ZAO / Zhang Ke Architecture Office

The small centre for culture and art is situated in a traditional Han Chinese district in the Dashilar subdistrict, to the south of the former inner city wall of Beijing, almost in direct proximity to the Qianmen Mosque at Cha’er Hutong Number 8. This subdistrict grew in a much more organic way in the urban development layout than the courtyard houses around the Forbidden City erected on a strict north-south axis, where the Manchu ethnicity, which was originally part of the imperial household, resided.
During the Cultural Revolution, more than a dozen families lived here in extremely cramped conditions. To expand the space available, everyone built their own kitchen in the courtyard without a plan or concept. These self-built, small architectures were created with found materials, which shaped the informal character of the district in a collage with the existing structures.

The architects made conceptual use of the structural layer as inspiration for redefining the spatial characteristics of an historical epoch. The fragmentary collage of materials was removed along with components that were no longer needed. In their place, the new extensions and installations set new aesthetic standards with just a few materials like concrete, grey brick, and natural wood frames for the doors and windows, thus calling to mind the old courtyard houses, but nevertheless without erasing the informal history. As a children’s library and meeting point for the neighbourhood, the centre brings a new public realm into the hitherto exclusively private courtyard. Some of the old residents have remained in their units, which means that public and private uses exist next to one another.