
In 2005 the Chinese government announced its plan to urbanize half of the remaining 700 million rural citizens by 2030. At that time, recognizing the rural as the frontline of the urbanization process, John Lin and Joshua Bolchover established Rural Urban Framework (RUF), a research and design collaborative based at The University of Hong Kong. Conducted as a non-profit organization providing design services to charities and NGOs, RUF has built various projects in diverse villages throughout China and Mongolia. They have developed design strategies for schools, community centers, hospitals, village houses, infrastructure, and town planning which would not otherwise be possible in the commercial sector. As a result of this active engagement, RUF has been able to research the links between social, economic, political processes and the physical transformation of each village.
Invited as a “cultural leader”, John Lin has spoken at the World Economic Forum to global leaders on sustainable approaches to urbanization. He not only works closely with local governments and policy makers but frequently addresses newspapers and media on the subject of rural revitalization. His recently published book As Found Houses (ORO Editions 2021) documents the unexpectedly innovative ways that rural self-builders adapt, modify, graft, cleave, and wrap their traditional dwellings. These case studies form the research context for his current design and teaching: experimenting with new ways to combine industrial and handicraft building techniques, rural and urban contexts, traditional and contemporary ways of living. His ambition is to not only influence his fellow academics and designers, but actively participate in and contribute to the vastly larger field of everyday architecture. Recently As Found Houses was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Medal for Research 2021.
John Lin’s work has been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Design Museum, London and the Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal. He is the recipient of over 40 international design awards including the RIBA International Emerging Architect Award and the Ralph Erskine 100 Years Anniversary Award given for innovation in architecture that “primarily benefits the less privileged in society”. He has recently created a new post-graduate program – The Building Society – to engage today’s challenges through collaborative, democratic models of research, design and construction.
John Lin is the 2025 recipient of the CUAA John Q. Hejduk Award.
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The Building Society Post-Graduate Program
Rural Urban Framework Research and Design Collaborative