Jovana 和张雷在青山村的家

Sapce designPINWU2017

"For the past ten years, we've been studying traditional materials and construction techniques, including rammed earth houses. As our understanding deepened, the idea of living in one naturally emerged. Rammed earth houses are highly energy-efficient, warm in winter and cool in summer, possessing a wisdom that industrial concrete buildings cannot match."

— Jovana Zhang & Zhang Lei

In 2017, following the relocation of PINWU and the Rong Design Library to Qingshan Village in Yuhang, Hangzhou, Jovana and Zhang Lei also decided to settle in the village. From Milan to Hangzhou, and then to Qingshan Village in Yuhang, it was a journey of "going rural" while integrating local traditional crafts with contemporary design.

In one of the few remaining rammed earth houses in Qingshan Village, they found a two-story small building constructed in 1983. The house was well-structured and open, and upon seeing it for the first time, Jovana already had a clear vision for its renovation.

The entire renovation process involved continuous experimentation with traditional materials and techniques, preserving the original rammed earth and wooden structures.

The furniture in the restaurant includes Jovana's earlier work, the "Cicada Dining Table," along with PINWU's "Gu" bamboo paper chairs and "Luo" bamboo paper pendant lights. The wall features a Russian traditional fireplace with a complex internal structure. To ensure thermal efficiency, they communicated back and forth with an old craftsman who only spoke Russian, made a special trip to Tianjin to customize cast iron components, and joined the villagers in climbing mountains to collect clay and fire bricks.

The renovation of the new home also benefited greatly from the help of local craftsmen. The design and construction of the windows took six months. To meet insulation standards, they used solid wood to replicate the common thermal break structure found in metal doors and windows. After a "cross-disciplinary" collaboration between a thermal break aluminum window craftsman and a traditional wood window craftsman, they successfully created tightly sealed wooden windows with double-glazed glass.

In the kitchen, there is a pink terrazzo island that has been cast in place.

The Chinese antique bed in the guest room comes from the "Awakening" art installation project that Zhang Lei collaborated on with FENDI. The leather cushion on the bed is also made from FENDI's leftover materials.