The Shanghai Alleyway House

A Vanishing Urban Vernacular

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Architecture, Planning, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies
Cover of the book The Shanghai Alleyway House by Gregory Bracken, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Gregory Bracken ISBN: 9781135081423
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: March 5, 2013
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Gregory Bracken
ISBN: 9781135081423
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: March 5, 2013
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

As a nineteenth-century commercial development, the alleyway house was a hybrid of the traditional Chinese courtyard house and the Western terraced one. Unique to Shanghai, the alleyway house was a space where the blurring of the boundaries of public and private life created a vibrant social community. In recent years however, the city’s rapid redevelopment has meant that the alleyway house is being destroyed, and this book seeks to understand it in terms of the lifestyle it engendered for those who called it home, whilst also looking to the future of the alleyway house.

Based on groundwork research, this book examines the Shanghai alleyway house in light of the complex history of the city, especially during the colonial era. It also explores the history of urban form (and governance) in China in order to question how the Eastern and Western traditions combined in Shanghai to produce a unique and dynamic housing typology. Construction techniques and different alleyway house sub-genres are also examined, as is the way of life they engendered, including some of the side-effects of alleyway house life, such as the literature it inspired, both foreign and local, as well as the portrayal of life in the laneways as seen in films set in the city. The book ends by posing the question: what next for the alleyway house? Does it even have a future, and if so, what lies ahead for this rapidly vanishing typology?

This interdisciplinary book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Chinese studies, architecture and urban development, as well as history and literature.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

As a nineteenth-century commercial development, the alleyway house was a hybrid of the traditional Chinese courtyard house and the Western terraced one. Unique to Shanghai, the alleyway house was a space where the blurring of the boundaries of public and private life created a vibrant social community. In recent years however, the city’s rapid redevelopment has meant that the alleyway house is being destroyed, and this book seeks to understand it in terms of the lifestyle it engendered for those who called it home, whilst also looking to the future of the alleyway house.

Based on groundwork research, this book examines the Shanghai alleyway house in light of the complex history of the city, especially during the colonial era. It also explores the history of urban form (and governance) in China in order to question how the Eastern and Western traditions combined in Shanghai to produce a unique and dynamic housing typology. Construction techniques and different alleyway house sub-genres are also examined, as is the way of life they engendered, including some of the side-effects of alleyway house life, such as the literature it inspired, both foreign and local, as well as the portrayal of life in the laneways as seen in films set in the city. The book ends by posing the question: what next for the alleyway house? Does it even have a future, and if so, what lies ahead for this rapidly vanishing typology?

This interdisciplinary book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Chinese studies, architecture and urban development, as well as history and literature.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling after Postmodernism by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Rethinking Dance History by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Therapeutic Practice in Schools by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Henry Hudson the Navigator by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Human Development and Working Life by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Dignity and Old Age by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Going it Alone? by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Nuclear Waste Management and Legitimacy by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Personality Development by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book In Dwelling by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Jean-François Lyotard by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Interactive Art Therapy by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Translation and Identity by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Michael J. Shapiro by Gregory Bracken
Cover of the book Mediaeval Education and the Reformation by Gregory Bracken
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy