A Village Hub Honored: Xiwusutu Community Center Wins Aga Khan Award
A community center in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, designed by architect Zhang Pengju, has received international acclaim with the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Awarded in early September, the Xiwusutu village community center is the sole Chinese project recognized in the award’s 2023-25 cycle, a programme based in Geneva, Switzerland, that champions socially conscious design.
The Aga Khan Award, often called “the world’s most socially meaningful architecture prize,” distinguishes projects demonstrating architecture’s power to foster inclusivity, resilience, and positive social change, alongside climate-responsive design. This year’s winners also included innovative housing solutions in Bangladesh and a historic revitalization project in Egypt.
Zhang Pengju’s design stood out for its understated approach and deep connection to the local community. The center addresses a long-felt need in Xiwusutu,a 400-year-old village home to Han,Mongol,and Hui communities,which previously lacked a dedicated year-round gathering space. Before the center, festivals took place in the streets, and winter isolation was a concern for the village’s elders and children.
Completed in 2023 after seven months of construction, the 1,276-square-meter center provides spaces for all generations. It offers areas for seniors, children, and returning young residents, alongside exhibition and social spaces for artists, and facilities to accommodate the religious practices of the village’s diverse population.
Central to the design is a 200-square-meter circular courtyard, intended to encourage community interaction. A 786-square-meter rooftop platform provides a dedicated play area for children.
The building itself is a model of lasting construction, built entirely from reclaimed bricks sourced from local demolitions. An 80-millimeter layer of fly ash insulation provides effective and affordable thermal regulation, offering a potential blueprint for durable village housing. Innovative features like ground ventilation, thermal chambers, and automated skylights maximize natural airflow, while unique ventilation towers double as playful spaces for children. A layout of dispersed, smaller volumes creates a network of courtyards and alleys, promoting both circulation and adaptability.
The Xiwusutu community center is envisioned as a vibrant cultural, social, and ecological hub, seamlessly blending customary materials with environmentally conscious building practices, and serving as a microcosm of inclusivity within the larger rural landscape.
