Project Description
The cultural center is located in rural Chetian Village, in Guizhou Province, South-West China. The village has more than 400 years of history and is well known in the area for its stone houses, built with local materials. Of the 207 families living in the village, 41 belong to the Miao ethnic minority, one of the oldest minority groups in China, most of whom live in Guizhou province. Chetian Village is an important tourist attraction in the region and aims to protect and promote local minorities’ traditions and its stone architecture. It is frequently visited by ethnic minority tourists, mainly Miao and Hui, coming from nearby villages in Guizhou. The square outside the cultural center, surrounded by a river, is often used as a stage for local Miao dance and drama performances and for holding traditional ceremonies. The square also serves as a vibrant meeting point for tourists and locals.
The architecture of the cultural center is strongly characterized by 40-centimeter-thick walls, built according to local traditional methods, using stone from the village's pit. The stone has a unique blue shade, which is why it is commonly called 'blue stone'. It comes from sedimentary rocks and its major components are limestone and dolomite. The local construction techniques unfortunately got lost during the passing of time. Designers had to develop a new system, studying the existing stone houses of the village to preserve as much as they could the traditional masonry methods, together with more modern construction technologies. The strong and obsessive presence of the stone creates an intimate interior space and shows the architects' deep respect for the historical masonry traditions of Chetian Village.
This project perfectly sums up West-line Studio’s research and its approach to the design, which aims to create an architecture which stands as a display by itself, without only being a place to host exhibitions about local culture and handicrafts. The original existing stone houses comprise less than a quarter of the entire village – unfortunately most of them have been damaged or painted white. The use of the stone in the cultural center tells the history of Chetian stone culture and aims to save traditional skills which otherwise might get lost.
Construction
The whole project has been supported by government investments and the construction team was directed by the head of the village. During construction, three village heads succeed one another, and together with them different construction and extraction techniques.
The local traditional ones unfortunately got lost during the passing of years. Designers had to develop a new system, studying the existing stone houses of the village in order to preserve has much as they could the traditional masonry methods, together with more modern construction technologies. Furthermore, every village head and his team had a different approach and different techniques themselves, starting from material’s extraction from the village’s pit, to the cutting until the final posing.
Each and every stone keeps the memory of its construction process and of the different hands of those have shaped it.
Each and every stone shows the trials and the mistakes, which deliberately become an active part of the architecture.
Each and every stone takes on sociological significance in the process of understanding the life and culture of South-West China stone villages.