Asia-Pacific Culture Program

Learning from the Courtyard: Cross-Cultural Ideas for the Architecture of Dwelling

Standardized housing blocks share the built environment with round earthen dwellings scattered across farmlands, courtyard houses tucked away from busy city streets, and well-insulated homes dug deep underground in China. A wider range of living structures creates environments that can better address the many diverse ways we live and socialize together today. Our speakers will trace the various forms of courtyards in Chinese vernacular architecture, surprising connections to Western architecture, and the ideas they may generate for a more socially and environmentally conscious way to live together.

IWA Contact: Jingwei Zhang