Buildings/Compounds/Units chapter of the Lexicon of Chinese Urbanism

1. AN ILLUSTRATED LEXICON OF CHINESE
URBANISM
中国城市化插图词典
BUILDINGS,
COMPOUNDS,
UNITS
楼房，大
院，和单位

3. AN ILLUSTRATED LEXICON OF CHINESE
URBANISM
中国城市化插图词典
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Buildings, Compounds, Units
楼房，大院，和单位
INTRODUCTION
1 Danwei - State Owned Work Unit - 单位
2 Ai qiang - zhihui tai - yao qiang - Podium -
矮墙, 指挥台, 腰墙
3 Da Yuan - Big Compound - 大院
4 Jiucheng - Old City - 旧城
5 Qi tong, yi ping - Seven Connections, One
Leveling - 七通一平
6 Wo ju - Snail House - 蜗居
7 Yi ju - Ant’s Nest Housing - 蚁居
8 Object Building - 对象建设

4. 9 700 m2 - 七百平米
10 Hutong - Traditional Beijing Neighborhood
- 胡同
11 Jingzufang - State-Managed Worker
Housing - 经租房
12 Weizao - Fake- 伪造
13 Chaofang- Real Estate Speculation- 炒房
14 Feiqi Shangchang-Deserted Malls- 废弃商场
15 Zhongguo Sudu - China Speed - 中国速度
16 Jiaonang Gongyu-Capsule Apartment-胶囊
公寓
17 Yi-xian-tan - Thread-like sky - 一线天

5. INTRODUCTION
The architecture and urban spaces of China
are still undergoing a process of incredible
transformation coinciding with with the rapid
economic growth of the last 30 years. In this
relatively short span Beijing itself has gone
from Mao’s “forest of chimneys” to a place of
“Object Buildings”.
This chapter defines and illustrates terms
relating to Buildings, Compounds, and Units in
the lexicon of contemporary Chinese urbanism.
These terms reflect the dramatic changes,
upheavals and surprising continuities in the
built form of Chinese cities.

6. DANWEI
单位
state owned work unit
Single + Location
Danwei’s are state owned work units established in China to
maintain the hukou system. They are like walled-in miniature
cities containing factories, housing, schools, medical facili-
ties and everything else required for daily life.
Sources:
China Urban, p. 6
Streetlife China, Michael Dutton

7. Ai qiang-zihui tai-yao qiang
矮墙, 指挥台, 腰墙
podium / parapet wall
Low + Wall, Conduct +
Stage, Waist + Wall
A parapet is a low wall constructed above the roofline
that usually spans around the perimeter of a building.
Parapets may be purely aesthetic or primarily
functional, such as hiding mechanical equipment or
performing as a firewall.
Reference
http://www.masonryconstruction.com/industry-news.asp?se

8. Da Yuan
大院
big compound
Large + Compound
An enclosed unit containing danwei work and housing
facilities, as well as other public uses
Source: Weili Ye, Xiaodong Ma, Growing up in the
People’s Republic: Conversations between Two
Daughters of China’s Revolution (New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2005).

10. Jiucheng
旧城
old city
Old + City
Old, traditional neighborhoods. Efforts are now being
made to preserve Hutongs in Beijing. The Ju-er Hutong
was the first to be worked on.
Source: Ju-er Hutong (Beijing Compendium)
hutongphotography.com

11. Qi tong, yi ping
七通一平
seven connections, one leveling
Seven through one level
Seven Connections (to Infrastructures such as water, gas,
electricity, signal, road), One Leveling (now should be more
like 9 infrastructures/connections, one leveling), so that the
land is ready for real estate development and massive block
constructions.
Sources
Adrian Blackwell Interview with Ai Weiwei
Comments

12. Wo ju
蜗居
snail house
Worm + Dwelling
Narrow Dwellings comes from the Chinese phrase ‡E, which
has a variation of usages, mostly to mean “humble abode.”
Usages of the Pinyin can be found in the Yuan and Qing
dynasties. Narrow Dwellings has been used in this post instead
of Dwelling Narrowness, which is being used elsewhere and on
the official poster for the drama - on the television series
High housing prices are causing widespread grudge and
depression among millions of young Chinese, who believe the
prices are manipulated. The intensity of this sentiment was
revealed in “Dwelling Narrowness,” a Chinese TV drama put
on in 2009, in which one of the main characters becomes the
mistress of a government official who helps repay her elder
sister’s mortgage.
Source: http://www.danwei.org/tv/narrow_dwellings.php.

13. Ma Yi Gong Fang
蚂蚁工房
ant studio
Ant Work House
Super dense housing developed by China Vanke.
2004, the first “Ant Studio” was built and sold in Shanghai,
the price started at 500,000RMB as the lowest, and it is very
popular ever since. Nowadays, there are ant studios in all the
major cities in China.
Features:
1.Fully decorated, even with electronic applicants. People can
move in immediately.
2.From 40m2 to 90m2.
3.Usually convenient location.
Customers:
Young people, first house, or for renting out to other people.
Most Ant Studio are housing, some are for business.
The “ant” in ant studio different from the “ant” in Ant People.
Source: http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E4%B8%87%E7%A7%9
1%E8%9A%82%E8%9A%81%E5%B7%A5%E6%88%BF

14. Object Building
对象建设
Object + Building
“Detached from and often contrasting with its surroundings,
a typical OB is freestanding, figural, sculptural, and formally
unique in terms of
geometry, material, and color. It is often tall but height is not a
critical criterion.” pg 123.
The OB does not connect nor attempt to fit with its surroundings,
resulting in unified urban landscape. Building regulations such
as mandated setbacks, coverage areas and Daylight Distance
translate to the deliberate planning of the OB.
Sourece: Yung Ho Chang Essay (Beijing Compendium)

15. 700 M^2
七百平米
seven hundred square meter
seven hundred flat meter
Seven hundred square meter is an unit used to describe a
typical super block size in Chinese Urbanism. The massive
expansion of Chinese urbanism has lead to these big sizes
of super blocks that saturated in its development and ability
of function.
References:
http://www.newgeography.com/content/001906-china’s-
urbanization-it-has-only-just-begun
Picture on the right: a miniaturized dystopian landscape of

16. HUTON
胡同
traditional Beijing neighborhood
tribe together
Hutong is a typical type of street in Chinese cities and towns
that denotes smaller sizes than a major road. Hutons are
network connections between major roads .There are two
types of hutong, the “live hutong” and “dead hutong”. Live
hutongs are the ones described above as connectors be-
tween major roads in cities, dead hutongs on the other hand
stretch into the residence blocks and lead to the end of the
street.
Sources:
http://baike.baidu.com/view/9930.htm
http://www.beijingexplorer.com

17. JINGZOFANG
经租房
state-managed rental housing
economic rent house
State-managed housing refer to some private -owned
housing in the cities . During 1958 the period of socialist
transformation, government claimed the rights of managing
these housing units. By managing the housing units, state
government obtained control on real estate as a means of
transforming the society under their desire. Nowadays the
housing owenrs are appealing to rettain the ownership.
Sources:
http://baike.baidu.com/view/829657.htm
Wang, Shi. “Building Wonderland”, New York Times April
2008
Picture on the right: “Fifty-eight years of state-managed
housing policy, it’s only a matter of ways of operating, state-
manager is only the manager, please stop infringing our
rights“

19. WEIZAO
伪造
fake
fake make
This term here is specifically refered to the fantacies that
China make through mimicing the iconic architecture in
the world . The intension is to create an ideal world in
which people experience the world without flying all around
the planet.The dilema created by these fake buildings-the
awareness of the unrealness and the appreciation of that
unreal existance are the most attractive feature. This fea-
ture is part of a bigger picture in China that people don’t go
globle because they are sitting on the biggest attraction in
the world.
References:
Wang, Shi. “Building Wonderland”, New York Times April
2008

21. CHAOFANG
炒房
real estate speculation
stir -fry housing
China’s real estate bubble has increased in the past few
years mainly because people are getting wealthy and in-
vest on real estate. Situations such as fake divorce happen
due to government initiatives to curb the housing bubble.
China has raised the down payment for second mortgages,
and about 40 Chinese cities have begun to limit apartment
purchases to two per family, or one for non-locals. The gov-
ernment has also asked commercial banks to stop offering
loans to third-home buyers.
To get around the restrictions, Chinese couples are flocking
to so-called fake-certificate companies, which sell phony di-
vorce papers for 300 yuan, or about $45. Getting “divorced”
allows couples to register properties under separate names.
References/Sources:
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2011-11/05/con-
tent_14044891.htm
http://www.eclectecon.net/2011/08/

22. FEIQISHANGCHANG
废弃商场
deserted malls
abandon economy square
Largely empty megamalls are an increasingly common sight
in cities around China. More are being built, even as millions
of square metres of retail space already sit empty.
In the trendy Sanlitun neighbourhood of Beijing, five shop-
ping complexes sit within two square kilometres. Shoppers
aren’t following the brand names to Sanlitun, which is one
of the wealthiest enclaves in China. In the upscale Village
North mall – which hosts Versace, Longchamp and Emporio
Armani stores – the occasional shoppers are outnumbered
by phalanxes of bored employees. The 14 towers of the
even newer Sanlitun Soho project sit mostly empty just two
blocks away, while Pacific Century Place department store,
another block east and once the area’s trendiest place to
shop, will shut its doors next month.
With the global economy on the brink of a second recession
in three years, it’s clear that China’s consumption revolu-
tion hasn’t yet come to pass. While the overall economy has
grown nearly 10 per cent a year since then, much of that
was driven by investment and construction that many see as
camouflage for a lack of genuine growth.
References/Sources:
Mackinnon, Mark. “China’s giant, deserted malls wait for
reluctant consumers”. Monday’s Global and Mail, 2003

25. ZHONGGUOSUDU
中国速度
the efficiency in Chinese building industry
China Speed
China is famous for its fast development in all aspects of its
industry. In terms of building and construction, the high effi-
ciency of laboring and technology has become an attraction
to foreign companies to invest and build in China. construc-
tion going up so quickly. The picture on the right is a project
done by Wang Qingsong, a resemblence of the speed of
Chinese constructions.
References/Sources:
http://www.cctv.com/special/824/index.shtml

26. JIAONANGGONGYU
胶囊公寓
Capsule Housing
Capsule Apartment
The city’s first capsule apartments, which were built by a
75-year-old retired engineer in April, are facing a mini-
wrecking ball after the city released new regulations that
effectively outlaw them, due the far smaller living space
provided in the apartments for each residence than the
regulated rules. The owner’s intend was to offer compact
and affordable homes to low-income Beijingers, as another
alternartive to snail housing and ant’s nest housing. The new
regulation could potentially make some poor people that liv-
ing in such compacted space homeless.
References/Sources:
http://www.chinadaily.com/doorsslammed on cities first
capsule apartment

27. YIXIANTIAN
一线天
the sky between buildings is as thin
as a piece of thread
one thread sky
This term is originally used to describe a natural feature,
the cracks in the mountains and the created narrow path-
way . When people walk in the cracks the sky above them
looks as thin as a piece of thread. Now this term is refered
to the congestion of residence buildings in cities and there-
fore the sky between two residence buildings is as thin as
a piece of thread. Natural lighting is terribly limited and
therefore causes bad living conditions in the buildings.
References/Sources:
http://news.sina.com.cn/s/p/2010-11-06/101121425043.
shtml