**2.2 Experience of housing in China**

Chinese dwellings are folk dwellings designed and built by residents with a certain degree of representativeness and rich local characteristics [23]. Among the houses in China, the most characteristic residences include Beijing courtyard houses, cave dwellings on the Loess Plateau in Northwest China, ancient dwellings in Anhui, Hakka earth buildings in Fujian and Guangdong, and Mongolian yurts [24]. The Hakka Weilong House, Beijing's "siheyuan", Shaanxi's "cave dwelling",

*Lessons from the World Sustainable Housing (Past Experiences, Current Trends, and Future… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100533*

**Figure 3.** *Semiotics in Indian traditional building.*

Guangxi's "bar-style" and Yunnan's "one seal", are collectively referred to as the five most rural traditional residential architectural forms in China [25]. It is called one of the five major characteristics of China's residential architecture in the field of architecture.

Houses in China reflects the most essential and representative things in the ethnic area in historical practice, especially the characteristics closely related to the life and production methods, customs, and esthetic concepts of the people of all ethnic groups [26]. Typical Chinese houses used "JIAN" – a structured bay as a standard unit to construct all buildings. The "Jian" represents the basic unit for wooden construction. "JIAN" was a rectangular space marked by adjacent structural frame. A modular unit called the Jian (about 3 m - 4.5 m) was defined as the primary measure in construction. "Jian", as the primary interior unit, can be expanded or repeated along the architectural plan axis to join to create a hall, then a building [27]. For example, two rows of four columns make three "JIAN". The "JIAN" is like room, in that it is a restricted space, but various a room, a "JIAN" does not necessarily have walls on all sides. Most dwellings are three to five "JIAN" in size. See **Figure 4**.

One of the great religious beliefs that influenced the design of the classical Chinese city and Chinese architecture is Confucianism [28]. To create a stable social order. Confucianism established the strict principles putting the society in order with rules and filial piety.

The experience of the nation mainly refers to the experience of how the residential houses meet the needs of life and production and the struggle against the natural environment under the social conditions at the time [29, 30]. For example, the experience of combining the use of the terrain, the experience of adapting to the climate, the experience of using local materials, and the experience of adapting to the environment. And so on, this is what is commonly referred to as the experience of adapting measures to local conditions and adapting to materials. The folk houses are distributed all over the country [31]. Due to the differences in national historical traditions, living customs, humanistic conditions, and esthetic concepts, as well as the different natural conditions and geographical environments of various places, the plane layout, structural methods, modeling, and detailed characteristics of traditional houses are also different. Different, showing simplicity and nature,

**Figure 4.** *The diagram of a typical Chinese house configuration.*

but with their own characteristics. Especially in residential buildings, people of all ethnic groups often reflect their wishes, beliefs, and esthetic concepts, and use natural or symbolic methods to reflect their wishes, beliefs, and esthetic ideas to the decoration, patterns, colors and styles of residential buildings. Wait for the structure to go. Such as cranes, deer, bats, magpies, plums, bamboo, lilies, Ganoderma, Wanzi pattern, Hui pattern of Han nationality, lotus of Yunnan Bai nationality, elephant, peacock, betel nut tree pattern of Dai nationality, etc. In this way, the dwellings of various ethnic groups in multiple regions show a colorful and colorful ethnic characteristic. The mainstream of traditional houses in the various areas of China is the structured houses, which is represented by the "BEIJING SIHEYUAN", which adopts a symmetrical layout in the central axis [32]. The "BEIJING SIHEYUAN" is divided into two courtyards. The main house system in the center is the most respected. It is a place for family etiquette and meeting distinguished guests. Each building faces the courtyard and is connected by a verandah. Although "BEIJING SIHEYUAN" is a concrete manifestation of Chinese feudal society's patriarchal concept and family system in residential buildings, the courtyard is expansive, suitable in scale, quiet, friendly, and well-organized, making it an ideal outdoor living space. Residential houses in North China and Northeast China are mostly such spacious courtyards [33]. A SIHEYUAN is a historical type of residence that was commonly found in Beijing and rural Shanxi. The SIHEYUAN composition was the basic pattern used for homes, palaces, temples, monasteries, family businesses, and government offices (**Figure 5**).

Residential buildings do not have a set of procedural rules and practices like official buildings. They can build houses according to local natural conditions, their own economic level, and the characteristics of building materials [34].

## **2.3 Experience of housing in Japan**

Houses in Japan have a short lifespan, so even if they are remodeled, they are structurally strong and will not get tired of the design, which can be inherited by the second and third generations [35]. The floor plan can be flexibly changed according to changes in the family structure and lifestyle of the residents. Barrierfree so that you can live with peace of mind even as you grow older. By devising the color and finish of the outer wall and roof, the appearance is unified and continuous in a group of housing complexes, or the traditional landscape that is transmitted to the land is preserved and conveyed. When building, it protects the *Lessons from the World Sustainable Housing (Past Experiences, Current Trends, and Future… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100533*

**Figure 5.** *The "BEIJING SIHEYUAN" house (courtyard house).*

environment by minimizing the impact on the surrounding natural environment. The houses in Japan have been influenced by the climate. They were derived from China but maintained its own unique characteristics of lightness as fragility. The "KEN" is a traditional Japanese unit of length, equal to six Japanese feet "SHAKU", and equal to 1.8 m. 'KEN' is known as standard measurement of inter spaces [36] (see **Figure 6**).

Using materials produced in the land or in Japan, designing on the premise of living longer, making the structure easy to repair, remodeling, partial demolition, etc., and using the same material repeatedly will enrich the local industry. In addition, production, consumption, and waste material disposal can be circulated in the area. There are many types of house roofs, IRIMOYA, KIRIZUMA, YASEMUNÈ, and HOGYO as shown in **Figure 7** [37].

In traditional city forming many architectural elements, represent an essential symbol in city configurations and composition [38], for example, A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most found at the entrance of or within a Shinto monument, where it symbolically marks the transition from the normal to the sacred (see **Figure 8**) [39].

A vital house form and composition in architecture from Japan. Yoshimura House is one of the traditional houses located in Saga Prefecture. It was constructed in 1620 [40]. This house was used to be the prosperous farmer because it has bigger musts and beams to make this house substantial and significant, see **Figure 9**.

**Figure 6.** *"KEN" in Japan standards measurement.*

**Figure 7.** *Japan roof types in traditional houses.*

**Figure 8.** *Torii in traditional Japan city elements symbols.*

A Palace – mansion was a house style from the Heian period, which was a very similar to the Western European's Italian Renaissance, for this was a time for art and poetry to flourish in Japan. A "SHINDEN-ZUKURI" was an architectural style house that flourished during the Heian period [41] (see **Figure 10**).

*Lessons from the World Sustainable Housing (Past Experiences, Current Trends, and Future… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100533*

**Figure 9.** *"YUSHIMURA" house near Osaka – 1620.*

**Figure 10.** *A layout of a "HEIAN MANSION".*
