Shikumen

Shikumen scenic spot

synonym

Shikumen (Shikumen scenic area) generally refers to Shikumen scenic area

Shikumen scenic area is the most characteristic residential area in Shanghai. The old lanes in Shanghai are generally Shikumen buildings, which originated in the period of the Taiping rebellion. At that time, the war forced the rich businessmen, landlords, officials and gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to rush into the concession to seek shelter. Foreign real estate developers took the opportunity to build a large number of houses. In the 1920s and 1930s, enclosure was still the main feature of Shanghai's housing, but instead of paying attention to sculpture, the pursuit of simplicity was changed from multi entry to single entry. The Shikumen housing with a combination of Chinese and Western came into being. This kind of building absorbed a large number of styles of Jiangnan folk houses, with stone as the door frame and black lacquer solid thick wood as the door leaf. Therefore, this kind of building is named "Shikumen".

Development history

Shikumen is the most representative residential building in Shanghai, which is usually regarded as one of the symbols of modern urban civilization in Shanghai.

The early 1870s

The early Shikumen came into being in the early 1870s. It was born out of the residential form of Jiangnan folk houses, generally with three or five bays. It maintained the symmetrical layout of Chinese traditional architecture with the central axis. The old Shikumen house has a long horizontal patio at the entrance, left and right wing rooms on both sides, and a long window lobby on the opposite side. The guest hall is about 4 meters wide and 6 meters deep. It is a place for reception and banquets. There are secondary rooms on both sides of the passenger hall. There are wooden escalators leading to the second floor in the back, and then the back patio. Its depth is only half of that of the front patio. There is a well. Behind the back patio is an attached house with a single slope, which is generally used as kitchen, miscellaneous room and storage room. There are entrances and exits in the front and back of the whole house. The front facade is composed of patio wall and wing gable. The center is the "Shikumen", with stone as the door frame and black lacquer thick wood door leaf. The back wall is roughly the same height as the front wall, forming a closed outer facade. Therefore, although Shikumen was located in the downtown area, it still had the advantages of high walls, deep courtyard and quiet in the middle of trouble. It was very popular with the Chinese gentry and rich businessmen who lived in the concession at that time.

After the 1980s

The old Shikumen was gradually replaced by the new Shikumen. Most of the new Shikumen adopt single bay or Double Bay. The Double Bay Shikumen only retains one side of the front and rear wing room, while the single bay Shikumen completely cancels the wing room. The biggest change in the internal structure of the new Shikumen is that the attached house at the back is changed to a flat roof with a small bedroom, namely a pavilion. The roof of the pavilion is made of reinforced concrete slab, and the surrounding walls are built with railings to serve as a sun terrace. In order to reduce the floor area and save building materials, the new Shikumen also reduces the depth of the living room and the height of the floor and the wall.

Compared with the old Shikumen, the appearance of the new Shikumen is also different. The walls outside the new Shikumen are mostly made of clean green bricks, red bricks or a mixture of green and red bricks, and pointed with lime, rather than whitewashed like the old Shikumen. The horse head wall or the gable of guanyindou style commonly used in the old Shikumen are no longer used. Another important difference is that the new Shikumen no longer uses stone as the door frame, but uses fair faced brick, and the decoration of the lintel becomes more complicated. In the early period, the lintels of Shikumen often imitated the Yimen in the traditional architecture in the south of the Yangtze River, and were made into the style of Chinese traditional brick carving and blue tile coping. Influenced by the western architectural style, the new Shikumen often used triangle, semicircle, arc or rectangular flower decorations, similar to the mountain flower lintels on the doors and windows of Western architecture. These flower decorations have various forms and styles, which are the most unique in Shikumen architecture The color part. Some new Shikumen will also use western classical pilaster style on both sides of the door frame as decoration. In short, the new Shikumen is more westernized in architectural style.

In the mid-1930s

With the rise of the new style lane and Garden Lane, Shikumen was no longer beautiful and began to become a dwelling place for the lower class of urban residents. But no one thought that Shikumen is now a salted fish turned over, the limelight. The new world of "old and old" has become the most fashionable place in Shanghai. The stone house is the viscera of the body, which is emptied out of the body, leaving only a false shell for people to cherish and cherish.

Architectural features

Shikumen scenic area is the most characteristic residential area in Shanghai. The old lanes in Shanghai are generally Shikumen buildings, which originated in the period of the Taiping rebellion. At that time, the war forced the rich businessmen, landlords, officials and gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to rush into the concession to seek shelter. Foreign real estate developers took the opportunity to build a large number of houses. In the 1920s and 1930s, enclosure was still the main feature of Shanghai's housing, but instead of paying attention to sculpture, the pursuit of simplicity was changed from multi entry to single entry. The Shikumen housing with a combination of Chinese and Western came into being. This kind of building absorbed a large number of styles of Jiangnan folk houses, with stone as the door frame and black lacquer solid thick wood as the door leaf. Therefore, this kind of building is named "Shikumen".

In Chinese, the hoop is called "hoop", such as "golden cudgel", "coop" and "sleeve hoop". This kind of building with stone bars around the door is called "stone hoop door". Ningbo people pronounced "hoop" as "Ku". Later, Shanghai's "stone hoop door" was mistakenly called "Shikumen". The plan and space of Shikumen building are more close to the traditional two-story courtyard or quadrangle in Jiangnan. It has a proper and regular guest hall, a quiet interior upstairs, and a common two compartment. This kind of building also basically maintains the characteristics of Chinese traditional residence, which is relatively closed to the outside world. Although it lives in the downtown, it can be unified by itself when the door is closed. As a result, this "door" has become more and more important. It always has a stone door frame, and the door leaf is black lacquer solid thick wood with a pair of copper rings on it. This type of building is called "Shikumen" by Shanghai people.

Shikumen Shikumen scenic area building lintel part is the most wonderful part. The decoration here is the most abundant. In the early Shikumen, the lintel often imitates the Yimen in the traditional architecture in the south of the Yangtze River, and is made into the style of Chinese traditional brick carving and blue tile coping. Later, influenced by the western architectural style, they often used triangle, semicircle and arc to form rectangular ornaments, similar to the lintel ornaments on the doors and windows of Western architecture. Shikumen architecture is named after its "gate". Shikumen has gradually become a synonym and a symbol of Shanghai traditional lane house.

Shanghai enjoys the reputation of "World Architecture Expo"

On one side of the road on the Bund, towering buildings with different styles, such as Gothic, Roman, Renaissance and Baroque, show the elegant demeanor of architectural art. Similarly, the modern residential buildings in Shanghai are magnificent and colorful. Walking in the streets, savoring these residential buildings in Shanghai, you will feel that the unique charm of the old house is also a beautiful scenery.

Shikumen residence was born out of traditional Chinese courtyard. In the late 19th century, houses built with traditional wood structure and brick walls began to appear in Shanghai. Because the stone is used as the door frame for the outer door of this kind of houses, it is called "Shikumen". As a product of architecture and culture, Shikumen, a combination of Chinese and Western architectural art, has left a deep mark in the history of modern Chinese architecture. Its appearance is a necessity of city life. The modern life of Yangchang style has broken the traditional living mode of courtyard family and replaced it with Shikumen Lane culture which is suitable for single immigrants and small families. The "Pavilion", "guest room", "wing room", "patio" in Shikumen, as well as the terms related to Shikumen, such as "second landlord", "sister-in-law of Bai Xiangren" and "seventy-two tenants", have become the warm memories of old Shanghainese.

Shikumen architecture was popular in the 1920s, accounting for more than three-quarters of the dwellings at that time. Up to now, nearly 40% of Shencheng citizens live in Shikumen, which has a history of more than a century.

Brick wood structure

Shikumen is mostly a two-story building with brick and wood structure. The sloping roof often has a tiger window, a red brick exterior wall, and a traditional Chinese archway at the entrance. The gate is made of two solid black painted wooden doors, which are opened and turned by wooden shafts and are often equipped with door rings. The impact sound from the entrance and exit reverberates in the ancient Shikumen alley. The lintel is made of traditional brick and green tile with the top of the door, and the details of the external wall are carved from western architecture. There is a balcony on the second floor, and the overall layout adopts the European style. Now, Shanghai pays attention to preserving the old buildings, and some Shikumen lane with Shanghai style characteristics are preserved as a whole group of excellent modern buildings.

The most typical characteristics of housing

The most typical feature of Shilong house in Shikumen is the combination of Chinese and western. Shikumen has a traditional two-story courtyard or quadrangle in the south of the Yangtze River. Generally, the entrance is a small patio. Behind the patio is the living room. Then there is another patio. The back patio is the kitchen and the back door. On both sides of the patio and the living room are the left and right wing rooms. Above the kitchen on the first floor is the "Pavilion", and up there is the sun terrace. On the whole, the layout of the row is originated from Europe. The details of the exterior wall are carved patterns of Western architecture, and the triangular or arc-shaped decoration of the door head is mostly Western-style.

Shanghai folk houses are called "Nong"

People in other cities can't even pronounce the word "Nong". In fact, "Nong" is just a general term different from the "Hutong" of the houses on the street. Most of the early Shikumen were called "lane" and "lane", or "Lane hall". Lane commonly used lane, lane, square, village, apartment, villa and other names, the level of gradual increase. The latter, also known as the new style lane, have better living conditions than the early old style Shikumen, with European style fireplace, roof chimney, air vent

Chinese PinYin : Shi Ku Men