In China, 350 million rural citizens will become urbanized by 2025 - less than 10 years from now. Since 2005, Rural Urban Framework has developed a series of projects in rural China as strategic responses to the pressures of urbanization and the subsequent adjustments to rural livelihood. How do we design for rapidly developing and ever-changing contexts? Can we replace the mantra of 'built to last' for 'built to adapt'? Building architecture in sites of uncertain transformation calls for a design approach that embraces contra-diction as a strategic response. Rather than thinking of architecture as a fixed solution to a stable site, can we begin to conceive of architecture to have a key role in the process of transformation, and to be able to adapt and evolve in ever-changing conditions?