A system built from one village wall: lime plaster gone grey-white in the rain, capped by a staircase of dark tile. Hongcun's horse-head gables give the profile, its water channels give the baseline, and the Moon Pond gives the one soft curve allowed.

Surfaces are flat and nearly solid. Openings are small and high, corners are cut square, and age shows as vertical streaking rather than shadow. Chinese leads; Latin sits quietly underneath.