大雜院裡來了一群年輕人，想利用和翻新一些空著的房子，建立青年旅社計劃。擁擠狹小的院子已被居民搭建的小廚房或庫房占滿，自行車停在其中，雜物四處堆放，無下腳之地——這是當下北京大雜院混居模式下的常態。

A group of youngsters came up with the idea to renovate some empty houses of Hutong yard into hostel. The yard was already occupied by many small kitchens built by the neighbors, stashed and parked bicycles, as well as piles of random junk，leaving a tiny space  barely  to walk through. This is nowadays the common situation of the living environment in Beijing’s Hutong yard.

年輕人的到來，會使院子更加擁擠。為了與老街坊和平共處，設計選定了“退讓”的謙虛態度。通過一組帶有床、寫字台和門的可滑動立面，改變房間和室外面積配比，在一些時候，壓縮客房室內面積，把一定面積還給院子，用以“置換”一部分鄰居私搭廚房庫房所占據院子的面積。給擁擠的大雜院一個喘息的空間。

The arrival of the young people would serve to further congest the yard, so we needed to find a way to live peacefully with the neighbours.

Therefore this design chooses to ‘given back”’ and be humble by using a set of sliding walls that each houses a bed, desk, and door, and serves to continuously change the proportion of indoor and outdoor space accordingly based on the current need. As such, when there are not many guests at the hostel, some space can be given back to the yard by sliding the doors around to “compensate” for the area already occupied by the kitchens, and when the hostel is full there is still enough space to accommodate all guests. This will create breathing space in the chaotic Hutong yard life.

這部分還給院子的面積可以作為公共休閒空間使用，可以作為：茶座、棋牌角、聊天室……也可以用來停放鄰居們的自行車，也可能成為年輕人招待老街坊的室外吧台。

The “given back” space beneath the roof can be used as a public leisure area， like a tea table，a card room or a bar, in addition to a space for the neighbors to store their bicycles.

樣板間落地選定地點和建造過程頗費波折，是在一次次與左鄰右捨協商的基礎上完成的。其間發生了許多有意思的小故事，有時候我們被迫更換了准備實踐的院子，有時候我們不得不因鄰居的身體狀況停工，有時又會因為與鄰居溝通不利而不得不改變一部分設計（一部分故事，人物）。

On a basis of endless cycles of negotiation with neighbors，the siting of the prototype was as difficult as its construction. Many interesting stories happened during the whole process, including the change of the construction site, to be forced to stop work and even modify the original design due to sick，complaining and uncooperative neighbours.

現在，一個12平方米的謙虛旅社客房樣板間已完工。這個樣板間可以最多退出約5平米的面積給院子臨時使用。我們也和一戶鄰居達成意向，他白天一些時候會利用這塊空間練習書法。我們還做了一些面向院子的儲藏櫃供鄰居使用。

Now the construction of the prototype is accomplished, This 12-square-meter hostel could give a maximum of 5 square meters to the yard for temporary use. One of the neighbors has happily agreed to use this place for calligraphy painting during the daytime. Moreover，we also built a number of lockers for those who need to put things away.

“謙虛旅社”是北京國際設計周中大柵欄更新計劃的領航員項目。在今年的北京國際設計周前後，會有第一批3位年輕人試住進去。設計者也會給大家帶來繼續去年的故事，退讓出的院子會作為臨時展場。我們也會邀請大家來這裡坐坐，和我們聊聊這塊還給院子小空間其他的利用可能 。隨著試住開展，我們也會發放問卷和做使用記錄，為日後復制和完善系統提供依據。隨著更多謙虛旅社客房的建立，便會有更多的空間還給大雜院，改善院子環境的同時，也會給老齡化的社區引入年輕化的鄰裡關系。

Humble Hostel is a  “Darshilar Pilot” project exhibited during Beijing International Design Week. The first group of youngsters may live inside and the designer will tell you the story following the last year. The “given back” space will be for humble hostel project exhibition and afternoon tea. We invite all to come here and chat with us about any other possibility for this tiny “given back” space .

After that，we will keep on the hostel try-out，make questionaries and collect data for further replication and system perfection. With more “Humble hostels” being built up，more space will be given back to the Hutong yard. The aging community could also be infused with health and vibrant neighborhood relations.

設計：曹璞
攝影師：曹有濤

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