Best Modern Examples of Ancient Courtyard Renovations in China

Chinese courtyard homes are some of the widespread housing typologies spanning all the best way from the northern capital of Beijing to the poetic southern cities Hangzhou and again to the picturesque areas of Yunnan. Typically referred as heyuan, these courtyards homes are merely a “yard enclosed on 4 sides.”

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Traditionally, heyuans had been giant single-family houses, constructed to accommodate a number of generations of descendants, thus the important gathering place for micro-communities. Today, nonetheless, many heyuans in China are faced with the challenges of encroaching urban development. The national reforms of the 1950s divided up many existing courtyards to be occupied by multiple families and groups, exhausting ancient sanitation systems nationwide.

These practical circumstances together with market-driven conditions have sparked a renewed interest among architects, to upgrade the conditions of these ancient courtyards and explore the spatial and conceptual possibilities of the typology within their fast-changing urban fabric.