Date 17.11.2017
An anti-seismic rammed-earth house designed and built by the One University One Village (1U1V) team at CUHK has received the top award of World Building of the Year 2017 at the World Architecture Festival (WAF). The prototype house constructed for an aged couple in Yunnan Province demonstrates how traditional building methods can be improved to provide villagers with safe, affordable, comfortable, and sustainable homes, setting an example for future village development.
Led by our Prof. Edward Ng, Dr. Wan Li and PhD student Chi Xinan, and in collaboration with Dr. Emily So (University of Cambridge) and Prof. Bai Wenfeng (Kunming University of Science and Technology), the architectural project in Guangming Village was built in response to the Ludian earthquake in 2014, which left 617 people dead and thousands homeless. Employing local materials and an innovative rammed-earth construction technique supported by scientific research, the 148m2 two-storey house costs 40% less than the brick-concrete buildings in the village and has a low carbon footprint. It is also safe and sturdy, as it stood undamaged when two subsequent earthquakes hit.
The 2017 World Architecture Festival was hosted in Berlin, Germany. It received 924 entries from 68 countries around the world. CUHK’s anti-seismic prototype won in the New & Old – Completed Buildings category to become one of the 18 finalists for the World Building of the Year title. The project also received the Architectural Review (AR) House Award 2017 earlier this year.
