A New City-centre Typology

Believing in “architecture is for the masses”, People’s Architecture Office (PAO) has reinvented an old courtyard house to create a modern home in historic Beijing — at a price 30 times less than a regular apartment in the Chinese capital.

- Leona Liu

Beijing has seen property prices soaring as high as its skyscrapers rise thanks to ongoing urbanisation, resulting in many residents relocating to the suburbs. But for locals as Mrs Fan, who was born and raised in the Changchun Jie hutong in the historic centre of the Chinese capital, staying where they grew up — in communities with strong connections with their neighbours — is not only a nostalgic but an affordable choice.

However, many of the old courtyards and alleys have gradually fallen away into serious disrepair due to outdated infrastructure and overcrowding. In response, Beijing-based People’s Architecture Office (PAO) has undertaken innovative and culturally pragmatic renovations of a number of such structures, including their own office located next to the Forbidden City.