In the mountain valleys of China’s Fujian Province, thousands of large, rammed earth fortresses lay abandoned. Once used for both defense and collective housing, the tulou typology is an integral part of the region’s cultural heritage, with 46 of them being recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Despite this, the rural communities surrounding them have struggled to find new roles and purposes for these buildings. Going beyond the need for conservation, architect Xu Tiantian of DnA_Design and Architecture set out to develop and adapt this heritage to reintroduce it into community life. The Fujian Tulou | Adaptive Reuse project recently won the Gold Prize of Holcim Awards 2023 for Asia-Pacific, recognized for creating “an exemplary model for building conservation initiatives.” In a video interview for ArchDaily, Xu Tiantian discusses the principles that underpin this initiative and the potential outcomes of adaptive reuse in rural communities.
The project proposes the adaptive reuse of abandoned tulou buildings, seeing it as an urgent social strategy to address both their current neglected state and the needs of rural communities. Rather than preserving the structures solely as historical relics, the initiative explores how they can be repurposed to serve new, contemporary roles. By introducing new cultural and public functions, these structures can transform into community centers and public cultural spaces, restoring local identity and revitalizing rural economic and social development.
The process emphasizes the collective memory and sentimental connection to tulou, viewing them as symbols of local heritage. Working with local craftsmen and traditional building technologies like rammed earth and timber structures fosters a strong sense of pride across their community. The projects also introduce new materials and contemporary building methods that are compatible with the vernacular technologies, thus preserving the original character while creating new open spaces for public use.
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Winners Announced for the 2023 International Holcim AwardsThe design wasn’t about the preserving of one individual building, but about looking into abandoned tulou as an urgent social situation. We also took the ruin of tulou as a new typology and a new opportunity to restore the rural identity, to rebuild the collective memory of local communities. At the same time, it becomes the meeting point for visitors and local villagers, bringing new economic potential to this region. - Xu Tiantian
According to the jury chair for the Asia-Pacific region, Manit Rastogi of Morphogenesis, the choice of the winning entry was unanimous. The project stood out as an initiative that goes beyond sustainable design, as it looked at fundamental questions regarding the potential of existing structures to be transformed and adapted to the current and future needs of their communities.
In a video interview for ArchDaily, he also discusses the challenges of evaluating projects from the Asia-Pacific region, a large area with many diverse cultures, opportunities, and challenges. Among the projects that entered the competition, he observed a common emerging theme: a drive to create community-centered projects that “do a lot more with a lot less.” Working with limited resources in areas where basic needs are not met, these initiatives find creative and innovative ways to move forward. Aligned with this ethos, the silver medal winner is the Ger Plug-In 3.0 project in Mongolia, by the District Development Unit, Energy Efficient Design Build, and Ger Hub, while the Bronze Winners if the NUS Yusof Ishak House by the National University of Singapore (NUS).
You can now register on the Holcim Awards 2025 page, where individuals can express their interest and receive notifications when the competition opens.
