Vernacular Housing of Turfan
Turfan, China
Large, rural style courtyard houses line the canals and are accessed by simple bridges from the street. They typically have two courtyards, one that serves as the focal point of the house, often shaded by grapevines and containing both a large sitting platform and the water tank, and a second for domestic animals. The rooms of the house open directly onto the main courtyard and are often not linked internally. A roof trellised for drying grapes often surmounts the thick walls of straw and mud. The only decoration on these houses is found on the tympana of arches over doorways and windows.

Sources:

Joshi, Anuradha. 1989. Tradition in Transition: Urbanism in Northwest China, Comparisons between Kashgar and Turpan. Unpublished Report, Aga Khan Archives, 4-6, 18-21.

Wei, Dong. 1991. A Comparative Study of Muslims Dwellings on the Silk Road of China. Report of Field Study. Xi'an: Xi'an Jiaotong University, 24-25.
Location
Turfan, China
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