As I said, Shanghai is a multicultural city. Exotic old buildings are everywhere and most of them are not well known by the public; they just appear in our daily life as one of the most common things. So many exotic styles came together and then formed a new style called: Shanghai. If you observe Shanghai style carefully, you will find that each element of that has different origin and different story.
One typical example is the dormer. Actually dormer is a classical style of European architectures but when it came to Shanghai, it mixed with the Chinese style, such as the Chinese eaves and Chinese tiles. Almost all residential buildings in Shanghai have this feature-the dormer. Besides, the dormers in Shanghai are nearly in the same style, which means they have same shape, same color and same windows. As Shanghainese, the dormers are not only an element of the old architectures but also a memory of childhood. When we were little children, we all lived in those old buildings, watching the sky through the highest windows, and imagining that someday we can grow wings and fly out the windows. However now such buildings, with dormers on the top, are fading away from this city. A net pal said, “When I saw the dormers again somewhere, I suddenly remembered the dormer was the thing that I always want to touch but my parents never let me do so as it was so dangerous. I dreamed of crawling out of the window for years, in my childhood.”
One typical example is the dormer. Actually dormer is a classical style of European architectures but when it came to Shanghai, it mixed with the Chinese style, such as the Chinese eaves and Chinese tiles. Almost all residential buildings in Shanghai have this feature-the dormer. Besides, the dormers in Shanghai are nearly in the same style, which means they have same shape, same color and same windows. As Shanghainese, the dormers are not only an element of the old architectures but also a memory of childhood. When we were little children, we all lived in those old buildings, watching the sky through the highest windows, and imagining that someday we can grow wings and fly out the windows. However now such buildings, with dormers on the top, are fading away from this city. A net pal said, “When I saw the dormers again somewhere, I suddenly remembered the dormer was the thing that I always want to touch but my parents never let me do so as it was so dangerous. I dreamed of crawling out of the window for years, in my childhood.”
This is a picture of Shanghai characterized dormers.
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