Professor Emeritus Pu Miao designed Zhuting Church (2002), a rural worship place in Zhuzhou, China. This project is featured in THEMA Magazine Di Architettura, Arte Sacra, E Beni Culturali Ecclesiastici (THEMA Magazine of Architecture, Sacred Art, and Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage). This online publication is partnered with the Department of Architecture, D’Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara, Italy.

Located next to a mountain path, Zhuting Church responds to its narrow site with a zigzag spatial sequence that generates the much needed transitional space from the profane to the sacred. Inside, a unique sacred space is created through pairing the chapel with an outdoor space which contains the altar. The volunteering architect adopted the form and material of local farm buildings to facilitate users’ participation in the design and construction process. The project is an experiment on the localization of Modernism in a poor rural community of a developing country.