Residential building types as an evolutionary process: the Guangzhou area, China

The idea that an evolutionary process is inherent in the sequence of building types that characterizes an area has been pursued in Euro-America, especially by Italian architects. It has hitherto attracted comparatively little attention elsewhere in the world. Findings on the history of residential building types in the Chinese city of Guangzhou and its environs are examined in relation to this idea. Though the history of building types is very different in China from that in Euro-America, an evolutionary process is shown to have occurred in the Guangzhou area. The principal rural building type in the nineteenth century – the sanjian lianglang house – and an early urban building type – the zhutongwu – are steps in the development of a number of later building types.