Chinese architect Zhang Pengju's West Wusutu Village Community Center in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, has received the prestigious 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, one of the most respected honors in the architectural field. The award recognizes projects that demonstrate architectural excellence while significantly improving community quality of life. The jury praised Zhang's design for its sensitive yet rational intervention that fosters inclusivity, resilience, sustainability, and overall well-being in a rural setting facing social fragmentation and identity loss.

The innovative design rejects rigid functional zoning in favor of a permeable circular courtyard that integrates diverse community activities. This central space serves as both a physical entity and an organizational tool, creating continuous circulation and spatial orientation while connecting multiple open and interconnected rooms into a cohesive whole. The project exemplifies Zhang Pengju's exploration of "humble construction" and "contextual generation" through its respectful approach to local context.

The community center incorporates several groundbreaking sustainable technologies, including an innovative wind-induction ventilation system and the extensive use of reclaimed bricks from demolished village structures. The spatial layout continues the original village fabric, featuring a rich multi-level circulation system that reflects deep respect for the site's history and community needs. The project successfully addresses the challenge of creating a cost-effective structure funded entirely by village crowdfunding while maintaining high architectural standards.

In discussing his initial expectations for the project, Zhang Pengju emphasized the critical importance of cost-effectiveness given the community funding source. He explained that the site's unique position at both the physical center and entrance of the village, along with the presence of two 200-year-old trees and a nearly century-old willow, became crucial design elements. The architect sought to express the site's collective memory and spiritual significance to villagers through architecture, viewing this as a significant creative challenge.

Zhang explicitly requested that government departments and village representatives refrain from interfering in the design process to ensure the project would "emerge naturally from the site" and maintain its uniqueness. He believed that preconceived notions about form, space, or style would limit innovation and breakthrough potential. This approach allowed the design to develop organically from site conditions and community needs rather than external expectations.

The spatial organization places functional spaces such as exhibition halls and dining areas along the site's perimeter, leaving the core public space at the center. This layout maximizes spatial efficiency by placing buildings around the edges while creating the largest possible central public space. The arrangement also provides a buffer for community gatherings and events, minimizing disruptions to surrounding areas while creating a vibrant public space with a sense of unfamiliarity and spirituality.

The perfectly circular central courtyard represents a departure from Zhang's previous work, which typically featured naturally growing spaces. He explained that while pure circles often result from architects imposing strong order, in this project the circle demonstrates undeniable rationality. The non-directional form possesses strong centripetal force that integrates surrounding forms and spaces coming from different directions and orders, embodying both spirituality and cohesion while feeling unfamiliar to villagers.

The project's sustainable innovations include a sophisticated ventilation system combining wind-induction towers and underground air tunnels. The wind-induction brick towers use thermal pressure to draw hot air upward while simultaneously pulling cooled air from underground tunnels into interior spaces. This passive ventilation system serves as both a replicable construction model and a key spatial element that draws occupants' gazes upward, dividing spaces and enriching circulation to enhance the spatial experience in multiple dimensions.

Additional sustainable features include perlite insulation embedded within walls and a carefully designed drainage system in the central courtyard. The drainage system includes a simple sluice gate that controls rainwater discharge into fields as needed. When closed, the gate allows rainwater to accumulate into a pool where children can play, offering a water-saving model suitable for the village's layout of small farmlands in low-lying areas amid complex terrain.

The extensive use of reclaimed materials became an unexpected benefit during implementation. When Zhang observed trucks removing waste loaded with bricks and tiles from demolished dilapidated and illegally built houses during village renovations, he proposed reusing these materials rather than transporting them to expensive landfills. The strategy proved so successful that almost no money was spent on main structural materials, with the entire structure built using reclaimed village bricks.

The design features numerous gaps and interstices as both an error tolerance mechanism and architectural expression element. When gaps are created between walls and ground, previously unified structures become subtly divided into distinct planes. These gaps function as powerful dividing or guiding lines in architectural space that cannot be ignored, while naturally resolving potential transition issues between different materials.

Zhang described his design process as "a dance" between necessity and prohibition parameters. At the project's beginning, he first clarified what he "must not do," including avoiding trends, avoiding preconceived notions of creating viral sensations, and avoiding pre-imposed concepts. Regarding what he "must do," Zhang explained that such requirements often become clear only when projects reach certain developmental stages, making it important not to prematurely determine core elements during early phases.

The West Wusutu Village Community Center demonstrates how thoughtful architectural intervention can address rural challenges while respecting local context and community needs. Through its innovative approach to sustainability, material reuse, and community integration, the project offers a compelling model for rural development that preserves cultural identity while embracing contemporary needs and environmental responsibility.