The Micro Yuan'er Children's Library and Art Centre is located in the heart of Beijing, China. [1] Located in the hundreds-year-old Cha'er hutong, a Chinese courtyard, surrounded by family homes, [2] the award-winning structure is recognized for its blend of old and new architecture.
Funded by the municipal government, [3] the building is part of an urban development program [3] to enhance the lives of residents while preserving hutong history.
Zhang Ke of ZAO/standard architecture in Beijing designed the children's library and art centre as part of a hutong renewal project. [3] [4] Ke has a Master of Architecture from Harvard and is credited with bringing Ivy League design to the hutongs. [5] The architect believes it is good for the municipality to use small-scale construction as part of urban development. [6]
Located about one kilometre from Tiananmen Square and near a major mosque, the Cha'er hutong measures 350 square metres. [7] It was a typical Da-Za-Yuan, which means big, messy courtyard, [8] where up to a dozen families had lived for about 400 years. [7] The hutong contained a temple that was turned into residences in the 1950s. [9] The municipal government's Dashilar Investment [3] requested proposals for how to use the space, choosing a children's library. [6] The project's construction took place between 2012 and 2014. [9]
Since the 1950s, most families living there had added on a small kitchen in the courtyard. [10] Although most recent renovations eliminate add-on structures like these, the architects redesigned, renovated, and reused the remaining structures to create the library and art spaces, [3] preserving this oft-neglected layer of Beijing's contemporary civil history. [11]
The builders constructed the 9 metre square library beneath the pitched roof of another building in the courtyard. [3] It is made of plywood [2] and concrete mixed with Chinese ink [11] to blend with its grey urban surroundings. [12] Steps inside the building create an elevated reading area in front of a wide window, encouraging children to climb up and read a book. [8] Builders also transformed a former kitchen beneath a large Chinese scholar tree into a six-metre square micro art space [11] using recycled bricks. [6]
In 2016, the Hutong Children's Library and Art Centre project received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, one of six winners worldwide. [13] The award jury praised the project for its modification and re-use of a historic building and its embodiment of life in traditional courtyard residences. [3] The hutong renewal project appeared at Beijing Design Week 2014 and the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. [5] CNN called the architect a "game changer in Chinese design" for his various courtyard projects. [5]
The building contains a children's library and an elevated reading nook where children can read in front of a picture window. [3] There is a miniature art space nearby. [11] In one room, an artist may show children how to create paper cut art while a multifunction space is suitable for showing movies. [6] A large, hundreds-year-old scholar tree at the site provides a place for children to play. [12]
Local residents see the hutong renewal project as good for the community as the area was transformed from piles of rubbish to a place where children come to play and learn. [6] Hutong life revived through this project and enriched community bonds. [7] The project helped preserve historic buildings [3] instead of leveling the area for large-scale construction, bridging the gap between modern development and tradition. [5] Hutong renewal helps keep families in the community where they have lived possibly for hundreds of years instead of relocating to distant apartment towers, preserving their community bonds. [6]