[By Teo Cheng Huat in Beijing, China]
Shanghai-style lane house also called
traditional “lilong” (or “longtong”), perhaps the most distinctive facet of Shanghai’s
architectural heritage. A fusion of Chinese courtyards and Western row houses, usually
3 stories tall and quite narrow.
A very good friend of ours actually brought
one many years ago. I redesign it and it was totally re-renovated with modern kitchen and
bathrooms. Added in lots of big glass door and windows including skylight
panels on the roof.
A small area was kept as garden on the
ground level and there is a cherry tree and red maple tree that bloom
beautifully every year.
Friend still live there however the 2nd
level was change into a home office. The office building owner built a automated
multi-tier parking lots behind the house.
This afternoon, it was noisy as almost 1
car was lifted down every half an hour. Couldn’t work on my project so I decide
to take a break and sketch while another car was lifted up and slide into the
lot on the top level. But I guess there was not much choice in this part of
Shanghai city where most of the old buildings and lane houses are conserved. Even
the small roads and lane are preserved and some road are so narrow that it was
made into a one way street.
However ,lane houses has its charm and many
units still houses 2 to 3 families, one per floor. It is very expensive to own
one now so many units are still occupied by old residents and every day the
same typical sight and sounds can still be seen and heard.
Whenever it is a sunny day, laundry can be
seen hung everywhere, in the evening there are mahjong games in the back lanes.
Shanghainese is well known for pajama-clad men and women strolling with their
poodles and taking out the trash. Occasionally, there are argument about ‘space
infringement’ in these confined living spaces about old things, furniture and
even plants that grow into another person place. But usually after several
meeting with the neighborhood committee and some of the older residents, most
of the time everything will be settle.
Most of the time, the older residents will
gather along the lanes, socializing , playing with their grandchildren,
watching other neighbors and their friends going in and out of their
houses.
