Architect: WIT Design & Research
Interior Design: WIT Design & Research
Space Area: 160 m²
Floor Area: 230 m²
Year: 2024
Photography: TOPIA Vision, One Thousand Degrees
Design Team: Zhenhua Luo, Qinruo Chen, Chou Chou, Rui Tao, Gongpu Zhao, Yang Lin, Wenyi Chen
Lighting Design: PROL
Structure Engineer: Yuanping Cao, Zhongwaijianhuacheng
Building Electrical Construction Drawing: Aofu/Liang Liang
Façade Consultant: Beijing Elevation Times
Location: Chenjiapu Village, Songyang County, Zhejiang Province
Country: China
Songyang Shizhongshanfang Museum, designed by WIT Design & Research in Songyang County, Zhejiang Province, offers a unique public space integrated within a Bed and Breakfast (B&B). Completed in 2024, it revitalizes local culture and provides visitors with a glimpse into rural life.
Songyang Shizhongshanfang Museum, also known as Maison S Museum, is an unconventional public space located in Chenjiapu Village, Songyang County, Zhejiang Province. Known as “the last secret land South of the Yangtze River,” this small museum, designed by WIT Design & Research, occupies the reception area of a B&B establishment. It transforms a space originally meant for guestrooms into a free public area, offering tourists insights into local life. Positioned halfway up a lush mountainside, the museum becomes brightly illuminated at night, adding new vitality to the village since its opening in 2024.
Zhenhua Luo, a founding partner of WIT, and Qinruo Chen, a key investor and team member, aimed to reconstruct a new public space with a glass roof while preserving the village’s existing characteristics. The museum’s glass roof, visible from above, acts as a symbol of the new “local history” of Chenjiapu Village, providing the first public space that showcases village life and culture.
Creating a homestay museum that reflects rural revitalization within a B&B setting posed significant challenges. Chou Chou, partner at WIT, recreated scenes of daily village life, such as cooking, tea drinking, rice pounding, ancestor worship, and reading, ensuring an engaging experience for visitors.
The museum, integrated into the village and positioned on a cliff, was converted from a concrete and steel house while preserving the village’s original building characteristics. Key materials like rammed earth and wood were used to organize the spaces, with a traditional patio replaced by a glass roof and a dormer to provide natural daylight. This design fosters a closer integration between the building and its surroundings.
In the southwest, the kitchen includes traditional items like a straw raincoat, essential for local villagers. According to Zhenhua Luo, “Revitalization in the real sense here is not a matter of collection, but a process of awakening and a resonance from deep within, a revival of the human touch in the building.”
The combination of steel concrete and a lightweight steel structure, imitating a wooden structure, has resulted in a “skylight atrium” in the lobby. Rui Tao designed a display shelf using paper to achieve elegance in texture and simplicity in color, resembling stacked lanterns.
Chenjiapu Village, a key national example of rural revitalization, has preserved its original landscape and attracted international tourists. WIT Design & Research, along with Qinruo Chen, aimed to satisfy visitors’ curiosity about life in the village more than 600 years ago. The museum fulfills this need by creating a space based on the area’s unique aesthetic system and living memory, following the principle of restraint. This approach has created both vitality and value, promoting rural revitalization through tourism and environmental protection.
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Project Location
Address: Chenjiapu Village, Songyang County, Zhejiang Province, China
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
