Page 20 - JCAU-6-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism The making of the Chinese urban landscape

that function at different scales. The main concern is to The frontage of the house in courtyard neighborhoods is
address conceptual dynamic evolutionary paradigms in the defined by the wall at the front. Domestic activities and
building and urban-tissue types that prevail in a particular gatherings rarely happen in the street. The ward wall
society or cultural context, to provide an interpretation of element serves as both a physical and mental boundary
the formation and transformation of built forms. between the street and the plot. In the past, such a physical

Morphogenetic analysis purports to understand how pattern strengthened the image of self-containment on the
the urban tissue has developed through the reconstruction one hand and reflected the need to maintain family privacy
of development processes using artifacts and spatial and independence, and a comparatively lesser interest in
forms deposited in the existing tissue. Complementing community activities involving the urban environment at
the morphogenetic approach, the generative perspective large, on the other.
provides an explanation of built forms from the perspective 3.3. A more integrated approach to the Chinese
of traditional planning and design philosophies, cultural urban landscape
preferences, and socioeconomic circumstances. Beyond
the physical appearance of the material forms, structural The integrated approach strives to disclose the city as a
permanency can eventually be attributed to the cultural dynamic spatiotemporal system driven by both natural
permanency deeply embedded in traditional landscape and cultural processes. It involves the sympathetic
ideas. For example, residential buildings are the most deconstruction and heuristic reconstitution of the
dominant forms found in ordinary landscapes. Therefore, structural-correlative and morphogenetic-generative
the changes to residential form over time denote how duality to establish the interplay of these approaches.
the ordinary landscape has served as an instrument of Alongside the ontological assertion of landscape, its focus
socioeconomic circumstance and the cultural values of is exploring the new intersectionality between spatiality,
each morphological period. They also effectively help historicity, and sociality. Theoretically, these three
characterize the changing spatial structure of a city. perspectives simultaneously and equally constitute urban
morphological research, with none privileged over the
The typical courtyard house in China is a residential others.
compound with a set of courtyards enclosed by
surrounding buildings and high walls on four sides. The In many cases, the integrated approach is underutilized,
characteristics of the courtyard house compound are leading to problems in morphological research and practice.
determined by climatic and sociocultural factors. During The reinterpretation, rebalancing, and reintegration of the
the evolutionary process of vernacular dwellings, the form three epistemological orientations of the urban landscape
of the courtyard house was selected as the ideal residential can help to achieve morphogenetically conscious planning
type due to its flexibility and adaptability. The courtyard and urban management, especially in China. In particular,
house was well accepted by ancient Chinese because its by examining the morphological emergence, adaptation,
enclosed built form provided privacy and protection and transformation of the urban landscape, one is
from external disturbances, while the courtyard offered able to categorize the types of built forms and the main
light, ventilation, and a space for family activities (Knapp, inherited characteristics, which are deeply embedded.
2005). The courtyard, enclosed as it was by the walls or The categorization and assessment of urban landscape
buildings around it, took on a special, introverted quality. characteristics can be used prescriptively in controlling
The seclusion of the courtyard, separated from the outside and managing future urban landscape changes to integrate
world, is an important feature of Chinese architecture. them harmoniously into existing landscapes.
Inherited from the ward wall elements that have been There is no convenient practice code that can be
applied to urban blocks for centuries, the courtyard could directly utilized to manage the spatial transformation
be considered a smaller lifang system. This inward-looking of a city’s physical form in a way that represents regional
pattern in the built form represents the Confucian idea of cultural values. Most contemporary planning and urban
valuing the family system as the basic cell in the social order, conservation practices in China are facing challenges
as well as the idea of constructing a physical boundary as with balancing the management of existing local built-
a defense against outside forces. From the imperial palaces environment heritage on the one hand and the creation of
left by past dynasties down to the dwellings of the common new urban forms that serve contemporary needs on the
people, walled-off compounds with their own courtyards other. While the homogenization of urban landscapes is
inside have remained to the present time. an apparent and concerning effect of rapid urbanization,
The inward-looking pattern in courtyard houses has morphologically conscious research and practice are still
also had an impact on the street and house relationship. limited in China. Focusing on the ideas of morphological

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 8 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.261