ABSTRACT
Under the dual background of rapid development and urbanization, the research is of practical significance for the construction and development of new rural harmonious society on the traditional villages, residential forms and ways of using. The purpose of this study is to learn the characteristics of the local residential forms and their usage, reveal the relationship between these characteristics and villagers’ lifestyles, and grasp the villagers’ evaluation of the satisfaction on living space, by the investigation of 168 questionnaires, 16 families in-depth interviews and survey mapping in the W, Y and Z villages of Suopo Township, Danba County, Sichuan Province. The resulted showed that: 1) Residents have obvious uniform features, mostly 3 - 5 layers of single-family residences, mostly in the area of 400 - 500 m2. The height of the house and the rooms has a relatively fixed modulus. 2) In the survey of the usage of local dwelling houses, it was found that farmers have a fixed model for the use of residential buildings. Most of the living activities are gathered in their own courtyards, and the utilization of the living room is usually limited. The floors above the second floor often have the terrace formed by the retreat to dry the food. There are often more bedrooms for spare, more than 90% of the family of four or more have two or more living rooms. 3) The residential area is embodied in both horizontal and vertical directions: the first floor of the indoor room from the courtyard to the dining room has the property of semi-open and semi-private space, and it is the main place for neighborhood interaction; and the rooms of the second and above are more private. 4) In the long process of life, the form and usage of houses will change with the changes of external factors. The traditional dwelling houses will be built or renovated, accounting for about 36% of the total amount surveyed.