Understanding the changes and constants of the courtyard house neighborhoods in Beijing
Name
18687273-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
16.84 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
14307f510e0e74cbfdda243990743693
Author(s)
Casault, André
Advisor(s)
N. John Habraken.
Alternative Title
Beijing, understanding the changes and constants of the courtyard house neighborhoods in
Date Issued
1988
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The courtyard houses in Beijing, named siheyuan, have undergone many changes during the last three decades. The siheyuan is a type of house that had slowly developed over more than two thousand years. At the beginning of the twentieth century it was still piratically untouched by influences of the Western World and industrial revolution. Though the first transformation to the Beijing courtyard house occurred at the beginning of this century, the most important transformation happened during the last few decades. Due to a severe housing shortage and political events, such as the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the courtyard house, once inhabited by one extended family, had to be shared among several families. New shelters, referred in this thesis as additions, had to be built inside the traditional compound. Due to a lack of space, the deployment of pavilions (the traditional construction), was interrupted. Building materials also changed. New building materials appeared on the market. The resulting living environment looked messy at first sight. But underneath the messiness, the deployment of additions shows and some constants, some characteristics that are similar to the deployment of traditional pavilions. These implicit rules are important for the preservation of the architectural language of the neighborhoods and of the entire city, as well. Methods of enclosure, levels of hierarchy in the built form, and dwellers direct control of their living quarters, are among principles that should be respected in order to preserve a continuity in the built environment Without this continuity the architectural language of the city cannot be protected.
Description
Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1988.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-86).
Subjects
Architecture.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
Terms of Use
M.I.T. theses are protected by
copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but
reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but
reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Persistent DSpace Link
