Atelier Guo Adapts Historic Chinese Ancestral Hall into Cinema with Minimal Intervention

Atelier Guo, a Shanghai-based architecture firm, has transformed the Cheng Family Ancestral Hall in Nanping Village near Huangshan, China, into a multifunctional cultural space called Village Cinema. The project converts the centuries-old protected structure into a cinema, library, and community gathering area without altering its original fabric. The architects employed a pivoting panel system inspired by traditional Huizhou construction methods, allowing spatial divisions to be reconfigured while preserving the historic timber surfaces. The intervention includes a mezzanine-level library with modular furniture, an adaptable courtyard that functions as an open-air screening area with operable shading, and a compact café. All new elements are prefabricated off-site and assembled by local craftsmen, with steel components wrapped in wood to match existing textures. The design enables multiple viewing modes, from eye-level seating to distant perspectives across the courtyard, integrating the screen within the hall's structural columns. The project aims to support cultural programming and everyday use in a rural context affected by migration, requiring active participation from villagers. It demonstrates how preservation can serve as a framework for new collective life, with minimal physical impact but significant cultural ambition. The hall remains a gathering point, continuously redefining itself through movable panels that adjust ventilation and spatial boundaries. Photographer Qingshan Wu documented the project, which covers 323 square meters and was led by architect Liaohui Guo with a team including Min Wu, Bang Zhang, and Wenkai Wang. The client is the Village Cinema Temporary Party Branch and Nanping Village Committee.