The origin of arcade

1840 After the Opium War, the development of modern architecture in Guangzhou experienced several stages, such as the migration of western architecture, the revival of traditional architecture and the introduction of modernist architecture. Western architecture in Guangzhou has the following types, such as the Catholic Sacred Heart Hall (stone room) and other religious buildings; Such as Guangzhou Postal Administration Building, Guangdong Customs Building, City Hall Building, Provincial Finance Department Building and Provincial Federation of Trade Unions Building; Such as xiguan big house, Zhulou, Dongshan Garden House and Xiaoyanglou; Memorial buildings such as Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Seamen's Hall; There are also buildings such as Aiqun Building, South Building, Chengxing Building, Provincial Building, Xinya Hotel and commercial arcades all over Guangzhou.

In fact, commercial arcade architecture was first seen in ancient Greece more than 2,000 years ago, and then it became popular in Europe, and it didn't spread all over the world until modern times. Because the "arcade" part of the commercial building is built across the sidewalk in the first half of the building, it is connected with each other along the road to form a free-walking corridor, which can reach hundreds of meters or even one or two kilometers in length. There is a saying in Guangzhou that "a child will change his face in May", so "arcade" just adapted to this climate feature, which was popular all over Guangzhou for a while and gradually formed the main pattern of Guangzhou street view. The "arcade" buildings are concentrated in the commercial streets such as Shifu Road, Shangxiajiu Road, Zhongshan Road, Jiefang Road, Renmin South Road and Yide Road. The "arcade" in Xihaokou area has the most charm: Xinya Hotel, Nanfang Building and Aiqun Building are outstanding among the early "arcade" buildings in Guangzhou. After the 1960s, this form was rarely adopted in newly-built business districts in Guangzhou.

Arcade: refers to the corridor between buildings, which is built across the sidewalk and connected with each other along the road to form a free walk. This is a typical modern commercial building. Arcades are generally divided into three parts: top, main body and bottom.

It is an architectural form evolved from the combination of western ancient architecture and traditional culture in southern China. It can prevent wind, rain and sun, especially adapt to the subtropical climate in Lingnan, and its commercial practicability is more prominent. There are many such buildings in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Hainan. For example, Shangxiajiu in Guangzhou, Zhongshan Road in Xiamen, Zhuhai Street in Beihai and Jinling Road in Shanghai (an early Cantonese community). This kind of building is built to adapt to the wet and rainy weather and dense commercial buildings in the south. Shop downstairs, people live upstairs.

Its arcade across the street not only expands the living area, but also provides rain and sun protection, which is convenient for customers to choose and buy goods freely. It is one of the most distinctive buildings in southeast coastal towns.

Guangzhou arcade is the representative of Guangzhou arcade, which has various forms and is well preserved.