Research on the History of Modern Chinese Architecture

Author: Lai Delin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: This collection compiles the representative achievements of the author in the study of modern Chinese architectural history over more than ten years. The content involves many important issues and cases related to the modern transformation of Chinese architecture, including the establishment of modern architectural systems, the most important building during the late Qing New Policy period—the Ministry of War Department and its designer Shen Qi. The modern Chinese architectural treatise Architectural New Methods and its author Zhang Jingxi, the emergence of modern Chinese architectural talent and the process of establishing the discipline, as well as the development of architectural education. The development of modern Chinese architectural aesthetics, the design of the most important commemorative building in the Republican period—the Zhongshan Mausoleum in Nanjing, the architectural characteristics of the outstanding modern architect Yang Tingbao, the architectural history writing of the brilliant architect Liang Sicheng and his wife Lin Huiyin, the reflection of his historical research and the ideal of modern Chinese-style architecture in the only "big roof" building he participated in designing before 1949—the Nanjing Central Museum—and the development of Guangzhou, the longest-operating city during the modern Nationalist Party era, from 1910 to 1930s. In the research, the author raises questions from multidisciplinary perspectives such as political history, social history, cultural history, and art history, and comprehensively applies historical methods, including historical fact verification, data statistics, textual interpretation, formal analysis, and even cross-cultural comparison. This makes his architectural history research not only reveal the objects but also the context; not only reveal the people but also the ideas; not only answer "what is," but also answer "how is" and "why is." This collection compiles the author's representative achievements in the study of modern Chinese architectural history over more than ten years. The content involves many important issues and cases related to the modern transformation of Chinese architecture, including the establishment of modern architectural systems, the most important building during the late Qing New Policy period—the Ministry of War Department and its designer Shen Qi, the modern Chinese architectural treatise Architectural New Methods and its author Zhang Jingxi, the emergence of modern Chinese architectural talent and the process of establishing the discipline, as well as the development of architectural education, the development of modern Chinese architectural aesthetics, the design of the most important commemorative building in the Republican period—the Zhongshan Mausoleum in Nanjing, the architectural characteristics of the outstanding modern architect Yang Tingbao, the architectural history writing of the brilliant architect Liang Sicheng and his wife Lin Huiyin, the reflection of his historical research and the ideal of modern Chinese-style architecture in the only "big roof" building he participated in designing before 1949—the Nanjing Central Museum—and the development of Guangzhou, the longest-operating city during the modern Nationalist Party era, from 1910 to 1930s. In the research, the author raises questions from multidisciplinary perspectives such as political history, social history, cultural history, and art history, and comprehensively applies historical methods, including historical fact verification, data statistics, textual interpretation, formal analysis, and even cross-cultural comparison, making his architectural history research not only reveal the objects but also the context; not only reveal the people but also the ideas; not only answer "what is," but also answer "how is" and "why is." This book is of reference value and significance for understanding and studying Chinese architectural history, the history of architectural historiography, design history, urban history, and visual culture history.