Shanghai Stone Gate 20 Scenic Spots

Author: Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Shikumen architecture is a traditional residential building with strong local characteristics in Shanghai. The floor plan and spatial layout of Shikumen architecture are closer to the traditional two-story sanheyuan or siheyuan in Jiangnan, retaining a well-organized reception hall, quiet inner rooms on the upper floor, and the customary side wings. This type of architecture also largely maintains the relatively enclosed characteristic of traditional Chinese residential buildings. Even situated in a bustling city, it can be self-contained when the doors are shut, making the "doors" even more significant. It typically features a stone frame encircling the entrance, with solid, dark lacquered wooden doors and a pair of bronze rings. This style of building is known by the Shanghai people as "Shikumen." The eaves section of Shikumen architecture is the most exquisite part. Here, the decorations are most rich. In early Shikumen, the eaves often mimicked the traditional Chinese brick-carved, tiled roof style of (a ceremonial gate) in Jiangnan architecture. Later, influenced by Western architectural styles, triangular, semicircular, arched, and rectangular decorative motifs became common, resembling the gable decorations above windows and doors in Western architecture. Shikumen architecture is named after its "doors." Over time, Shikumen has become synonymous with and a symbol of traditional Shanghai alleyway residences.