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Copyright of Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale is the property of Berghahn Books and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A courtyard is an essential space for natural lighting and natural convective ventilation of residential buildings in hot-humid climates. This study focuses on the internal courtyard configuration on the thermal performance of long strip houses (LSH) in the hot-climate area of Hainan Island, China. The aim is to identify the best design parameters for the courtyard to improve thermal comfort in modern LSH design. Appropriate strategies, including Mahoney table, field investigation, and CFD simulation, are used to determine thermal performance. As a result, the design guidelines of the courtyard are proposed to optimize the thermal comfort towards energy saving. The study reveals the spatial characteristics and climate regulation of internal courtyards in traditional LSH. In addition, the simulation results show that the enclosure with a shaded cover and a high ratio of H/D is conducive to thermal environment and ventilation, and the section of contracted shape from bottom to top is a preferred option in the internal courtyard configuration. This study should, therefore, be of value in designing practical projects with an interior courtyard for architects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Architectural Journal / Jian Zhu Xue Bao is the property of Architectural Journal Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Feng shui in ancient China was harmonized with the natural environment. The layout of houses following feng shui is conducive to a comfortable wind environment. To explore the positive influence of feng shui on ventilation, this study takes Prince Kung's Mansion, which has the characteristics of a feng shui layout, as the research object. In parallel, the study assumes a dissimilation layout that has lost the feng shui layout characteristics. Comparing the ventilation of courtyards in the summer for both the feng shui layout and the dissimilation layout through CFD simulation, the results were as follows: (1) the wind speed values in the summer, taken from 60 points in Prince Kung's Mansion by way of CFD simulation and field experiments, were well coupled, which proves that PHOENICS is suitable for the courtyard wind environments simulation in this study. (2) The CFD simulation results show that the average wind speed and the comfortable wind speed zone ratio in the courtyards of the feng shui layout were higher than those of the dissimilation layout during the summer, and the courtyard wind speeds of the two layouts were linearly related. Therefore, the feng shui layout is more conducive to the comfort of courtyards' wind environment than the dissimilation layout. (3) The front and rear wind pressure differences of the main houses in the feng shui layout can optimize the indoor ventilation better than those of dissimilation layout in the summer. (4) According to the evaluation criteria for the wind environment, the wind speed and wind pressure of the feng shui layout are superior to those of dissimilation layout in the summer. In summary, this study verifies that the layout of feng shui optimizes the courtyard wind environment in the summer, which embodies the ecological concept of the Chinese ancients in the layout of houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is implementing the strategy of Rural Revitalization. Revitalizing idle and inefficient utilization courtyards is an important measure for rural revitalization. The evaluation of courtyard utilization efficiency is the basis of determining the idle and inefficient utilization courtyards in order to revitalizing it. This study provided a reference for the optimal use of rural courtyard utilization and revitalization through the quantitative comprehensive evaluation of courtyard utilization efficiency and the classification of courtyard utilization types. Taking Shandong Province in Eastern China as study area, we selected eight surveyed villages by stratified sampling method. According to the scale of the villages, full survey and sample survey were used, while middle-aged men who familiar with the courtyards were selected as the respondents. Through a household questionnaire survey and face-to-face interviews from 2017 to 2018, 578 questionnaires of rural courtyards in eight villages were obtained. Then based on the functions of rural courtyard and land resource conditions, 16 comprehensive factors were formulated, involving land conditions, construction conditions and economic benefits, to build the comprehensive evaluation index system of rural courtyard utilization efficiency. Next the index weight was determined by analytic hierarchy process, and the linear weighted regression model was used to evaluate the utilization efficiency of rural courtyard. Finally, the K-means clustering analysis was used to classify the utilization efficiency of courtyards. The results showed that among the eight villages, the average utilization efficiency of courtyards was moderate (one village was low, five were moderate, and two were high). The proportions of both idle and inefficiently utilized courtyards were high. There were three vital factors leading to the idle and low efficiency of rural courtyards. They were declining rural industries, limited arable land per capita, and more farmer workers. In this case, the utilization efficiency of courtyards should be improved by transferring rural land, developing secondary and tertiary industries, evaluating the development potential of villages, classifying and optimizing courtyard utilization, so as to make full use of idle and inefficient courtyards, increase the income of farmers and collectives and promote the revitalization of rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courtyard houses served as a traditional dwelling type for single, extended families in Beijing for centuries. However, the twentieth century brought significant changes, as individual houses were divided into multiple units and their courtyards filled in for ancillary structures such as kitchens and storage sheds. This study combines architectural and ethnographic research to examine a project initiated by the Beijing municipal government in 2005 to renew dilapidated courtyard housing over a period of 25 years. Reflecting consideration of the lived experiences of residents and the author's on-site observations, the study found that the project displays many deficiencies. Besides infrastructure and construction-quality issues, the renewed courtyards and interior spaces are too small to accommodate the daily needs of residents. The appraisal concludes by offering four lessons for future practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the dynamic performance of an enclosed courtyard with a covered roof in a cold IIA region of China was explored, and the microclimate regulation and energy performance of its component, the courtyard adjustable ventilated roof (CsAVR), were emphasized. As a theoretical basis for thermal context exploration, adaptive thermal comfort content was introduced, and mean thermal sensation vote (MTS) was adopted as one of the evaluation metrics. The thermal environment was monitored, and subsequently, energy models and numerical models were constructed in DesignBuilder and the finite element program COMSOL, respectively, which were both validated by the measured data. The comparative experiments were applied to the energy model to validate the capabilities of CsAVR on thermal regulation and energy savings, while a morphological optimization procedure based on derivative-free optimization algorithms was implemented in COMSOL to obtain the optimal set of design parameters for CsAVR satisfying thermal comfort. The comparative experiments revealed that the CsAVR reduced the operative temperature in the courtyard and adjacent space by 3.9 °C and 1.6 °C, respectively, during the warm period; approximately 47.4% (courtyard) and 28.6% (adjacent space) of the occupied hours were extended to the comfort range during the cooling season; and approximately 8.2% of the energy was saved throughout the year. With the input of meteorological parameters, dwelling geometry parameters, and thermal adaptation objective functions, an optimization program with an embedded COBYLA algorithm was created to rapidly obtain a combination of morphological control parameters that approximates optimal thermal comfort. • Compare the performance of covered and uncovered courtyards. • The thermal and microclimatic functions of the courtyard are both considered. • A thermal intervention design that responds to the thermal comfort and behavior of occupants. • The MTS -restricted morphological optimization program is available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Situation of Chinese residences is described. [•] Two typical models of courtyard are established. [•] Wind environment of courtyard are analyzed by CFD. [•] Wind environment deficiencies of courtyard are pointed out. [•] Some strategies for creating good wind environment are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is increasingly believed that energy retrofits are a protection tool to preserve cultural heritage for future generations. However, few studies are available regarding the deep retrofits of traditional courtyard houses in the Chinese Hot-Summer-Cold-Winter zone, although the winter conditions in these buildings are very uncomfortable based on existing studies. Besides, few studies analyzed the actual energy performance of still-occupied traditional buildings in this region. Therefore, this study investigated the energy-saving potential of deeply retrofitting the building enclosures of a traditional courtyard house in Tongren in southern China. The investigation was based on calibrated hygrothermal simulation with WUFI®Plus applying the multi-zone airflow modeling. For the calibration, short-term monitoring (two weeks) was conducted in winter and measured the air temperature, relative humidity, and heating energy consumption. The calibration showed satisfactory results by assessing the Normalized-Mean-Bias-Error, the Coefficient of Variation of Root-Mean-Square Error, and the Coefficient of determination. In contrast, the application of Goodness of Fit shows poorer performance and requires further discussion for short monitoring periods. According to this study, improving the U-values of building envelopes to meet at least the current Chinese energy-efficiency standard can reduce more than 56% energy demand for heating and cooling, with an estimated payback time of 2.5 years for the material cost. With growing expectations of building occupants on indoor thermal comfort, the improvement of the energy performance of traditional buildings will become more critical for their long-term preservation and should be implemented in China's energy efficiency policies and initiatives in the future. • The energy performance of one heated traditional courtyard house was investigated. • Multi-zone airflow modeling is suggested for naturally ventilated courtyard houses. • An easy-to-conduct simulation procedure was demonstrated. • Deeply retrofitting the traditional building enclosures can save heat energy by 50%. • Traditional buildings should be integrated into China's energy efficiency policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an ethnographic examination of a range of religious practices at the Buddhist Temple of Universal Rescue (Guangji si) in Beijing. Temple-goers engaged in both ritual practices in the temple’s inner courtyard and moralistic conversations in the outer courtyard draw on recycled fragments of China’s many “pasts” to form cultural repertoires. These repertoires provide the temple-goers with a cultural toolkit to enter into meaningful projects of self- and identity-making in an environment of rapid social change. Participants in different religious activities at the temple both add to and mobilize different elements in their repertoires as their life circumstances change. The example of the temple shows that, in the popular Chinese social arena, various past stages of China’s history, including phases in its modernization process, have neither been abandoned nor superseded but remain as cultural resources to be drawn from as needed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

According to the features of China's traditional courtyard, and combining with the practice of modern courtyard, this paper proposes the concept of air courtyard, and analyzes and recapitulates the four forms of high residence's air courtyard in modern city's residential area. In addition, the paper outspreads the exploratory thinking about the creative design of air courtyard. It is the inheritance and continuation of China's traditional courtyard, as well as the new birth of residential courtyard in modern city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the effects of courtyard envelope design on the energy performance of office buildings in the hot summer–cold winter region of China. Two types of courtyard buildings were simulated with 200 energy models by changing the following variables: window–wall ratio (south, north, east, and west walls), window U-value, wall U-value, solar heat gain coefficient, and orientation. The treed Gaussian process (TGP) sensitivity analysis method was employed to quantify the contributions of parameters related to courtyard design that result in the changes of annual cooling, heating, lighting, and total energy consumption. The results show that the courtyard envelope design has a significant effect on the energy consumption in this case study. The most influential factor affecting annual cooling energy consumption and the annual total energy consumption is the orientation, which is responsible for 37% and 81%, respectively, in two layouts to annual cooling energy use. The corresponding proportion increased to 45% and 86% in terms of the total energy consumption. The most influential factor influencing annual heating energy use is the window U-value, which explained nearly 60% of the changes to the heating energy use. The effect of the solar heat gain coefficient in two kinds of layouts is as high as 82% and 79% for lighting energy use in this case study. Due to the different courtyard forms, the magnitude of the effect of the parameters on energy consumption and the main trend of the effect is slightly different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courtyard housing has been the fundamental type of residential building in China for more than two millennia: Its basic square or rectangular shape, with an open court in the center, was reflected in most dwellings constructed throughout the country until the 1950s. In Beijing, courtyard housing is unique for its signature form and urban texture. This article explores the inherent features, forces, and factors that have defined, shaped, and maintained this standard form for more than 44 dynasties and discusses modern challenges leading to the gradual destruction of courtyard housing, especially in the historic Inner City of Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the configuration of public space in Taipei City, Taiwan. Using a small urban park as example, this article investigated how the public space was produced by, brought under the control of, or performed in by a specific cultural agent. It has been observed that formal public spaces in China were restricted. Public spaces may either be informal and fluid, like streets, markets and the open countryside, or familial and limited, which include household courtyards.

This paper provides a rereading of a particular dwelling form under the general name of lilong that has constituted the primary living space in the inner city of Shanghai, where ordinary Shanghainese have conducted their everyday life for more than a century (1870s-1990s). Attention is given to two types of lilong neighbourhoods, in which two housing types are involved respectively: one is the so-called shikumen neighbourhood, including its early multi-bay model and a later double- to single-bay model, which are believed to derive from a more native dwelling concept and value system; the other is the so-called new-style neighbourhood, which is believed to have its origin in western dwelling culture brought in by foreign sojourners and welcomed by locals. Based on a combined historical and typo-morphological reading, changes in both types can be identified at housing unit level and neighbourhood level. In terms of the neighbourhood structure in relation to a larger urban block, a dual structure of 'outside shops and inside neighbourhoods ( waipu-neili )' was commonly adopted in shikumen neighbourhoods that helped to integrate those pocket-like houses into the fast-modernising urban environment through a mixed land-use pattern, while a more pure residential environment was created in the new-style housing neighbourhood where very few or none shop houses were to be found as 'mediators' between the neighbourhood and the urban. Differences in their unit plans also revealed a shift from a more metaphoric layout to a more functional layout, from the clan/family-based courtyard-centred living to the community-based alley-centred living, from a self-contained traditional living style towards a more open, more independent modern urban living style. Nevertheless, under the general name of lilong , these dwelling forms as a whole shared much of the experience of 'alley-living' that was due to simultaneous densification - the inhabitants turned this transitional space into a shared living room and multifunctional space, through which a particular local dwelling culture was created. As the first kind of mass commodity housing produced and consumed in the dynamic of local/foreign interactions within a market mechanism, lilong dwelling played a transitional role in Chinese urban history by challenging age-old values in the traditional dwelling system and bringing it further towards its modern version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located on the east side of China's Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is the Western Sichuan Plateau, the courtyard adopts a passive design to withstand the harsh climate in cold areas, and its internal thermal environment has a direct impact on the productivity and activities of the residents. This paper takes a plateau village (3500 m above sea level) beside the Sichuan–Tibet line as the research area, and selects four typical local courtyard layouts and an outdoor reference point for the measurement and comparison of the thermal environment. By comparing the measured parameters inside and outside the courtyard, and the correlation analysis, it was deduced as follows. (1) In the cold winter, traditional plateau residential courtyards can create a stable internal micro-climate, but the cold resistance of the courtyards is closely related to its layout. (2) Except for wind speed, other thermal environment parameters of the courtyard are all affected by solar radiation (3) The correlation analysis of the various environmental parameters and physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) showed that the correlation coefficient between the mean radiation temperature (Tmrt) and all courtyard PET values is <0.0001, showing a significant correlation. The indicators of mean temperature radiation are mainly affected by the temperature and the wind speed; furthermore, the temperature and solar radiation are positively correlated, which confirms that the solar radiation and wind speed within the courtyard are the main factors affecting the internal thermal environment in the courtyard. (4) Feedback the courtyard layout problems through the difference in the thermal environment parameters within different courtyards, and then determine some shortcomings in the current courtyard layout design. The inferences drawn from this work will provide a scientific basis for the design, layout, and construction of courtyards in other cold plateau areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courtyard is a significant component of architectural design because it is an important living place that plays a positive role in improving the living environment This paper reviewed basic principles of small courtyard landscape design, and analyzed the way of integrating plants and other landscape elements in small courtyards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Completely passive cooling and heating systems are proposed for courtyard buildings. • The proposed heating and cooling systems can be run, using the solar energy purely. • The proposed systems are also beneficial to maximize daylighting. • The proposed systems can be easily created in the courtyard buildings. • Energy saving of 23% can be achieved in the novel-designed courtyard building. The passive strategy for buildings in summer hot and winter cold zone are complicated, requiring a combination for various passive techniques. Previous studies on the passive strategies usually stray into the trade-off between single passive technique and energy saving. This work focuses on the completely passive cooling and heating, by using a River-Air Source Heat Pump (RASHP) and Greenhouse (GH) system, for the courtyard buildings located in Jiangnan region of China. The proposed heating and cooling systems can be run, using the solar energy purely. Due to the Jiangnan region with a high density of water network, the cooling space system can be achieved by using the evaporative cooling effect of water. In winter, the airflow circulation and space heating are achieved in the target rooms, whose construction is similar to that of Trombe wall. The proposed systems are also beneficial to maximize daylighting and energy saving of artificial lighting in the building interiors, via replacing the eaves of roofs over patio by a glazed device. Furthermore, the proposed systems can be easily created in the courtyard buildings, without complicated construction and special devices. The total annual energy consumption in the novel-designed scenario integrated with the proposed systems is 19528.88 kW·h, 5839.57 kW·h lower than the conventional one, with energy saving of 23%. The completely passive heating and cooling systems with daylighting function can provide a new body of building energy saving to fill the knowledge gap in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborated the role of color composition in plant landscape design of Chicago Botanic Garden systematically, used examples to analyze color design of plant landscapes in the garden, and the specific application of color contrast in wall plant decoration, courtyard waterscape, indoor greenhouse and tree decoration, to provide detailed references for plant landscape design of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]