Neri&Hu Design has designed the Incision – Nantou City Guesthouse in Nantou, China.

This project was an opportunity to transform an eight-story-tall existing apartment building in Nantou – an urban village where preindustrial settlements grew both inward and upward to become an ultra-dense community.

Situated in Shenzhen, a recently formed metropolis, Nantou has evolved from an ancient port to the village into the city that it is today, characterised by many intricately close-knit winding streets – among shops, dormitories, and informally occupied lots.

Urban villages are a phenomenon where the remnants of pre-industrial settlements are nestled amid a seemingly modern metropolis. Nantou City, the site of Neri&Hu's adaptive reuse project for an 11-room guesthouse, is an example of such an urban village.

The project made building-scale "incisions" on the existing building as a way to blur the boundaries of its interior and exterior, along with the reflection on the cultural heritage of the mundane.

This project has been shortlisted in the rebirth project category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Architect: Neri&Hu Design, Research Office

Project: Incision - Nantou City Guesthouse

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Voting closes 10 October.