Why are the residential buildings in southern Anhui built like this? Does it have any impact on the environment?

Region is the geographical background for the formation of culture. Different regions reflect different regional cultures and form unique regional landscapes. Goethe said: "Architecture is the book of stone." It can be seen that architecture is the expression of culture. The original building was a place created by people to adapt to changes in the natural environment. Due to the diversity of the global natural environment and the different resources in different regions, people naturally used local materials according to local conditions, such as cave dwelling buildings, stone buildings, wooden buildings, etc. Structural buildings, etc., at the same time, different regional cultures are integrated into the buildings. Through historical accumulation, regional buildings with rich connotations, distinctive characteristics and different styles have been formed. In our country, the regional characteristics of architecture are relatively strong, forming forms such as Wannan residences, northwest residences, Jiangnan residences, Beijing residences, and Hakka residences. Now the regional architectural analysis of Jiangnan folk houses and Wannan folk houses has been explained.

1. The formation of regional architecture

In the southern area of ​​​​the Yangtze River in Anhui, a small but neatly assembled, elegant style and exquisitely decorated residential building - Wannan is developing. Residential. Most of the residential buildings in southern Anhui are buildings, and their planes are arranged symmetrically along the vertical axis. Since the winter is not very cold, wooden partitions are used inside the residences, which are decorated with fine carvings, and the partition doors are not pasted with paper or gauze to achieve good permeability and ensure privacy. Residential houses in southern Anhui generally have high walls to ensure the safety of the courtyard. There are usually no windows on the four walls, leaving only a main entrance or a small door. Jiangnan water towns have always been a major representative of southern folk residences, mainly in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. It is close to the Yangtze River and has a dense water network, forming unique residential buildings that are different from other areas. Its general house also adopts a symmetrical layout, facing north and south, with the door usually opening in the middle of the wall. There are long wooden floor-to-ceiling windows that cannot be disassembled to adapt to the warm climate, and the roof adopts the "Thoroughly Ming-made" method. , that is, the roof has no ceiling, directly exposing the wooden structure above, and its material is also thin. For safety reasons, residential buildings in Jiangnan generally have high walls, but they are often equipped with various types of horse head walls. Building near the water is another major feature of many Jiangnan folk houses. Their special geographical location creates unique architectural forms.

2. Similarities and Differences in Regional Architecture

There are many similarities between Huizhou folk residential architecture and Jiangnan water town folk houses, both of which belong to Jiangnan. The Jiangnan water town is the land of ancient Wu and Yue. Huizhou is "the head of Wu and the tail of Chu". The upper reaches of Qiantang River are greatly influenced by Wu and Yue cultures. The buildings are all brick and wood structures, with wooden frames as load-bearing structures. Architectural decorations are all made of wood, brick and stone carvings. However, Huizhou folk residential architecture is obviously different from Jiangnan folk residential architecture.

(1) Similarities

(1) Courtyard layout

Huizhou buildings are surrounded by high walls, leaving only the patio for ventilation and lighting; It is the center of the entire residence, with a strictly symmetrical central axis; the patio is generally made very deep to prevent theft. The courtyard buildings in Jiangnan also have ventilation, lighting and anti-theft functions, and are also the focus of family life.

(2) Integration of architecture and nature

The entire Huizhou architectural village group is controlled in the natural environment. The head wall contrasts with the undulating mountains, and the plain individual units merge into a group effect with a strong atmosphere. The entire building complex is cleverly integrated with the natural environment. "Behind mountains, surrounded by water, facing the screen" is the general rule for the location selection of Huizhou architecture and residential buildings. The location layout of villages is often close to mountains and rivers, and the mountains and water bodies are considered according to local conditions. This location selection model has the advantages of high terrain, good views and The benefit of the open space is the natural water system, which eliminates flood and drought disasters and facilitates production and life. It cleverly makes the villages follow the slopes, or close to the mountains and rivers, nestled in the embrace of natural mountains and rivers. This village layout of building houses on the mountain and forming a village by the water cleverly takes advantage of the characteristics of the natural environment and is built along the mountain and the direction of the stream. It plays the role of adjusting the wind direction, wind force, temperature, and humidity, thus creating a warm winter and cool summer. Comfortable and pleasant regional microclimate. The folk houses in Jiangnan water towns have a unique natural environment, "surrounded by mountains and rivers, simple and beautiful". Typical traditional houses in water towns often take advantage of the terrain and adapt to local conditions, forming a living pattern of "streets in front, rivers behind, surrounded by river streets". The buildings built around the water are scattered in height, simple and quiet, subtle and restrained. It is condensed into the typical artistic conception of Jiangnan water town dwellings.

(3) The method of unifying opposites

The black and white of Huizhou folk houses form a contrast in brightness, and the large firewalls form a point-to-point contrast with the residential communities. The water flows in the courtyards of the houses. The water and the surrounding bluestone are both hard and soft, while the plain white walls and the meticulously carved gatehouse form a strong contrast between simplicity and complexity. The bright hall and dark room are a contrast between light and dark. Speaking from a larger perspective, a residential community based on ethnic groups gathers in a green mountain and green water, which invisibly creates a contrast between movement and stillness, hardness and softness. Jiangnan folk houses also have many contrasts. The beautifully carved doors, windows and solid walls create a contrast between reality and reality. The square courtyard is different from the so-called round sky. What's even better is that some borrow scenery from the garden, which creates a spatial contrast between the garden and the surrounding mountains in terms of size, distance, virtuality and reality. Flower windows made of tiles bring the scenery of the exterior wall into the garden, increasing the sense of space. Through the flower windows, one can get a glimpse of the lush green trees in the garden. In addition, in addition to the aesthetic expression of the unity of opposites in the building itself, there is also the ancient theory of "Yin and Yang". Residential houses are arranged to face north and south, with mountains and rivers as the pattern. Here is a complete set of Yin and Yang Feng Shui theory.

(4) Reflect the characteristics of adapting to local conditions

Both Hui style puzzles and Jiangnan folk houses embody the simple characteristics of adapting to local conditions, mainly using local building materials-bricks, wood, stone, etc. The building materials include white walls and gray tiles to express the simple natural beauty. The site selection and design of the residential buildings in Huizhou villages reflect the pattern of being close to mountains and rivers and following the slope. That is to say, the natural terrain is used for planning and design, and the appropriate use of pavilions, flower walls, leaky windows, patios and other techniques are used to communicate the internal and external spaces and make the house The community achieves an artistic conception of clever integration with the environment. Jiangnan residential buildings also make full use of the terrain and are flexibly placed on gaps surrounded by running water. In the Jiangnan town area, there are still traces of the water alleys of the past. The architecture in this area reflects the Jiangnan people's understanding of nature. There are small water alleys extending in all directions and long corridors. On both sides of the small bridge are simple white walls and black tiles. The local residents live by the water and live around the water.

(2) Differences

(1) Individual buildings

Looking at individual residences, Jiangnan residences also have patios, courtyards, and floor plans. In the pursuit of flexibility, most of the interiors are open to the outside. Most of the residential buildings are independent and not closed. The treatment of planes and facades is practical and eclectic. Houses generally have three rooms. In addition to daily living, the main room is also a place for handicraft work. There is an open space in front of the house. Slightly larger houses have a square ruler shape, or a three-sided courtyard. The layout of Huizhou folk houses is regular and the facades are closed inwards. Huizhou ancient folk houses are mostly brick and wood structure buildings with three rooms, four rooms and other layouts. There are several types of floor plans, such as opening, concave, H, and sun. There are two floors with multiple entrances, and each entrance has a patio to give full play to the functions of light transmission, ventilation and drainage. The Jiangnan water town is humid and hot in summer, so the halls have many floor-to-ceiling doors and large windows. Large windows are also opened on the side facing the river to provide ventilation and heat dissipation.

(2) Street and lane morphology

The land in Jiangnan is precious, with row upon row of buildings, narrow streets, and extremely high building density. Judging from the shape of streets and lanes, the roads in water towns in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the same The straight and straight layout is free and the scale is small. Compared with Huizhou streets, which are as dense as spider webs, the former grows more naturally along the water system, with a small height-to-width ratio, so it looks friendly, while the latter is more artificially planned. The height is very large, so it looks solemn.

(3) Overall village

Looking at the overall village, Huizhou is a mountainous area, and most buildings are built along the mountain. Although there are many streams in the villages, the terrain is steep and the drop is large. The water is flowing fast. The water network in Jiangnan Water Town is crisscrossed, and most buildings are built near the river. They are highly hydrophilic and have complete and rigorous planning. Compared with Huizhou villages, the former have simple, independent houses made of raw stones and logs, giving the entire village a spacious and refreshing architectural style. The latter's many carved beams and painted buildings are individually hidden in the deep courtyards, resulting in the architectural features of the entire village being closed off.

(4) Charm

Huizhou has its style of Confucianism and Taoism, and Jiangnan has its gentle and stable temperament of scholarly Confucianism. If we compare Huizhou architecture to deep mountains and wild valleys The orchids in the Yangtze River exhale bursts of fragrance with their elegant grace; the buildings in the south of the Yangtze River are like lotus flowers in the green leaves of the clear water, showing all kinds of charm with their clear and elegant postures.