22岁在北京已经买房，而他却陷入焦虑，打算卖掉房子从零开始学建筑 | Rural Architect

Growing up in a small village surrounded by mountains, Wang Qiu'an used to think that the sky was simply a cover for the mountains. And one day, he would reach the sky by moving through the mountains. 

他出生在湖南平江，一个叫“小塘铺”的小山村，这里就是他童年的“百草园”。那个时候，他甚至天真地认为，天空是球状的，就搭在对面的那座山上。还幻想过长大后可以顺着锅盖一样的山爬到天上去。

Wang's hometown, “Xiao Tangpu” village, located in the northeast of Hunan Province.

 “It was my secret garden, such a small world made me carefully observe everything, this has helped me a lot in my work now,” said Wang. 

王求安回忆道：“现在想起来，这样一个熟识又狭小的世界，反而给了我充分观察的机会，教会了我怎样细致地去观察，对我以后的帮助很大。”

Now an architect dedicated to rural construction, Wang clearly remembers his childhood home in China's Hunan Province. The orange rammed earth house was built by his father when he was two years old. Typical of other homes in the village, he liked to watch the swinging of hammers, manifesting itself in the final structure.

还记得两岁的时候，他看父亲建自己家的夯土房，一个典型的中国南方三间房架构的房屋。村子里来了很多人来帮忙，大爷们一个个光着膀子抡锤子，每天的伙食都特别好。那是他对建房子最初的印象。

Two brave decisions and three 'five-year plans’ 

两个勇敢的决定和三个“五年计划” 

When Wang was 10 years old, his father passed away due to illness. Following his death, all the burdens of the family fell on his mother. When Wang graduated from junior high school, relatives thought that he needed to go to senior high school in order to go to a good university. As the only child, Wang did not want to put too much pressure on his mother, and decided he needed to make a living on his own. So, he made the first brave decision in his life – foregoing senior high school, and opting for art school instead.

王求安十岁那年，父亲因病去世，家里的重担落到了母亲身上。初中毕业，成绩优异的王求安，所有人都认为本应该走上高中考名校这样一条路。没有想到，十六岁的他，做了第一个勇敢的决定——放弃高中，选择去读美术中专。他不想让母亲的压力太大，觉得这样能早点出来挣钱，养活自己。

This decision led him to Beijing after he graduated, taking a job focused on exhibition and museum design. Three years later, he set up his own design company. By the time he was 22, he had already bought an apartment and a car in Beijing. However, though his work was getting better and better, he continued to feel more anxious. 

19岁那年，他独自一人到北京闯荡。先是进修了一年的室内设计，之后便开始做展示设计的工作。学习能力很强的他很快能胜任独立完成各种项目的设计，工作也越来越顺利。21岁的时候，他便创办了自己的设计公司。22岁那年，他在北京已经是“有房有车”一族了。此后的几年，项目越做越大，钱越挣越多，但是王求安的内心却越来越焦虑。

Models of Wang’s designs.

All his costly and time-intensive design work were torn down when exhibitions ended, leaving nothing behind.

他的焦虑源于——现在所做的事留不下一点痕迹。他所设计的那些造价不菲的展示设计，往往是昙花一现后，被当成垃圾拆掉，什么都没有留下。

At the age of 26, his anxiety reached the point of collapse. Here, he made his second amazing decision – he closed his company, sold the apartment, refused all work. Inspired by the desire to make something more permanent, he decided to go to school to study architecture. 

26岁的时候，这种焦虑使他到达了崩溃的顶点。于是，他又做出了一个惊人的决定——关闭公司、卖掉房子、断绝一切联系，上大学念建筑学本科。

“In order to make myself more concentrate on studying architecture, I cut off all the connections, only my mother knew where I was,” said Wang. 

“五年的时间，只有我妈妈知道我在哪里。”就是这样，他没有给自己留一点后路。也正是这样的“狠心”，让他能更专注地学习建筑学。

Deciding to join a program in Tianjin, Wang became an autodidact, teaching himself the physics and math he would have learned in senior high school. In his five years of study, he regarded every assignment as a real-world experience.

建筑自学的道路，一路是跌跌撞撞的。经过一番辗转，他得知在天津有建筑设计的自学考试，便开始了建筑设计的自考之路。五年的学习时间，他把每一次的作业都当成有真实的甲方存在，认真地把建筑设计的本科知识系统地学习了一遍。

Wang decided to design his orange rammed earth house.

Now in his thirties, Wang returned to work in villages like his hometown as an architect. “I have tried my best to get out from the village, but now I'm back again,” Wang said jokingly. “I think rural construction is a very meaningful work. If I design a house or building for a rich man or a company, I fulfill only one person or one group of people, but if I do rural construction, I might help a large number of people who were originally helpless, or even desperate,” said Wang. 

2013年，33岁的他学成归来，开始执业。本想在城市里做大型的地标建筑，没想到现在更多的时间扎在了乡村的建设上。他开玩笑说：“我费尽周折走出乡村，没想到现在转了一圈又回来了。”他觉得，乡村建设是一件非常有意义的事情：“我给一个土豪或者一个企业盖一栋楼，满足的只是某一个人或者一小群人的想法或者愿望，但是做乡村建设，解决了很多原本是很无助甚至很绝望的人的一些状况。”

Wang has his own way of rural construction. The first step is to research into the resources and local features of the village. Then, he communicates the plan with villagers with patience. Making a solid model is an essential step, so people can intuitively get the sense of the design. When the final design is accepted by all villagers and the local government, construction begins. 

出生在乡下的他，有一套自己的方法来做乡村建设。前期的调研，是为了充分挖掘乡村的资源和特点。耐心地和村民村干部沟通，能了解大家的诉求。实体的模型制作，能直观地向村民展示设计方案，也便于推敲村庄的形态。大量的方案经过一遍遍推敲，得到政府和村民的认可以后，才开始施工。

He decided to build up his old house's wall with irregular local stones.

His designs are guided by the principles of keeping the local style and making sure buildings meet the demands of modern life. On the basis of these principles, he makes sure buildings are livable, easy to visit and are aesthetically pleasing.

他的乡村建筑设计，讲究的是“当地”与“当下”。“当地”指的是这个房子要符合当地的建筑风貌和建造技术，建筑原料也尽可能取材于本地。“当下”指的是所有的设计要有良好的当下生活体验，能够满足现代人的生活需求。在此基础上，追求建筑的“可居”、“可游”、“可望”，就是一座房子建造出来，是可以居住、可以游览、还可以内观外望的。

Wang doing research in a village.

He has three “five-year plans.” Having already completed his first two, his next plan is to read more, think more, and make his designs more insightful. He is very clear that his purpose is not to earn money but to do work that he believes in.

他有三个“五年计划”。上一个“五年”，他完成了建筑设计基础知识的自学。这一个“五年”，他学会了怎么实地盖房子，怎么和村民、村干部、施工队打交道。那么下一个“五年”，他想多读书，多思考问题，让自己的建筑作品更有深度。他很明白，自己这一辈子的目标不是去赚钱，而是去做自己喜欢做的事情。

Models of Wang’s designs. 

Now, at the age of 38, he owns an architecture firm in Beijing. He has designed more than 60 Chinese village halls. He's busy shuttling back and forth between cities and villages. He insists on traveling to learn from other architectural styles. To date, he has been to more than 60 countries and has visited more than 400 structures.

如今38岁的他，在北京有个自己的建筑公司。已经参与设计了六十多个村部。大部分的时间，奔波于公司和项目地。但他坚持，每个季度出国一次，去实地考察大建筑师的作品。到目前为止，他已经到过了六十多个国家，实地拜访了四百多套自己喜欢的建筑师的作品。因为他知道，乡村是村民世世代代生产生活的地方。他的一个设计，关乎的是村里几代人的生产生活，甚至是命运，一笔一画都不容小觑。

Director：Li Yingying

Editor：Li Yingying, Gao Xingzi

Filmed by: Li Yingying, Li Feng

Designer：Yin Yating

Article Written by: Li Yingying

Copy Editor: Xuyen Nguyen 

Producer：Wen Yaru

Chief Editor: Zhao Jianfu

Supervisor：Pang Xinhua

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