Tulou Collective Housing China

Low-income housing apartment is a general concern in the Chinese modern cities. For Guangzhou and its neighbouring areas, the influx of migrant labors has triggered the rise of real estate price, and now the Chinese architecture practise URBANUS came up with a creative solution of Chinas contemporary collective housing, The urban Tulou, (is a dwelling type unique to the Hakka people. It is a communal residence between the city and the countryside, integrating living, storage, shopping, spiritual, and public entertainment into one single building entity) it is located on the border between Guangzhou and its neighbouring city of Foshan and is targeted for low-income workers. "We were designing a rental apartment building for people whose monthly income is below 1,500 yuan (P 10,932.27) and who would be very reluctant to spend more than 20 yuan (P 1,457.64) to stay at any place," Liu Xiaodu, founder and director of URBANUS said. URBANUS called their design an "e-shaped loop" - a fortified circle with an opening that invites people to explore inside. The "e-shaped loop" has an outer circular block with 7 stories. The round shape distinguishes itself from the block-shaped high-rising buildings in the surrounding. Within the outer circular block is a rectangular box with a collective roof garden on its top. A bridge element connects the inner rectangular block and outer circular. Both the blocks contain small apartment units; the spaces in between are for circulation and community use. A square courtyard is located in the centre of the whole complex.Like the traditionalTulouthat integrates living, storage, shopping, religion, and public entertainment into one single building entity, there are shops and other community facilities including library, bicycle parking and computer room etc., that are placed in the lower floors of the complex. The higher floors contain 278 dorms or units with carefully considered positions that allow day light and ventilation. The corridors and bridges with inserted public places give the residents extra opportunities for interaction, while the circular facade has a rather defensive expression to the outer side. In the summer, people often take their food to the terrace and eat together.

The Hakka people built fortified earthern houses to defend themselves against fierce animals and thieves. The layout of their Tulou followed the Chinese dwelling tradition of "closed outside, open inside" concept: an enclosed wall with living quarters around the peripheral and a common courtyard at the center. These round earthern houses captured the architects fascination with its underlying design philosophy. URBANUS experiments explored ways to stitch the Tulou within the existing urban fabric of the city. The close proximity of each Tulou building helps insulate the users from the chaos and noise of the outside environment, while creating an intimate and comfortable environment inside. A round shape would virtually fit in anywhere - it's the architectural antidote to social segregation, Liu Xiaodu says. Our Tulou is not a showpiece; it's a practical model, a viable design with a noble ambition.The entire structure is wrapped in a perforated concrete shell punctuated by wooden lattices that shade the balconies, giving each unit a secondary living space. The design translates the visual monotony inherent to an "e-shaped loop" with richly textured inner and outer facade.

In the south China, where there is a much longer summer season and a relatively warm winter, it is necessary to prevent the penetration of the sun by using few windows, smaller courtyard together with thick walls. Those are the technically sophisticated features of the traditional Fujian Tulou. Like the thick walls of pounded earth that functions as the insulation from summer heat, URBANUS designed extra living spaces by adding balconies to each unit. The balconies with wooden lattices build a protective outer layer to foil direct sunshine in the summer, while the open interior of the structure creates a sense of space and light, as well as provides plenty of natural ventilation.SWOT Analysis

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