of the 1st village house. And they are planning to launch the 2nd demonstration village house project in mid of Jul for an aged couple whose only shelter was a simple canvas structure after the earthquake.
May 2015 - project progress
To further investigate anti-seismic rammed earth architecture,
Kunming University of Science and Technology
and the Chinese University of Hong Kong jointly organized
a 1-week workshop that involved student participants
from both campuses in late May. The workshop's goal is to provide
students a hands-on experience on the design
and construction of rammed earth structure. Please click here to see the workshop report.
The team completed a manual for anti-seismic rammed-earth house construction (Chinese version only) in May. Please feel free to click here to download for reference.
Feb 2015 - project progress
Main construction work for the 1st demonstration village house has been completed on 10 Feb. The household moved in before Lunar Chinese New Year. The team hopes that it may alleviate pain and suffering inflicted by the earthquake and they can restart their new lives.
Jan 2015 - project progress
In mid Jan, the team conducted an anti-seismic testing for 1:1 abode brick wall and rammed earth wall. The test proves that their structures have good anti-seismic performance.
Dec 2014 - project progress
The construction work for the ground floor was completed in mid Dec. And the construction work for the 1st floor is expected to be completed on 8 Jan next year. Then the commencement work for the roof may start afterward. The final construction work will be completed by the end of Jan. The team believes that the household can move in the new house before Lunar New Year.
Nov 2014 - project progress
Rammed earth construction method is used to build the 1st demonstration village house. Under the team's supervison, the foundation was completed in mid Nov.
Oct 2014 - Investigation in Guangming Village
Team members from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Kunming University of Science and Technology and University of Cambridge had a visit to Guangming Village, one of the affected villages. After a detailed investigation, the team decided to launch a village rebuilding assistance programme in Guangming Village in late Oct and planned to rebuild the 1st demonstration village house within 3 months. Please click here to see the details of the work report (in Chinese version only).
Sep 2014 - 1st visit to affected areas in Ludian County
In order to learn about the situation after the earthquake, the team visited to affected areas in Ludian County, including Longtoushan Town, Huodehong Town and Shuimo Town, etc in late Sep.
Jan 2021 - The project received Social Responsible Architecture Award at ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2020
The objective of the ARCASIA Awards for Architectures (AAA) is to acknowledge exemplary architectural work and in doing so celebrate the Asian spirit, encourage the development and improvement of the Asian built environment and enhance of the awareness of the role of architects in the socio-economic and cultural life of Asian countries.
Nov 2020 - The project received HKIA Medal of the Year Outside Hong Kong and Special Architectural Award – Social Innovation
The Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA) Annual Awards aims at recognising outstanding architecture achievements by members of HKIA. The awards began in 1965 and is one of the most important architectural awards given out in Hong Kong in acknowledging distinguish merits and in offering the much-needed opportunity for public admiration and appreciation.
Jan 2020 - The project awarded the Grand Award (Completed Projects – Residential Building) in the New Buildings Category in the Green Building Award 2019 and also was accredited with a Special Citation on UN Sustainable Development Goals
The biennial Green Building Award has been jointly organised by the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and the Professional Green Building Council (PGBC) since 2010 and was inaugurated by PGBC in 2006. The Award aims to recognise nominations which go beyond the conventional practice, stretch their boundaries in advancing sustainability, and are capable of inspiring the next generation in how our future built environment could be.
Jun 2019 - The Project awarded a Gold Award - Residential category at HKIA Cross-Strait Architectural Design Awards 2019
Organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA), the HKIA Cross-Strait Architectural Design Awards recognise design excellence that contribute to better living, economic advancement, social impact and the building of a body of knowledge through innovation and creativity in Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong. Please click here to see the details.
Feb 2018 - The Project awarded the WAN Awards 2017 - WAN Residential Award
The WAN Awards are the world’s largest international architectural awards programme and for the first time they were holding an awards ceremony in central London to celebrate the best in architecture.
The WAN Awards showcase the very best in international architecture with categories ranging from Residential and Landscape to Adaptive Reuse and House of the Year.
Dec 2017 - The Project Won Local Grand Prize Award of the CIC Construction Innovation Award 2017
The 2nd CIC Construction Innovation Award, which is organized by Construction Industry Council aims to spearhead development of new concepts to enable continuous improvements in the construction industry of Hong Kong. It also aims to recognise and promote new technologies and scientific breakthroughs by both local and international academia and industry practitioners. The project won Local Grand Prize Award. Please click here to see details.
Nov 2017 - The Project awarded the World Building of the Year 2017 at the World Architecture Festival — ‘the Oscars of architecture’
The 2017 World Architecture Festival was hosted in Berlin, Germany. It received 924 entries from 68 countries around the world. The submitted projects ranged from family homes to schools, stations, museums, large infrastructure and landscape projects. Of the entries, 434 were shortlisted and nominated to present at the Arena in Berlin. The three-day festival attracted over 2,000 architects from across the globe. CUHK's anti-seismic earth house won the Old & New category Award to become one of the 18 finalists. On the last day of the festival, the grand-jury (Super Jury) awarded the 1U1V team the WAF World Building of the Year Award.
Jul 2017 - Architectural Review (AR) House Awards 2017
The project has recently won the Architectural Review (AR) House Awards 2017 which attracted 250 entries from all around the world. Please click here to see award details.
is located between 568 m to 3356 m above sea level in Zhaotong Prefecture, Northeast Yunnan. Its total area is 1519 square kilometers, of which 87.9% is mountains and valleys. Such terrain makes transportation inconvenient and impedes the development of the area. Lidian has a low latitude upland monsoon climate. There is no significant temperature difference between the four seasons. The annual average temperature is 12.1 ℃ and annual average rainfall is 923.5mm. In 2012, there are 435,000 people in Ludian, of which 89,000 people (about 20.5%) are 13 ethnic minority groups including Hui, Yi and Miao.
