This paper discusses the role of geometry parameters including building shape, window to wall ratio, room depth, and orientation on the energy use and thermal comfort of school buildings in cold climates of China. The annual total energy demand and summer thermal discomfort time were compared through computer simulations with DesignBuilder. Furthermore, a questionnaire was conducted that related to the students’ subjective preference for various building geometry parameters. Results showed that a maximum of 13.6% of energy savings and 3.8% of thermal comfort improvement when compared to the reference case could be achieved through variations in geometry parameters. The H shape performed the best when the building thermal performance and students’ preferences were considered, as well as the various design options for architects. Window to wall ratio, room depth, and orientation should also be carefully addressed in terms of different building types. The results of this study can serve as a reference for architects and school managers in the early design stages of schools in cold climates of China.

European, American, and Japanese debates on public housing served as models for those in modern China, and Chinese scholars and professionals, with the support of the KMT (Kuomintang), developed public housing as a sign of innovation in both societal reform and building typology. Using the under-researched case of Tianjin's public housing during the so-called Nanjing Decade (1928–1937) and then again during the Japanese Occupation (1937–1945) as case studies, the paper first explores how journals, books, and foreign-trained Chinese scholars introduced the concept of public housing to China. It then examines five public housing projects that municipal authorities developed for Tianjin, two in the Nanjing Decade and three during the Japanese Occupation. Analysing the sites, architectural designs, and management rules of these projects, the paper argues that the projects in the Nanjing Decade (both planned and realized) mostly targeted poor families, serving to simultaneously solve housing problems, reform society, and police the poor; while the projects during the Japanese Occupation benefited high-income people or the Japanese, and did not play a role in the relief of the local poor, who suffered most from the housing shortage.

Residential courtyards serve as critical mediators between architecture and nature in contemporary high-density urban environments. However, extant scholarship predominantly examines isolated courtyard typologies, lacking comprehensive systemic analysis, while contemporary designs frequently suffer from functional diminishment. This study investigates 72 representative Japanese detached residential projects (2015–2024) to systematically analyze spatial configurations, compositional characteristics, and functional interrelationships between courtyards and interior spaces. The methodological framework incorporates typological classification based on spatial positioning and constituent elements, coupled with analytical examination of aperture connections, interpreted through the lens of pattern language theory. Findings reveal a distinct hierarchical organization and a set of recurrent design patterns: front courtyards predominantly employ “partially walkable” surfaces with symbol trees to reconcile circulatory and esthetic functions, establishing a transitional sequence; central courtyards achieve daylight optimization and spatial extension through compact dimensions and non-paved surfaces, creating intimate outdoor rooms; side courtyards demonstrate scale-dependent adaptive strategies for privacy and microclimate regulation. The predominant living room-courtyard interface configuration features “group-planted trees with large openings,” creating vertically stratified visual experiences. This tripartite system translates traditional nature concepts into evidence-based spatial patterns, providing a transferable design matrix and pattern language for human-centered courtyard design in high-density contexts.