Earth building architecture in Fujian China
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China, a nation of 56 nationalities living in disparate natural landscapes with widely varying climatic conditions, is certainly more varied in its housing patterns than is the case in single nations and the richly diverse vernacular architectural traditions of China are unrivaled in the world. Today, we will land our eyes on Fujian Province, where one can find China's largest concentration of ancient dwellings made of rammed earth. Regarded by architects as the cream of Chinese traditional residential architecture, the earth tower also known as tulou first appeared about 1,200 years ago, these residential buildings are the homes of Hakkas. While some particular one, e.g. Chengqilou, Zhenfulou, Chuxi Tulou cluster (refer to the diagrams on the last page), are perhaps the most famous, it is the sheer diversity of the earth buildings that makes them interesting as they can be found in a myriad of shapes and sizes.
As most Hakka resided in mountains, communal houses made of compacted earth were built in rectangular or circular form to protect themselves against bandits and wild beasts, they established a secure place and indeed a platform for the families. Along the periphery of mountain ranges or river, the whole family or clan usually occupies these multi-story earthen buildings. Normally, the rooms at the ground level, except the hall and the staircases, are used as kitchens and dining rooms. Those on the second floor for grain storage and only those on the top floors are inhabited by people...