The forgotten villages of China being transformed by 'barefoot architects'

Aug 27, 2019

Plants grow on houses in the abandoned fishing village of Houtouwan on the island of Shengshan July 26, 2015. Just a handful of people still live in a village on Shengshan Island east of Shanghai that was once home to more than 2,000 fishermen. Every day hundreds of tourists visit Houtouwan, making their way on narrow footpaths past tumbledown houses overtaken by vegetation. The remote village, on one of more than 400 islands in the Shengsi archipelago, was abandoned in the early 1990s as first wealthy residents then others moved away, aiming to leave problems with education and food delivery behind them. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYPICTURE 2 OF 20 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY "CREEPING VINES, ABANDONED VILLAGE"SEARCH "SAGOLJ ABANDONED" FOR ALL PICTURES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - GF20000007491

Architects are breathing new life into rural Chinese settlements. Image: REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Xiang Ren

Lecturer in Architecture, University of Sheffield

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An abandoned building in Anhui province – a typical scene in non-listed rural villages. Image: Xiang Ren, Author provided

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Interior of the new-into-old building, with flexible timber structure to respond to the users’ changing needs. Image: Wei He., Author provided

An ‘eco-lodge’ in Jianshan village, designed and built by the barefoot architect without any drawings, has become a popular destination to learn about building with earth. Image: Xiang Ren., Author provided

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