historic housing typology in Wuhan – “Li Fen”

The housing typology near my site in Wuhan is actually a contemporary building type that usually built from late 19th century until 1930s Japanese invaded China. Since Wuhan was re-opened as one of the international harbors after The Second Opium War, along with the establishment of foreign concessions, the western classic buildings came into Wuhan along the water front. The new building typology emerged after. So the newer building type is usually a two-floor housing building with a style that combined with the western townhouses and Chinese “Si He Yuan”, and it is called “Li Fen” which is differentiate from the old housing typology named “Li Nong” in Shanghai.  This building typologies used to represent a higher level of living during that time, and it reduced the distances between neighboring buildings and increased the density of Hankou, north of the city along Yangtze River where most of these buildings exist.

The pictures below exhibit the building examples and some of their currents, as well as the existing western classic buildings, which are all historic heritage now. The history of concession area  and itself have very strong influences to the urban morphology and the waterfront areas until today.

Now a brand new city subway system ( Wuhan doesn’t have subway system in the past) is under construction in Wuhan. The western building area near my site is also a transportation hub in the city, since there would be a subway transit center passing the area, even the national heritages are in danger of tearing down.

The following are part of the existing western classic buildings, which are all national heritage now. The history of concession area  and itself have very strong influences to the urban morphology and the waterfront areas until today.

Another important feature of these buildings is their shared sustainable ventilation. Wuhan is very famous for its hotness in summer, and these old buildings are very cool inside during summer and there is no need to utilize air conditioners since they have a double-layer windows, appropriate wall thickness and building depth as well as good shading.