series of gable roofs top xiān architects’ house of cornfield in rural beijing

xiān architects embrace the village’s vernacular landscape

House of Cornfield sits in the countryside near Beijing against a mountainous backdrop. With the dwelling, Chinese practice Xiān Architects questions the role that buildings play in communities, how they standard in modern rural contexts, and how they interact with their engulfing natural environments. Stone walls enclose the site, which comprises a series of volumes and open areas — each topped by a gable roof to create a continuous visual language within and echo the vernacular landscape beyond.

open spaces connect the volumes of house of cornfield

In between the village in Huairou and the northern mountain lay a flowing river and vast cultivated fields. Within this ancient landscape in the north, sunlight is precious in winter, leading buildings to position their courtyards to face the south. This traditional layout, called Zheng Fang in Chinese, is carefully adopted by the team at Xiān Architects for House of Cornfield. Here, the courtyard becomes not the exterior of the indoor space but the interior of the living space.

‘The open cultivated fields, the continuous mountains, and the setting sun exert a powerful call on the roof, but we respond with different sections. The Architecture becomes the eyes of the landscape, the ears of the environment, and the horn of signals,’ note the architects. Due to the structure of the architecture — open yet enclosed — the breadth and intensity of the outside world can continuously manifest in daily life for residents.

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project info:

name: House of Cornfield

architect: Xiān Architects
design team: Wang Yanshi, Baihe
location: Huairou, Beijing, China

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