Guo Shaoxun, who majored in urban design at Shanghai-based Tongji Univeristy, found that designers are restricted in many ways when doing grand urban planning. He wanted to do something he truly wanted.

For Guo, he prefers to go to the countryside.

He believes that with rapid urbanization, designers have become even more specialized. For instance, there are now architects, interior designer, soft designer, landscape designer and so on.

But when he decided to go to the countryside, he found that designing there requires the architect to stay on-site for a long time, and it is more like a dialogue with nature. And he needs a team that is familiar with both architecture and the countryside.

Compared to a designer in the city who can work mainly in the office, designers in the countryside need to be part of the village, so they can allow each building a specific way to express the uniqueness of its environment.

Localization is every important, either in materials or the arrangement of space.

Guo also found that in the countryside, there is a new expression of architecture. For example, television is not the most important facility in the living room, instead it is more important to give people a place to communicate.

For Guo, it is a process of overthrowing and remodeling.

When he arrived in a village, there were only three families left, and most young people had left for working in cities. However, when his project was completed, the village was rejuvenated again. Many people visited the place from thousands of kilometers away.

It has also attracted the old inhabitants who had left in the first place. 

Guo hopes that through his project, he can get to know a specific culture, such as the custom of the area, the landscape and climate, before creating the new landscape. It is a way to distinguish the countryside from the cities – allowing people to take a break and be closer to their souls.

Editor: Ai Yan

Cover image: Qu Bo

Executive producer: Zhang Xiaohe 

Producer: Si Nan 

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei