

The courtyard also allowed sunlight and adequate ventilation into the rooms. Yet, to compromise with its urban nature, it was much smaller and provided an "interior haven" to the commotions in the streets, allowing for raindrops to fall and vegetation to grow freely within a residence. All traditional Chinese dwellings had a courtyard, and the shikumen was no exception.

The shikumen is a cultural blend of elements found in Western architecture with traditional Lower Yangtze (Jiangnan) Chinese architecture and social behavior. The name "shikumen" means "stone storage door", referring to the strong gateway to each house. The whole resembles terrace houses or townhouses commonly seen in Anglo-American countries, but distinguished by the tall, heavy brick wall in front of each house. The entrance to each alley is usually surmounted by a stylistic stone arch. Each residence is connected and arranged in straight alleys, known as a longtang (弄堂), pronounced longdang in Shanghainese. One uniquely Shanghainese cultural element is the shikumen (石库门) residences, which are two- or three-story townhouses, with the front yard protected by a high brick wall.
Despite rampant redevelopment, the old city still retains some buildings of a traditional style, such as the Yuyuan Garden, an elaborate traditional garden in the Jiangnan style. Notable examples of contemporary architecture include the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre in the People's Square precinct and Shanghai Oriental Art Center. In recent years, a large number of architecturally distinctive and even eccentric buildings have sprung up throughout Shanghai. Shanghai World Financial Center (left) and Jin Mao Tower (right) The Bund's first revitalization started in 1986 with a new promenade by the Dutch Architect Paulus Snoeren, the completion was in the mid-1990s. Other prominent architects who contributed to the Art Deco style are Parker & Palmer, who designed the Peace Hotel, Metropole Hotel, and the Broadway Mansions, and Austrian architect GH Gonda who designed the Capital Theatre. Some of his most notable Art Deco buildings include the Park Hotel and the Grand Theater. One of the most famous architects working in Shanghai was László Hudec, a Hungarian-Slovak architect who lived in the city between 1918–1947. Shanghai has one of the worlds largest number of Art Deco buildings as a result of the construction boom during the 1920s and 1930s. A number of areas in the former foreign concessions are also well-preserved, the most notable ones being the French Concession. The Bund, located by the bank of the Huangpu River, contains a rich collection of early 20th-century architecture, ranging in style from neoclassical HSBC Building to the art deco Sassoon House. Shanghai has a rich collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. Renovated shikumen lanes in Xintiandi, now a high-end restaurant and shopping center See also: List of tallest buildings in Shanghai desc : *** The IP addresses under this Org-ID are in use by Google Cloud customers ***,Direct all copyright and legal complaints to, all spam and abuse complaints to, fastest response, use the relevant forms above.,Complaints can also be sent to the GC Abuse desk,( ),but may have longer turnaround times.,*** The IP addresses under this Org-ID are in use by Google Cloud customers ***,Direct all copyright and legal complaints to, all spam and abuse complaints to, fastest response, use the relevant forms above.,Complaints can also be sent to the GC Abuse desk,( ),but may have longer turnaround times.,Complaints sent to any other POC will be ignored.See also: Major National Historical and Cultural Sites (Shanghai).Registrar Domain ID: 2377530059_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN.Domain expires: 0 Years, 267 Days left.
