A house in China’s Badain Jaran Desert reimagines traditional Mongolian dwellings with straw bricks and a metal shell, blending vernacular techniques with contemporary sustainability.
Designed by the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at NJU, this project addresses the urgent dilemma faced by traditional Mongolian herding families. With the inscription of the "Towers of Sand and Lakes" as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, conservation measures impose strict building constraints, prompting architects to reconcile heritage with modernity. By drawing from vernacular techniques and contemporary materials, the project proposes a model of sustainable habitation that is both resilient and deeply rooted in place.
At its core, the house employs a dual-material strategy: straw bricks, an age-old construction method intrinsic to local architecture, and a lightweight metal shell that introduces modern adaptability. The straw brick walls provide insulation and anchor the home in the desert’s material culture, while the shell creates a flexible intermediary space—an enclosure for communal activities, food preparation, and seasonal storage. The architecture elegantly accommodates both domestic life and the itinerant traditions of the herding community. Evoking the circular geometry of a yurt, the arched mezzanine roof reinforces a spatial memory intrinsic to Mongolian heritage, making the house not just a shelter but a vessel of cultural continuity.
Beyond material ingenuity, the project excels in environmental sensitivity. The combination of high-thermal-mass walls and a ventilated metal shell optimizes temperature regulation, mitigating the extreme climate without reliance on energy-intensive systems. The construction process, emphasizing local materials like lake clay and prefabricated light steel frames, reduces transportation costs and fosters a collaborative ethos—designers, students, and local craftsmen worked together to realize this vision. At night, illuminated by soft interior light, the house gleams like a silver relic of the desert’s past and future. In the words of herder Hass Bayara, "This is exactly the house we lived in when we were kids"—a testament to architecture’s ability to bridge memory and innovation.
