How to better protect and reuse the Chinese traditional wooden structures? That’s a hard question our generation has to face.
Different from the stone structures of the West, the Chinese traditional wooden structures have drawbacks such as short lifespan. Further more, few such buildings have been protected as historic relics. Many of these structures over several hundred years old and even entire villages are disappearing rapidly. At present, most of the elites in the Chinese society have memories of living in such old houses during their childhood. Many of them bought such old houses in the hope of keeping the memories for themselves and the next generations.  These old houses of wooden structure that had been built over six hundred years ago have components that can be disassembled，transported and assembled elsewhere.
But how to reiterate the memory while incorporating the modern functions?
To make this happen, it is necessary to maintain the old houses as much as possible, while redefining the spaces in an unconventional way –making people willing to stay, talk, read, relax and even meditate in these spaces-and transform their role from the previously mere functional buildings to the structures of spiritual principal in contemporary architecture. The next step is to find more appropriate pieces from memories, magnify it and ultimately transcend reality making "living in the past" a reality to the residents.
As a self-contained clubhouse of a high-end property in Shanghai , the newly moved ‘old houses’ will definitely win the favor of Chinese elites.