Eastern and Western Architectural Spaces - Cultural Interpretations of Traditional Chinese and Medieval Western Architecture

Author: Wang Guixiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: With the development of civilization, due to different cultural and religious backgrounds, there have been gradual divergences in fundamental spatial concepts among different cultures. These differences manifest in basic spatial schemas, the selection of prototype spaces, the orientation of spatial axes and the determination of dominant directions, the formation of cosmic models, and the nature and connotations of sacred spaces. As a result, various differences have emerged in spatial concepts and spatial forms. The focus of this research is placed on Chinese architecture and Western architecture, not only because we are more familiar with these two architectural systems compared to others, but more importantly, within the cultural forms we understand, Chinese and Western cultures are the two most typical cultures that can stand on equal footing while each possessing distinct characteristics. To a certain extent, the future survival and development of humanity largely depend on the proper integration of Chinese and Western cultures, a point that seems to have gained consensus across various disciplines worldwide. This is an exploratory text on historical architectural space theory, based on pan-cultural comparative research. Although it involves the content of many different background cultures, the author's original intention remains to explore the various driving forces behind the generation and development of architectural spaces in different cultural contexts through these cultural phenomena related to architectural space concepts and forms. The aim is to discover the underlying reasons for the similarities and differences in spatial forms of architecture across different cultures, thereby finding a possible interpretation for the phenomenon that spatial forms and their evolution vary with culture.