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EXPLORE | SHANGHAI EDITION
Revitalized
Shanghai
During the Taiping Heaven Movement, refugees in nearby provinces flooded into both foreign concessions in Shanghai, increasing the housing demand in tremendous scale. Developers seized the chance and built a large number of wooden houses in dense parallel format, which is later being outlawed and transformed into stone structures. With relatively small area and low cost to build, Shikumen style soon became the most popular option for new housing projects. In its peak, Shikumen comprised 65% of the total housing stock of Shanghai.
SHIKUMEN
The term "shikumen" means "stone gate", implying the traditional Shanghainese architecture main feature of stone-carved entries leading into small interior courtyards, building along some relatively narrow alleys known as "Lilong". Shikumen has two major types: the typical 2- storey old type in brick and wood structure with a stone gate, and the 3-storey new type in concrete structure with a brick gate. You shall see old types usually built along a narrow alley, while the new types built after 1930 usually have more identifiable main lanes, which was designed to accommodate the lately adverted motor cars. Like many architectures in the cosmopolitan, the style combines Eastern and Western influences; a fusion of Chinese habitant with a Parisian delicacy.
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