program
Proposal for the adaptation of the old lilong quarters of Shanghai to the actual needs of higher density and higher living standards while preserving their unique character and their importance for the city
background
For the last 200 years, Shanghai has been a city of tremendous contrasts: old and new, poor and wealthy, traditional and contemporary, east and west. This is especially reflected in the architectural style unique to Shanghai. The so called “shikumen” or “lilong”, mainly built between the 1840s and the 1940s, imply these differences in a very special way. In these alleyway communities, one will find several poor families sharing one unit together next to a wealthy family owning a single unit for themselves. Since the tenants of those lane houses come from different classes of society and from different parts of the country, they are bringing their own cultures, traditions and lifestyles to Shanghai. Therefore a great diversity has been established in the alleyways over the last two centuries.
Shanghai is also a city of incredible changes: Due to altered needs in density, comfort, living standards etc., many of those old quarters have now been destroyed and replaced by faceless fenced compounds and concrete high risers - not only used for housing but also more and more for office and business purpose. Therefore you can now find old alleyway districts surrounded by modern high risers.
But the concept of the lilong has always been and will always be a very important part of the city. Not only does its architecture provide a high grade of diversity, social life and social exchange between its tenants, it also serves the neighbouring business districts. These alleyways’ inhabitants form an essential part of the society. No matter if they are bin men, chars, factory workers or if they’re selling food in the streets, without them the city’s social infrastructure would collapse and the new business districts with them.
This project focuses on those old quarters, how they can be adapted to the actual needs of higher density, higher living standards while preserving their unique character and their importance to the city.
architecture
The assignment was to create a redevelopment of the shikumen, adapted to the actual needs of the current residents. This project leads to a proposal that could minimise the effects of gentrification in the old quarters of the city. It focuses on integrating the typology of the shikumen into the modern structure of the city in a meaningful way: preserving their unique qualities while fulfilling the demands for increased density.
The importance lay in distilling the principles of the shikumen architecture and translating it into a new way to approach the development of the urban districts. Preserving the essence of the shikumen while satisfying the needs of the people affected was the main priority.
The main principles of the lilong districts are the following: courtyards, the lane structure, a great diversity and most important the “graduated privacy”.
The main development is still created by the typical main lane connecting the public street with several semi-public yards. From these yards several side lanes lead to semi-private courtyards where the vertical accessibility lies.
In every floor the horizontal circulation is created by arcades connecting several semi-private spaces and leading to the housing units. This principle of an Arcadian circulation with semi-private spaces is essential for a social exchange, similar to the old lilong quarters.
Of course when planning vertically, providing every housing unit with a courtyard is not an easy goal to accomplish. That is why the design is introducing an abstraction of the courtyard: every single unit has an entrance loggia and a “living” loggia. The former is creating another semi-private space just in front of a housing unit, a perfect place to chat with your neighbours, playing a round of chess or drinking tea
For increased privacy medium high doors can close the entrance loggia. On the opposite side of each housing unit lies the “living” loggia, a generous private “courtyard” with a semi high brick balustrade providing screen from view. The interior of each unit will be left in shell form so that every owner can equip the flat according to their own ideas. This creates a maximum of diversity since the floor plans of the units are designed in a way that it is possible to establish a generous flat for wealthier people as well as a multi-room household for bigger families, shared living etc. The ground floor of the whole quarter works the same way as the street facing houses of a traditional shikumen quarter. It houses public services such as restaurants, teahouses, small shops etc. at the public courtyards and semi-private services, such as rubbish bins, bike parkings, small workshops for the residents etc. in the semi-private yards.
The layout of the site development is based on the typical lane architecture with one main lane and several side lanes. By dissolving the very symmetrical design and instead establishing a more open, more modern attempt to it, new attractive spaces are created while the main character is being preserved. By rising the height of the compound in a stepped way from two floors on the street side up to seven floors at the back side of the first construction stage and later up to 15 floors at the last stage, a smooth transition to the more urban landscape in the northwest of the site will be created. The floor area ratio of the first construction stage will be 3,2 compared to approximately 1,5 - 2,0 in the average shikumen neighbourhoods and around 3,5 - 4,0 in the more urban districts. Therefore a meaningful middle way for Shanghai’s future shikumen neighbourhoods was created and the design can serve as a prototype for future development.