The Sustainable Strategy of Chinese Quadrangles

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elders because the Chinese usually respect and admire elders in the family. For example, elders are symbols of health and happiness in Chinese culture. The room layout meets Chinese morality, where the most respectful people are living in the middle of the site, surrounded by young adults and children. In addition, siheyuan also utilized feng-shui theories while deciding where the front gate should be placed. According to Mu (2012), the front gate is located on the southeast side because there is a saying in feng-shui that the wind of luck always comes from the east. In siheyuan, people can find a lot of decorations that follow Chinese folklore characters, such as the dragon, griffin, and pomegranate (Sun, 2013). Chinese culture is also infused into this type of residence.

To sum up, siheyuan is a representative of Chinese architecture techniques. Siheyuan effectively protects residents from strong winter winds in the Beijing area without any consumption, but only by its layout. Siheyuan is able to reduce temperatures in the summer and maintain temperatures in the winter for residents without any consumption of energy. Although the closure form of the residence prevents strong wind in the winter, Siheyuan also enables ventilation in summer to create an appropriate thermal environment. All of the benefits occur without any further energy consumption. It meets the goal of sustainability nowadays. Siheyuan also preserves Chinese culture and tradition in the house without sacrificing the sustainability features.

References

Chen, W., Glicsman, L., & Scott, A. (2007). Sustainable Urban Housing in China. Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology. Retrieved February 6, 2016.

Gong, X., Akashi, Y., & Sumiyoshi, D. (2012). Optimization of passive design measures for residential buildings in different Chinese areas. Building and Environment, 58, 46-57. Retrieved February 8, 2016.

Mu, Y. (2012). The Correlation Study of Space Composition and Formative Process of Chinese Syheyuan. Value Engineering. Retrieved Fedbruary 6, 2016.

Shi, Y. (2013). Wind Environment Characteristics in Chinese Vernacular Courtyard and its Design Application. The Architectural Science Association, Australia, 493-502. Retrieved February 6, 2016.

Sun, F. (2013). Chinese Climate and Vernacular Dwellings. Buildings, 3(1), 143-172. Retrieved February 5, 2016.

The World Factbook. (2016, February 6). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html

Wang, Q. (2011). Chinese architecture. New York: Better Link Press.

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