CATEGORIZATION OF THE SPATIAL ELEMENTS BETWEEN COURTYARDS IN HISTORICAL VILLAGES AND INTERPRETATION OF THEIR MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS—A CASE STUDY ON GUANLU VILLAGE IN HUANGSHAN CITY, ANHUI PROVINCE

Abstract

Spatial elements between courtyards are an important component of the landscape of historical villages. With an increasingly homogenous rural landscape in China, most existing studies focus on traditional symbols and architectural details, while little research is conducted to explore the core elements that shape the spaces between village courtyards. Taking Guanlu Village in Huangshan City, Anhui Province as an example, the research team identified 28 sorts of spatial elements, developed the corresponding diagrams, and quantified their morphological characteristics in area, circularity, rectangularity, compactness, and width-length ratio. This research not only contributes to the theoretical development on the morphology of ancient villages, but also helps promote the exploration and application of local elements. This village landscape design model constituted with element categorization, diagram drawing, and morphological quantitative analysis would provide scientific evidences that help inform the practices to revitalize village localities, showing its practical significance of enriching the design vocabulary of village landscapes and avoiding the prevailing, generic usage of modular designs with urban landscape elements.

Keywords

Historical Village / Spatial Element between Courtyards / Design Elements / Landscape / Morphological Characteristics / Design Vocabulary / Guanlu Village

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