From Home to Inn: The Evolution of Rural Dwellings in the Taihang Area of Northern Henan
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The is a substantial contribution to the scholarship on vernacular architecture worldwide, by making clear and theorizing effectively processes of such development in China since the turn to an "open" market driven economy. Some questions to consider (of a content and editorial nature):
How China may have incorporated Western European-American notions of high vs. low architecture is implied, but could it be made more explicit, its history in brief?
Your diagrams suggested a one-way flow of force or "influence." Are these dialectical in that they flow back and forth or interrelational? The arrows suggest a one-way transference of force. Dialectical reasoning might help with the concluding comment that vernacular architecture in China arises from the interplay of top-down, bottom-up forces.
Could terminology be made more consistent? There are examples like "urban space self-organization development," and "urban space development self-organization" in the same sentence. Are these the same concept?
Figure 7 is remarkable but it is difficult to see the images in question. Could it be enlarged and maybe turned vertically on the page? Such a configuration could still be easily negotiated in PDF form.
What about stylistic appropriations in the process of Chinese capital accumulation? Did these become more "global" in the sense of contemporary architecture worldwide?
What is meant by "fancy" on page 12 describing vernacular architecture? Perhaps greater specificity to the point being made would clarify.
Can independent sentences be joined to complete paragraphs? There are several of these.
The article suggests that planners and architects are not the only ones responsible for vernacular architecture development but also "builders." Given the amount of time spent on social spaces (kitchens, bed chambers, etc.) it would seem that the "users" of space, social conventions, environmental factors, the politics of daily life, etc. are also "bottom up" factors to consider and flesh out more.
Comments for author File: 
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Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
How China may have incorporated Western European-American notions of high vs. low architecture is implied, but could it be made more explicit, its history in brief?
Response : In the theoretical part, the article adds relevant narration to explain the reasons for the changes of urban and rural landscape in China. With the reform and opening up and economic development, people's lifestyle has also changed. Modernist architecture has gradually become the mainstream of China. Modernist architecture prevailing in Europe and America represents modernization and progress. It plays an important role in promoting the development of Chinese modern architecture.
Your diagrams suggested a one-way flow of force or "influence." Are these dialectical in that they flow back and forth or interrelational? The arrows suggest a one-way transference of force. Dialectical reasoning might help with the concluding comment that vernacular architecture in China arises from the interplay of top-down, bottom-up forces.
Response : The flow and influence of different elements are indeed interrelated, but this diagram is mainly used to describe how a broad trend is formed from the disordered change of individual elements to the orderly change of groups. And try to prove the particularity of this trend in contemporary China through the classification and induction of samples.
Could terminology be made more consistent? There are examples like "urban space self-organization development," and "urban space development self-organization" in the same sentence. Are these the same concept?
Response : These are the same in essence.We changed the same terminology to make it easier to understand.
Figure 7 is remarkable but it is difficult to see the images in question. Could it be enlarged and maybe turned vertically on the page? Such a configuration could still be easily negotiated in PDF form.
Response : Figure 7 is mainly used to illustrate the construction time of these cases. Now it has been enlarged and turned vertically.
What about stylistic appropriations in the process of Chinese capital accumulation? Did these become more "global" in the sense of contemporary architecture worldwide?
Response : Thank you very much for your proposal. Under the influence of globalization, China's architectural style has indeed become more simple and modern. We have made some modifications and added relevant statements in this article.
What is meant by "fancy" on page 12 describing vernacular architecture? Perhaps greater specificity to the point being made would clarify.
Response : The "fancy" mentioned here refers to a unique and attractive appearance.It is more appropriate to describe it with “remarkable”(Corresponding modifications have been made in the article).
Can independent sentences be joined to complete paragraphs? There are several of these.
Response : We have tried to combine some independent sentences.
The article suggests that planners and architects are not the only ones responsible for vernacular architecture development but also "builders." Given the amount of time spent on social spaces (kitchens, bed chambers, etc.) it would seem that the "users" of space, social conventions, environmental factors, the politics of daily life, etc. are also "bottom up" factors to consider and flesh out more.
Response : The conclusion part makes some supplements. As the designers and users of buildings, the form and function of local buildings directly reflect the politics, culture, economy, and living habits of residents in this area.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
General remarks
The proposed article is certainly very interesting and complex.
However, it has some weaknesses and difficulties of immediate comprehension for the reader. Some parts should perhaps be moved (e.g. Table 2 would be better in the chapter on materials and methods, when you explain the samples); while other parts need to be revised and modified. In particular, the two charts (figure 6 and figure 21) are difficult to understand and the explanations in the text are too concise, perhaps hasty, and do not give clarity to the figures.
Some parts are not balanced, and the text offers too many different insights. You can see this in the comparison of chapters 3.3 and 3.4.
In general, there is still some confusion in the bibliography (e.g. row 558) and we invite you to check it carefully. An incorrect use of punctuation appears in several passages (e.g. the indications of sources in tables figures; row...438 etc.). in a scientific text I would prefer not to use inverted commas: one word should always be the correct one.
The final discussion, but above all the conclusions are really too concise, at least the main themes from the chapter on results should be expanded upon.
Specific remarks
Row 41 - the reference should be better indicated and reported.
Row 65. The article also wants to explain the evolution of rural dwellings.
Row 68 - the title should be better specified. The choice of architectural models is not explained in this part, only the choice of the area under observation. In general, the whole part is confusing for the reader. It should be better organised.
Row 69-72 - the explanation of the choice made is not sufficiently argued.
Row 73 - is Xinxiang a city or an area? It should be clearly stated.
Figure 1 - is it really relevant to the rest of the article? The source is also unclear. I propose to delete the figure.
Row 91- the rank A- level is not explained. The reader may not know.
Figure 6 - requires more explanation. Many parts of the figure are not explained, and it is difficult for the reader to understand. Furthermore, it would perhaps be interesting to add a title to the different columns and an extra column in relation to the 4 dimensions later discussed in chapter 3, presenting their different articulations. For example: Gene (basic type, extended type, mixed type; Share ( horizontal stretching, vertical growth, diversification, ) etc.. Examples must be given of what is meant by other organisations.
Row 1663 - 166. It should be better argued, as it is the focus of Chapter 3. Is there also an alternative term to Gene?
Row 168-79 this whole part would be better suited in the chapter materials and method. It illustrates time-scale variables and building samples. These are not results, but a description of the variables examined.
Figure 7. On the timeline it would be very useful to include the relevant events and then mentioned in chapter 3 (e.g. row 250 and row 259). The figure thus is only a representation of table 2 and is redundant. Instead, it would be appropriate to insert a timeline of the events that had an impact. In fact, a description of the relevant events is completely missing.
Table 2. the order by location is very confusing for the reader and, furthermore, location is not used in a relevant way in Chapter 3. It would be better to order the items by their code. In this way it is then easier to find specific examples when reading chapter 3.
Row 217; row 250; row 259, row 295, ... . As already mentioned, it would be useful to have in Chapter 2 a chronological chart of the events that had an impact.
Row 272: is this a specific call? If yes, as mentioned above, it would be useful to have a chronological chart of the relevant events.
Chapter 3.3: this part is much more articulated than the similar ones. I propose, for the balance of the article, to try to summarise some parts, for example in part 3.3.1 which is really very detailed.
Chapter 3.3: this part is much more articulated than the similar ones. I propose, for the balance of the article, to try to summarise some parts, for example in part 3.3.1 which is really very detailed.
Chapter 3.4: on the other hand, this part is perhaps too synthetic.
Figure 21: the figure is central, but it is too unclear, almost cryptic. Moreover, several components of the figure are not presented earlier in the text or explained. One has to reread the figure several times and this is a problem. What do the different forms of the elements (gene, share, mutation, sprawl) mean? In the text they are elements of equal importance, but from the diagram it seems not. The part of the themes that control the GENE is too detailed, compared to how they are treated in the text. One gets the impression that these specifications appear suddenly and without explanation. Either they are anticipated in the text or summarised more in the diagram. I am for the latter solution. Is the specification of the Share box necessary? It does not seem consistent with the results presented in Chapter 3. There are printing errors or at least the visualisation has problems (ctostraint? Nviversal?). It would also be interesting to point out which steps are self-organization, and which are not.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Point 1: However, it has some weaknesses and difficulties of immediate comprehension for the reader. Some parts should perhaps be moved (e.g. Table 2 would be better in the chapter on materials and methods, when you explain the samples); while other parts need to be revised and modified. In particular, the two charts (figure 6 and figure 21) are difficult to understand and the explanations in the text are too concise, perhaps hasty, and do not give clarity to the figures.
Response 1: We appreciate your recognition of our research work. We also appreciate your valuable comments on the shortcomings of our article. Due to the time limit for revision for only 5 days, we have revised the original text as much as possible according to your suggestions. We have restructured some parts that are easily difficult for readers to understand, such as parts 3.3-3.4 in the text. In addition, Fig. 6 and Fig. 21 are from Dr. Duan Wei's study of Xiaoshan vernacular architecture, some notes have been added, and more detailed information can be found in the article：Wei, D. [Xiaoshan Self-Made: History, Forms and Patterns of Contemporary Vernacular Housing in Nansha, Xiaoshan, Zhejiang] 萧山自造:浙江萧山南沙地区当代乡土住宅的历史,形式与模式; TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS: 2015..
Point 2: Some parts are not balanced, and the text offers too many different insights. You can see this in the comparison of chapters 3.3 and 3.4.
Response 2: We have trimmed and modified parts 3.3-3.4 of the original text, please see the relevant part of the original text for details of the changes.
Point 3: In general, there is still some confusion in the bibliography (e.g. row 558) and we invite you to check it carefully. An incorrect use of punctuation appears in several passages (e.g. the indications of sources in tables figures; row...438 etc.). in a scientific text I would prefer not to use inverted commas: one word should always be the correct one.
Response 3: We have rechecked the bibliography carefully to ensure the correctness of the references. At the same time, we also have checked carefully and corrected the misuse of tonal symbols.
Point 4: The final discussion, but above all the conclusions are really too concise, at least the main themes from the chapter on results should be expanded upon.
Response 4: Some additions are made in the conclusion section. As designers and users of buildings, the form and function of local architecture directly reflect the political, cultural, economic and living habits of the area's inhabitants.
Point 5：Row 41 - the reference should be better indicated and reported.
Response 5: Adjustment has been made.
Point 6: Row 65. The article also wants to explain the evolution of rural dwellings.
Response 6: The article explores the evolution pattern of vernacular houses in the South Taihang region by selecting the vernacular houses in tourist villages in the region as samples and analyzing their development mechanism. This part will be continued below.
Point 7: Row 68 - the title should be better specified. The choice of architectural models is not explained in this part, only the choice of the area under observation. In general, the whole part is confusing for the reader. It should be better organised.
Response 7: Adjustment has been made.
Point 8: Row 69-72 - the explanation of the choice made is not sufficiently argued.
Response 8: Adjustment has been made.
Point 9: Row 73 - is Xinxiang a city or an area? It should be clearly stated.
Response 9: Adjustment has been made.
Point 10: Figure 1 - is it really relevant to the rest of the article? The source is also unclear. I propose to delete the figure.
Response 10: Adjustment has been made. Figure has been deleted.
Point 11: Row 91- the rank A- level is not explained. The reader may not know.
Response 11: Number A is a grouping at the time of research, has no practical meaning, and has been deleted.
Point 12: Figure 6 - requires more explanation. Many parts of the figure are not explained, and it is difficult for the reader to understand. Furthermore, it would perhaps be interesting to add a title to the different columns and an extra column in relation to the 4 dimensions later discussed in chapter 3, presenting their different articulations. For example: Gene (basic type, extended type, mixed type; Share ( horizontal stretching, vertical growth, diversification, ) etc.. Examples must be given of what is meant by other organisations.
Response 12: Considering the space limitation of the article and the specialization of the research focus, after careful and prudent consideration, we believe that the specific explanations should be partially omitted, and a detailed introduction can be found in Duan Wei's research paper on Xiaoshan vernacular architecture: Wei, D. [Xiaoshan Self-Made: History, Forms and Patterns of Contemporary Vernacular Housing in Nansha, Xiaoshan, Zhejiang] 萧山自造:浙江萧山南沙地区当代乡土住宅的历史,形式与模式; TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS: 2015..
Point 13: Row 1663 - 166. It should be better argued, as it is the focus of Chapter 3. Is there also an alternative term to Gene?
Response 13: The relevant concepts were added in the text to explain that genes refer to samples with similar prototypes, analogizing the evolution of architecture to the process of biological evolution.
Point 14: Row 168-79 this whole part would be better suited in the chapter materials and method. It illustrates time-scale variables and building samples. These are not results, but a description of the variables examined.
Response 14: It has been adjusted to chapter 2.
Point 15: Figure 7. On the timeline it would be very useful to include the relevant events and then mentioned in chapter 3 (e.g. row 250 and row 259). The figure thus is only a representation of table 2 and is redundant. Instead, it would be appropriate to insert a timeline of the events that had an impact. In fact, a description of the relevant events is completely missing.
Response 15: Figure 7 shows the chronological order of the construction of the sample buildings.
Point 16: Table 2. the order by location is very confusing for the reader and, furthermore, location is not used in a relevant way in Chapter 3. It would be better to order the items by their code. In this way it is then easier to find specific examples when reading chapter 3.
Response 16: Adjusted sample ordering and moved to Chapter 2.
Point 17: Row 217; row 250; row 259, row 295, ... . As already mentioned, it would be useful to have in Chapter 2 a chronological chart of the events that had an impact.
Response 17: It can correspond to Figure 7, where too many sample charts tend to be repeated.
Point 18: Row 272: is this a specific call? If yes, as mentioned above, it would be useful to have a chronological chart of the relevant events.
Response 18: Here is the trend with economic development, charted as above.
Point 19: Chapter 3.3: this part is much more articulated than the similar ones. I propose, for the balance of the article, to try to summarise some parts, for example in part 3.3.1 which is really very detailed.
Response 19: Adjustment has been made.
Point 20: Chapter 3.3: this part is much more articulated than the similar ones. I propose, for the balance of the article, to try to summarise some parts, for example in part 3.3.1 which is really very detailed.
Response 20: Adjustment has been made.
Point 21: Chapter 3.4: on the other hand, this part is perhaps too synthetic.
Response 21: Adjustment has been made.
Point 22: Figure 21: the figure is central, but it is too unclear, almost cryptic. Moreover, several components of the figure are not presented earlier in the text or explained. One has to reread the figure several times and this is a problem. What do the different forms of the elements (gene, share, mutation, sprawl) mean? In the text they are elements of equal importance, but from the diagram it seems not. The part of the themes that control the GENE is too detailed, compared to how they are treated in the text. One gets the impression that these specifications appear suddenly and without explanation. Either they are anticipated in the text or summarised more in the diagram. I am for the latter solution. Is the specification of the Share box necessary? It does not seem consistent with the results presented in Chapter 3. There are printing errors or at least the visualisation has problems (ctostraint? Nviversal?). It would also be interesting to point out which steps are self-organization, and which are not.
Response 22: Considering the space limitation of the article and the specialization of the research focus, after prudent and careful consideration, we think that specific explanations should be partially omitted and we have added some footnotes, please see Duan Wei's research paper on Xiaoshan vernacular architecture for a detailed introduction: Wei, D. [Xiaoshan Self-Made: History, Forms and Patterns of Contemporary Vernacular Housing in Nansha, Xiaoshan, Zhejiang] 萧山自造:浙江萧山南沙地区当代乡土住宅的历史,形式与模式; TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS: 2015..
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
