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Shikumen (Chinese: t 石庫門, s 石库门, p shíkùmén, lit. "Stone Warehouse Gate") is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s. At the height of their popularity, there were 9000 shikumen-style buildings in Shanghai, comprising 60% of the total housing stock of the city, but today the proportion is much lower as most Shanghainese live in large apartment buildings.

Shikumens are two- or three-story structures resembling Anglo-American terrace houses or townhouses,[citation needed] distinguished by high brick walls enclosing a narrow front yard. The name "stone gate" references these strong gateways.

Each residence abuts another and all are arranged in straight side alleys (Chinese: t 挵堂, s 弄堂, p lòngtáng; Shanghainese: longdang). The entrance to each alley is usually surmounted by a stylistic stone arch.

The shikumen is a cultural blend of the elements found in Western architecture[citation needed] with traditional Lower Yangtze architecture[clarification needed] and social behavior. Traditional Chinese dwellings had a courtyard, and the Shikumen was no exception. Yet, to compromise with its urban nature, its was much smaller and provided an interior haven to the commotions in the streets, allowing for raindrops to fall and vegetation to grow freely within a residence.[clarification needed] The courtyard also allowed sunlight and improved ventilation into the rooms.




This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikumen

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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