Hutong Generations

The Challenge

In the capital city of Beijing, traditional courtyard homes (四合院 siheyuan) are nestled among a network of interconnected alleys (胡同 hutong). These highly-recognizable structures, which draw on traditional timber-framed architecture, are considered one of the most evocative visual elements that represents Chinese identity.

 

However, since the mid-twentieth century, these cultural treasures, which represent people's homes and memories, have been threatened by a combination of forces:

 

(1) active demolition, as governments clear land and buildings for more lucrative commercial purposes;

(2) age and deterioration, as under-investment in maintenance and government-sanctioned overcrowding degrade the physical integrity;

(3) loss of memory and intangible skills, as craftspersons whose expertise helped construct these structures, and residents who once lived in them are gradually displaced due to expulsion or demolition;

(4) inappropriate renovation or redevelopment, as inauthentic uses, materials, fixtures, and aesthetics, replace the historic interiors and exteriors of siheyuan, and historical materials are purged from their centuries-old buildings

(5) loss of community, as residents are evicted, displaced and removed from the rolls

(6) competing uses of land, as other development types encroach on what once were mixed-use residential neighborhoods