Set against the backdrop of the crisis of cultural expression and global assimilation
existing in many cities in China, modern house forms of limited types are copied and
mass-produced, regardless of local culture, topography and climate.
Typo-morphological study has been identified and developed as a base for theoretical
discussion and empirical case studies, mainly focusing on the relationship between
elements of form. In this study, it is used to systematically investigate diverse early
mass-housing built in China in the period from the beginning of the 20th century to
the onset of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937. The mass-housings in Qingdao, Tianjin,
Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, six significant colonial cities in China,
are selected as case studies. The early mass-housing was a new leading building type
of the time, successfully meeting the needs of occupants, and becoming valuable
assets from which people can derive benefits.
However, most scholars have only investigated the early mass-housing from an
isolated perspective, thereby forfeiting the opportunity to identify what is important to
that particular localized building culture, what distinguishes it from other cultures,
and intrinsic characteristics originating from that locale. Therefore, comparative
analysis of the early mass-housing is necessary to identify and explore characteristics
significant in cultural and environmental adaptation. Moreover, such an analysis helps
develop a better understanding of the evolution of the housing in context.
Based on an extensive literature review, this research selects significant and
representative examples from the six cities. Assisted by a systematic
typo-morphological framework formulated by Conzen, Caniggia and Kropf, this study
investigates the morphological characteristics of these examples at fabric and building
levels. A comparative analysis is then undertaken of the components of these housing
estates within a typological process, which is inherent in the sequence of building
types and characterizes an area. Finally, it gets the conclusion that such housing in
these cities share few morphological patterns; meanwhile, diversity and contradictions
also exist for reasons that go beyond varying climates and geographical locations. By
building up the typological process, this study (with certain qualifications), is able to
explore the constituent parts or elements of housing forms and their interaction in the
formation process, which can have implications for the further housing development. / published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Philosophy
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/146149 |
Date | January 2011 |
Creators | Yang, Yuping, 杨玉平 |
Contributors | Jia, B |
Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | PG_Thesis |
Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47296562 |
Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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