Fujian Province - China - 12th century
Tulous are rural dwellings located in the mountainous Fujian province, in the south-east of China. The community buildings were built by the Hakka people, for a defensive purpose and to establish a community organization from the 12th century to the 20th century.
The Fujian Tulou are defensive forts but also community buildings. Their form allows to unite several families within the same building, or a whole clan. These closed volumes could house up to 800 people within their terracotta walls. The architecture and organization of the Tulou is not reproducing the social hierarchy, everyone is at the same level. The rooms are of the same size, with the same windows, rising vertically according to the size of the family.
The outer walls are made of clay, earth, lime and stone, and the inner structure is made of bamboo arranged vertically as a bone structure. In addition, key parts are often decorated with a mixture of sticky rice and brown sugar to improve the stickiness. A stone base (often sandstone) allows the lower part of the wide outer earth wall to be up to 3m thick. The upper part of this wall is formed using the same technique but has a thickness reduced to about 1.50m. This has a double effect. Firstly to insulate the ground from attacks from the outside, and secondly to ensure thermal comfort during the harsh winters. Besides, the transverse earth walls are also very thick and function as fire walls. The buildings have between two and five floors and are divided vertically, each family having two or three rooms per floor depending on the structure of the transverse walls. Finally tiled roofs unify the structure and overlook the courtyard.
