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, diverse cultures have gradually diverged in their fundamental spatial pattern concepts, basic spatial schemas and prototype space choices, spatial axis orientations and dominant directions, the formation of cosmic mode concepts, 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 culture and Western culture are the two most representative cultures that can stand on equal footing yet possess distinct individual characteristics. To a certain extent, the future survival and development of humanity largely depend on the proper integration of Chinese culture and Western culture, 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 space in different cultural contexts, in an attempt to uncover the underlying reasons for the similarities and differences in spatial forms of architecture across cultures, thereby finding a possible interpretation for the phenomenon that spatial forms and their evolution vary with culture.