Rural Urban Framework
Rural Urban Framework (RUF) is a design and research lab founded by Joshua Bolchover and John Lin at the University of Hong Kong. The studio focuses on sites shaped by the dynamics of urban–rural transformation, with projects across China, Mongolia, Nepal, and the Philippines. RUF’s work includes schools, community centers, hospitals, housing, infrastructure, and incremental planning strategies. Current research examines the intersection of global economic funding, technological development, and local cultural specificities.
RUF has received international recognition, including the 2024 John Hejduk Award, the 2023 Silver Medal Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction, the 2022 RIBA President’s Medal for Research, and the 2016 RIBA International Award for Emerging Architect. Their publications include Becoming Urban: The Mongolian City of Nomads (2023), Uncertainty: Experiments in Making from the Chinese Countryside (2022), As Found Houses: Experiments from Self-Builders in Rural China (2020), Border Ecologies: Hong Kong’s Mainland Frontier (2016), and Rural Urban Framework: Transforming the Chinese Countryside (2013). Their projects have been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2024.
To extend RUF’s reach and impact, the founders have launched complementary initiatives. Joshua Bolchover created District Development Unit (DDU) as an impact enterprise, while John Lin developed The Building Society, a master’s program for research and design experimentation that reinvests in the social contract of the architect in an era of technological acceleration.
