Shikumen

[1] The term 石库门 is derived from the Shanghainese dialect 石箍门, 箍 meaning "to frame or encase."

In 2010, "construction techniques of shikumen lilong architecture" was recognised by the Chinese government on the national non-physical cultural heritage register (no.

Shikumens are two or three-story structures resembling Western terrace houses or townhouses, distinguished by high brick walls enclosing a narrow front yard.

Each residence abuts another and all are arranged in straight side alleys called longtang (Chinese: 弄堂; pinyin: Lòngtáng, Shanghainese: lon⁶ daon⁶, IPA: [loŋ¹¹ dɑ̃²⁴], sometimes written as 衖堂[4]).

Yet, to compromise with its urban nature, it was much smaller and provided an interior haven to the commotions in the streets, allowing for raindrops to fall and vegetation to grow freely within a residence.

[6] These wooden buildings were built as terraces, and usually name with "Li" (里, Shanghainese: li⁶) as suffix.

They were first built in the British concession (later part of the International Settlement; and still later, the pre-merger Huangpu District), but quickly became popular throughout the Old City and Chinese zones, and came to become the predominant form of residential construction in Shanghai.

Great emphasis was placed on natural lighting, with most shikumen orientated towards the south, and an internal staircase skylight or atrium to supplement the front and back courtyards.

From the 1930s they were replaced by newer building types, including newer types of lilong residences, as well as larger modern apartment buildings, before the civil war and the Second Sino-Japanese War completely disrupted the property market in Shanghai.

"Second landlords" used increasingly creative ways to sub-divide rooms and build add-ons and lean-tos in the courtyards and on the terraces.

Although designed to be residential, other types of enterprises often operated from shikumen buildings as well, hidden within longtang developments.

[citation needed] The Communist Youth League first operated out of a shikumen residence on Avenue Joffre.

[9] In the early 1950s, it was calculated that there were more than 9000 shikumen buildings, comprising 65% of residential housing stock by area in Shanghai.

[2] While constructions of new residential buildings decreased this percentage over time, most shikumen neighbourhoods remained unchanged in their crowded state until economic reforms in the 1980s and 90s began the wave of demolition and reconstruction which, by the early 21st century, has left only a few shikumen developments intact.

Typically, this gate is located on the central axis of each dwelling, with twin doors made of heavy wood, painted glossy black.

[2] Each individual dwelling displays typical characteristics of traditional Jiangnan architecture, while the layout of the development as a whole is adopted from Western terrace houses.

The houses possessed walls of equal height at the front and back, so that each dwelling (despite being part of a terrace) was an enclosed whole, separated from the outside world.

The early period shikumen also possessed more features of traditional Chinese architecture: on the external façade of the terrace there are often typically Chinese matou ("horse head") style or Guanyin dou ("Guanyin hood") style gables; the main hall uses floor-to-ceiling windows; decorative boards below eaves; and grid windows on the side wings.

[7] In terms of internal lay-out, immediately within the main gate is the front courtyard (tianjing 天井), flanked by wings (xiangfang 厢房) of the house on the left and right.

[7] The lintel of the main gate also became increasingly elaborate, decorated with semicircular archivolts, triangular pediments or rectangular architraves.

One of the few old type shikumen developments to be preserved largely intact is Bugao Li, or Cité Bourgogne (built in the 1930s), in the former French Concession.

Standard triangular gables and party walls replaced the more elaborate matou or Guanyin dou styles, with concrete tops.

This was typically small, with low ceilings, and faced north, making it the least attractive room in the house.

In Chinese, shikumen developments are typically named with a suffix of Li (里, "neighbourhood"), Fang (坊, "ward"), Long (弄, "lane") or Cun (邨, "village").

The main lane was 107.5 metres long, and the end walls featured Guanyin dou-style gables.

This late period old type shikumen development occupied 4.66 hectares, with 48,000 square metres of floor space.

[14] Originally a middle-class neighbourhood, the area became dense slums due to the influx of refugees in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Cité Bourgogne (Bugao Li), located on South Shanxi Road, is a typical old type shikumen development despite being built in the 1930s.

The largest shikumen neighbourhood which survives in a mostly original state is Jianye Li (建业里), also heritage protected.

In 2003, the original residents were relocated, and the buildings were somewhat controversially renovated to become serviced apartments and to house restaurants and other commercial uses.