Abstract

Traditional settlements and architecture are the spatial production of human responses to the environment，with close relations to the natural landscape，historical culture，social life and so forth．The causes，expressions and diachronic representations of settlement forms will be analyzed，as well as the summarization of the form patterns，with the aide of field studies and statistic surveys．

The book is divided into three sections．

The first section discusses the theoretical support and environmental elements，including chapter one and two．The scope of environmental adaptability，traditional settlements，Central Shanxi，and form patterns will be defined，integrating the research in the realms of architecture，settlement geography and sociology．On account of hierarchies and interactions of settlements and environment，the physical and human environment factors will be organized，with the introductions of regional differentiations and orientations．

The second section，which is on the empirical analysis，includes chapter three，four and five．The settlement form consists of spatial and social components，the former of which can be divided into general and architectural parts．Firstly，the spatial patterns within the Chinese traditional context will be extracted．And the patterns will be utilized for the sample interpretation of settlements within plains and hills in Central Shanxi．By the typology methods and visualization diagrams，the general forms will be classified to the subjective type，the objective type and the integrative type，focusing on the transformation trends and structural changes．Secondly，the architectural units will be analyzed in the diachronical way，with the conclusions of unit structures，spatial orders and configurational logics．In addition，the development of social organizations，the rank size，multi-dimensional expansions will also be discussed，taking the demographic transitions as the characteristic for the social form of traditional settlements．

In chapter six，the preliminary conclusions about general forms of settlements，architectural forms and social forms will be combined，with further discussions on structurality and regionality in Central Shanxi．With the thoughts of form patterns，some social reality matters can be interpreted and responded．

The research on traditional settlements and architecture is of theoretical and practical significance，especially in contemporary China under the rapid urbanization，which put strong impacts on the settlement environment，architectural space and social life．The physical space has gradually disappeared，with the change of social forms．In brief，the comprehensive study of form patterns in the perspective of environmental adaptability will provide the theoretical support and mythological references for the renovation of settlements and the inheritance of ancient culture．

Key words：traditional settlements and architecture；Central Shanxi；regionality；environmental adaptability；form