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The cave houses known as “yaodong” have dotted the hillsides of China’s snowy Loess plateau since the second millennium B.C.E. This form of earth-sheltered architecture, which typically consists of a sunken central courtyard excavated into the hills with the facades all facing each other, makes use of the natural insulating properties of rock and soil to keep warm in the winter and cool down in the summer. As ancient as they may be, yaodong dwellings are still among the most popular in the area, home to an estimated 40 million people as of the last count in 2006.
Simply put, the style just works, which explains why hyperSity Architects stuck with it when completing a dramatic renovation for Chinese internet personality Ye Liangchen. At the start of the project, all the team had to work with were the crumbling remains of a yaodong home in Weinan. Outdated and on the verge of collapse, the 540-square-foot residence hearkened back to a time when a lack of indoor plum...