Cultural Sustainability and Vitality of Chinese Vernacular Architecture: A Pedigree for the Spatial Art of Traditional Villages in Jiangnan Region

Qi Liu, Zaiyi Liao, Yongfa Wu, Dagmawi Mulugeta Degefu and Yiwei Zhang
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Qi Liu: Gold Mantis School of architecture, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Zaiyi Liao: College of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, The China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
Yongfa Wu: Gold Mantis School of architecture, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Dagmawi Mulugeta Degefu: The Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science (FEAS), Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
Yiwei Zhang: School of Civil Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 24, 1-27

Abstract: Presently, the rapid urbanization in contemporary cities in China has resulted in more buildings of low cultural value and high energy consumption. Many traditional Chinese villages exhibit special spaces that have been optimally adapted to the climatic and environmental features of the area using vernacular methods. The buildings in these villages can maintain the environment more sufficiently for the intended programs and consuming a lower level of resources. The construction technics and the artistic features in these spaces are invaluable and inspiring for contemporary architectural practices. This study aims to establish a pedigree of the artistic features exhibited in traditional Chinese villages to support sustainable development. This is to be achieved through thoroughly exploring the spatial design of these villages archived in a big-data resource. The pedigree integrates the dynamics (cultural changes over a certain period of time) and static (spatial features at a fixed time) of how the spaces in these villages have evolved. It is concluded that both a high level of sustainability and exceptional artistic quality have been achieved over a long history in many of these villages where traditional construction methods and design principals were employed.

Keywords: cultural sustainability; Jiangnan region; traditional village; spatial pedigree; sustainable technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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