The Analysis of the First Major Transformation of Architectural Aesthetics in China

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.201215.482How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Architecture aesthetics, traditional Chinese architecture, Western-style architecture, style transformation, Pingjiang Road, Qi-style arcade building (Haikou Shophouse)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the first major transformation of Chinese architectural aesthetics during the cultural reform period of the late 1800s to early 1900s. Before the late 1800s, China developed a standardized building system: traditional Chinese architecture. Then, the cultural reform movement was initiated by patriots when the late Qing government struggled to maintain sovereignty under foreign invasions. Reformers pushed China to a new stage of industrialization and urbanization; they used Western-style architecture as part of the promotion of cultural modernization. In this paper, I selected a pair of case studies of commercial space to analyze the transformation: Pingjiang road of Suzhou city represents traditional Chinese architecture while Qi-style arcade building of Hainan is an example of Western style architecture. Western architecture imported into China was presented as a hybrid of European gothic, beaux-art, and baroque style, incorporated with modifications to suit the cultural and physical environment of China. The examples demonstrate that the new style incorporated long standing cultural ideals while many other aspects of tradition were abandoned.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yaoran Shi
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/12/17
TI  - The Analysis of the First Major Transformation of Architectural Aesthetics in China
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2020)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 488
EP  - 492
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201215.482
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.201215.482
ID  - Shi2020
ER  -