Six years ago, a South African architect came to the old county village of Yangshuo in Guilin twice, rented six dilapidated old houses in one go, and rented them for 20 years, and the rent almost spent all his savings. This move made his friends, family, and even the village name of the old county village think he was crazy...... He also laughed at himself so that everyone called him "Mad Hawk".
In the following 6 years, Mad Eagle carefully designed every detail of the old mansion, rejuvenating the old mansion while protecting it, and turning the seemingly dilapidated rural house into art. He often says that "every house has its own character", so the progress of his restoration and design of the old house is slow, and he has to slowly find this character and express it with his expertise and creativity.
Mad Eagle and Yangshuo
In the old county village of Baisha Town, Yangshuo County, where there are many ancient houses, in addition to the blue bricks and black tiles that can be seen everywhere, deep courtyards, there are also mottled courtyard walls, carved door panels, and carved ancient wells that can be touched...... Every scenery that has been polished by time shows the vicissitudes of time.
The reason why Crazy Eagle chose Yangshuo is not accidental. The architect from South Africa, Ian (yes, that's his real name), quit his job as an architect in South Africa in 2001 and gave up his comfortable life with a house and a car to apply for a job at a British travel company, where he visited more than 20 cities during his travel business in China.
In 2002, by chance, he walked into the old county village of Yangshuo, Guilin. Perhaps it was the blue bricks and black tiles that could be seen everywhere in Yangshuo that year, and the deep courtyard was imprinted on his heart, and seven years later, in 2009, he once again became attached to the old county village. With the help of local village cadres, he found the owners of six old houses, rented them for 20 years in one go, and settled his home there.
The picture shows a small backyard occupied by the designer Maniac Eagle himself, which is very pleasant.
Repair the old as the old, slow work out of fine work
Under the premise of maximizing the protection of those century-old houses in Guibei of the Qing Dynasty in China, Mad Eagle rejuvenates the old mansion through its own creative design. He said that "every house has its own character", and in the six years after renting the old house, he carefully designed every detail of the old house, slowly looking for the character of the house, and expressing it, so his progress in the restoration design of the old house was slow.
In this developmental way, Crazy Eagle has preserved the part of Chinese culture that fascinates him, and has created a series of creative spaces that combine Chinese and Western influences.
Walking into this old house with carved doors and windows, the quiet courtyard is full of all kinds of flower seedlings.
▼ In the old mansion, modern architectural decorative elements can be seen everywhere in the studio, coffee house, restaurant, and family suite: abstract oil paintings, collages made of environmentally friendly materials, and rotating steel staircases......
In order to repair the old as the old and maintain the unique charm of the old Chinese house, the mad eagle will often go to the old things that others don't want and show their value. In old houses, dilapidated rice buckets can be used as storage boxes, while farmhouse threshing machines, hats, and robes are alternative interior decorations.
▼ As an architect, Mad Eagle also incorporated his environmental protection concept into the design of the sewage system of the old house. He buried the exposed sewage pipes into the ground, and laid gravel under the soil layer through which the sewage passed, so that the impurities would slowly penetrate into the soil when the sewage was discharged, and finally the filtered wastewater would flow into the fields to irrigate the fields.
The Secret Garden of the Mad Eagle
In a manor, there is an abandoned secret garden, and a little girl named Mary accidentally gets the key to the garden...... Now, more than 100 years after the release of the famous American children's writer Burnett's "The Secret Garden", this crazy architect from South Africa has also created his ideal "Secret Garden".
The hollow carved old mansion in Guibei, the quiet courtyard, with abstract oil paintings, romantic and charming Western elements. Every treasure that creates the space is bought by hand, every flower and plant is planted by itself, and the various whims of the mad eagle make the old house come alive, and at the same time attract "Chinese partners".
With the addition of a husband and wife partner in Yangshuo, the "Secret Garden" country hotel came into being, from 2 houses in 2012 to 6 buildings today, with a total of 18 rooms.
In the past ten years, with the development of tourism, the madness of the madman eagle has gradually been affirmed and even imitated by everyone, and more and more locals have begun to repair the ancestral old mansions and also started the business of rural ancient houses.
Guarding the old house of Qingwa, listening to the birdsong, smelling the fragrance of flowers, living together with nature, watching people come and go, making friends from all over the world, listening to interesting things on the way, and living like idle clouds and wild cranes is desirable.