TRACING THE HISTORY OF QILOU BUILDINGS

Text by Peter Translation by Leo Photo by Duncan Liao Illustration by Haolun

TRACING THE HISTORY OF QILOU BUILDINGS

Text by Peter Translation by Leo Photo by Duncan Liao Illustration by Haolun

Beijing has traditional Chinese courtyards and Shanghai boasts elegant Western-style villas but, here in Guangzhou, one can see both Chinese and Western architectural styles simply by walking amongst historic Qilou buildings, which are unique to the southern part of China.

The weather of Guangzhou is like the expressions of a baby, which can change in a second. The daytime is long and there is much rainfall here around the year. But if you take a walk under the shelter of Qilou buildings in the older parts of the city, you need not worry about unexpected rainfall. Instead, you'll be amazed by how flexibly and cleverly such architecture is designed while staying safe from any raindrops.

Qilou, or arcade-house, is a building with a protruding structure, or arcade, stretching above from the second storey over the sidewalk. These arcades are linked together by the side of the street, forming a shaded corridor. Such a shaded corridor can shelter pedestrians from sun and rain while benefiting the ground-floor shops lining the corridor.

The history of arcade buildings dates back some 2,000 years in ancient Greece. While the commercial buildings of “the Thirteen Hongs” (also known as“Thirteen Factories”) are considered the earliest form of the later Qilou buildings, it was not until 1912 that the term “Qilou” was first used by the government of the Republic of China in a policy document named Rules on the Demolishment of Old Buildings.

Official rules governing the prices of land used for Qilou buildings and the method of Qilou measurements were established by the Municipal Government of Guangzhou, which was founded in 1918. In the decade that followed, nearly 40kmlong Qilou-lined streets were built and the number of shops along these streets exceeded 20,000. It was not until the 1930s that the trend of mushrooming Qilou developments reversed as a result of the influence of Western urban planning concepts such as “garden city” and “idyllic city”.

A typical Qilou building consists of three parts: the lower part consists of 4-metre-high pillars supporting the arcade; the middle part is the main building; and the upper part is the eaves or a pediment. The street-facing wall below the window sill on each floor is usually decorated with rich patterns or shallow reliefs. This architectural structure as well as its decorative design was actually borrowed from Western architectural styles, though local builders' creativity and bold modifications have given the Qilou building its own unique characteristics.

The Qilou buildings found in Guangzhou come in two distinctive styles: the Qilou in Xiguan and the Qilou in Dongshan. The Qilou buildings located in the historic Xiguan area represents the earliest form of Qilou architecture. They feature a Baroque fa?ade with a pediment and columns designed in the ancient Roman architectural style. They also contain some elements of traditional Chinese architecture such as Chinese clay wall bricks, arch-shaped roof overhang and most typically, Manchuria windows. The Manchuria window is a square- or rectangularshaped window made of small pieces of stained glasses.

The Qilou buildings found in Dongshan, another old district (now part of Yuexiu District) of the city, were built more recently in a modern and simple style. They feature more decorative geometric patterns, simplified square or round columns and granolithic walls (rather than brick walls). Perhaps the most unique of all features of this style of Qilou is the roof overhang, which, in the shape of an arch-shaped awning, serves both aesthetic and functional purposes.

Today, the sheltered corridors of Qilou buildings are still inviting places for kids to play, for locals to drink tea or eat “hot pot”, and for shops to thrive. Their stories are still being told by older and younger generations alike. After all, these buildings, having been there for almost a century, have long transcended the meaning of architecture - they are now part of local lifestyles and embody the very spirit of this open and inclusive metropolis.

騎樓歲月

如同四合院之于北京，小洋樓之于上海，合并了中西特色的騎樓，是廣州城市建筑里飽含本土印記的一道實用風景線。

廣州的天氣如同孩兒面，說變就變。面對日曬時長，四季多雨的氣候，在老城區騎樓下行走過的人們，都不禁會感嘆這個建筑設計的靈活與巧妙。

由20世紀初開始出現的廣州騎樓是一種把門廊擴大串通成跨人行道而建的沿街廊道，下鋪上居、前鋪后居的特色建筑。既方便行人遮陰避雨，商家也可利用走廊區域更好經營。

溯源起來，騎樓建筑最早起源于2000多年前的古希臘。有觀點認為，“十三行”的商業建筑可以說是近代騎樓建筑的雛形，而騎樓被作為正式的名稱，最早出現在1912年國民政府為治理廣州市所頒布的《取締建筑章程和施行細則》中。

1918年，廣州設立市政公所，隨后就騎樓地價和度量方法作了規定。緊接的短短十來年間，廣州建成了近40公里長的騎樓街群，各種商店總數達2萬多間。受西方近代城市“花園住宅區”和“田園城市”的理論影響，20世紀30年代后，騎樓在廣州擴張的步伐逐漸減緩。

廣州騎樓在結構上可分為三段。下段為寬約4米的走廊列柱、中段為樓層、上段為檐口或山花，沿街的一面在各層窗臺以下的墻面或檐口窗楣處大多有豐富的裝飾花紋或淺浮雕。除了吸收西方建筑的結構方式和布局方式外，建筑騎樓的本地工匠們更多以“拿來主義”的態度借鑒了各類裝飾。這種對西方建筑創造性的模仿和大膽的改良，形成了廣州騎樓活潑而有特色的建筑風格。

依建筑風格，廣州騎樓又可分為西關騎樓和東山騎樓兩個流派。西關騎樓是早期騎樓的代表，外觀主要采取巴洛克風格的裝飾，山花和樓身的設計大多具有古羅馬的裝飾特征，如羅馬柱、卷曲花紋等，但也融入了中國傳統建筑的元素，比如墻體多是中式清水磚材料，頂部的山花挑檐也常做成柔和的拱形頂，以及最具中式建筑特色的滿洲窗，一種常見于西關大屋的由一塊塊細小的彩色玻璃組合而成的方形窗。

東山騎樓形成的年代比西關騎樓略晚，更趨于現代化，也更簡潔。幾何圖案增多，羅馬柱變為簡單的方柱、圓柱，細石米墻代替了清水磚墻。山花挑檐是東山騎樓最為獨特之處，這個在正面墻挑出的拱形雨篷，美觀又實用。

如今，孩子們依然在騎樓下彈棋、拍公仔紙、跳橡筋。嘆茶、打炭爐、開鋪做生意，大人們也延續著騎樓故事。經歷了百年的風雨，騎樓早已不是一種簡單的建筑，它更是一種有智慧的生活方式，一份開放與包容兼備的城市精神。

DIFFERENT STYLES OF QILOU BUILDINGS 南方有騎樓

GOTHIC STYLE

仿哥特式騎樓

This Qilou style is very rare in other cities. The sharp vertical lines and the extended arched windows represent a strong Gothic feeling, seen clearly in the Xinhua Bookstore on Beijing Road. The Aiqun Mansion, on the other hand, is more flexible with the Gothic style. The skillful vertical composition of its fa?ade as well as its imitative Gothic windows and porticos never fail to impress passers-by.

Typical example: Beijing Road Xinhua Bookstore & Aiqun Mansion

代表建筑：北京路新華書店、長堤愛群大廈

ANCIENT ROMAN GALLERY STYLE

古羅馬券廊式騎樓

This type of Qilou building is seldom seen in other cities except for Guangzhou. The base of the Xinhua Hotel is fashioned after a typical ancient Roman Gallery, containing a simplified Roman Columniation style. The pillars on the first floor form an arcade, and the ceiling between two pillars is dotted with whirlpool-like decorations. Overall, its details hold a strong Roman mood.

Typical example: Xinhua Hotel

代表建筑：長堤新華大酒店

TRADITIONAL CHINESE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE

中國傳統式騎樓

This type of Qilou building is typical of the traditional residential buildings in southern China, with a shaded corridor covering the sidewalk and two or three windows on the front side but no decorations. However, this type of Qilou can be seen only in the older parts of Yuexiu District, Guangzhou.

Typical example: No. 139, South Dezheng Road

代表建筑：德政南路139號

IMITATION BAROQUE STYLE

仿巴洛克式騎樓

This type of Qilou building is found in abundance in South China and Southeast Asia. In Guangzhou, the Baroque style of architecture and decoration in Qilou buildings is usually used in pediments and parapets. Different from the Baroque-style buildings of the 17th century with all the preciseness, curves and trivial details, buildings of this style feature a stable structure with some Baroque decorations.

Typical example: Shangxiajiu Road

代表建筑：上下九路

NANYANG STYLE

南洋式騎樓

Cutting holes in parapets is a creative architectural style unique to the Nanyang area (Southeast Asia). The holes can be round or in other shapes, and

serve to lessen the effect of wind on the walls when forceful typhoons hit the Nanyang area. Today, it still stands as a unique architectural style on the urban landscape of Guangzhou.

Typical example: No. 186, Wenming Road

代表建筑：文明路186號