The Manifestation of Traditional Chinese Architectural Language in Modern Architecture
Table of Contents
The Manifestation of Traditional Chinese Architectural Language in Modern Architecture
We have never stopped exploring the manifestation of traditional Chinese architectural language in modern architecture, starting with the effort of a modern volume with a traditional paradigm roof. This inheritance and expression are based on the context, which is divided into two categories: “Adoption” and “Ablation”. The reinterpretation of traditions from “Form,” “Sense,” and “Model” is “Adoption.” Ablation is a constructive compromise with the environment that respects the original rural or urban texture and appearance. It is based on old forms and building techniques, enhanced with modern design approaches and techniques. It improves conditions either by erasing them in some situations or by disappearing and integrating into them. Contemporary architecture is both the tradition of the future and the tradition of the past. The “classics” are continuously being extended by architects using new techniques
1- Adoption: A Reinterpretation of Traditions
The traditional architectural “Form” can be reinterpreted, which is a fairly direct means of heritage. It summarizes, generalizes, and abstracts tradition dissects and isolates historic architectural and spatial forms, and then reconstructs them using contemporary design principles, architectural frameworks, and building materials. While “Sense” is a sort of reproduction of old culture, it focuses more on the creation of spirit and environment. “Model” refers to a structural interpretation of traditional culture that is inspired by a variety of crafts and is not just restricted to architecture.
“Form“： Xi Hall / say architects
Xi Hall is an iconic building for wedding ceremonies and public events. The unique streamline of Xi Hall was inspired by the Wok Room, a traditional residential architecture from the Lingnan area of China that featured with wok-handle-shaped pediment. Wok Room is signified by the gable wall with a raised center and lowered sides. A wok is a cooking pot originating from China, the hump in the middle of the pediment looks like the handle of the wok, then it is called Wok Wall. Gable walls are used to block the wind or fire and serve as the main bearing structure of a house. The architect abstracted the shape of a wok wall and applied it to the east and west elevations of Xi Hall, which are connected by a hyperbolic curved roof and creates an auditorium area with classical appeal and a sense of floating.
“Sense”： Quarry No. 8: Book Mountain / DnA
In this project, after quarrying was prohibited, hand mining in the abandoned quarry area created a random interior space topography. Nearby this quarry is a place where scholars met in historical times to debate their ideas. The Tang Dynasty poet Han Yu spoke of how the path through the Mountain of Knowledge (Shushan) is only made possible through diligence. With its cultural connotation, this space is thus the most important one in the group. Inside the quarry, the architects built stone steps that can reach heights of 12 meters. By using the stairs to climb to the various levels equipped with bookcases and study platforms, visitors experience the feeling of climbing a mountain of knowledge before entering the world of calligraphy and stone carving. Since, here, a cultural and educational ideal that every schoolchild in China immediately recognizes is inscribed in the found situation.
“Model”: Art Museum on Market / Scenic Architecture Office
The basic urban fabric of the pedestrian streets in East Area is the retail courtyard on the ground and first floor and the gable-roof-house hotel courtyard on the second floor. The project continued the stacking pattern of the frame and gable roof structure used in the pedestrian street. The first floor was chosen to replicate the overhanging gable roof of a traditional house and connect it into a large space, extracting the structural form of Y-shaped columns from the geometry of the continuous gable wall to support the upside-down triangular truss roof. On the second floor, the designer extracted the cross-bearing structure from the lantern craft of Xitang, which has been used as the style of the connection point. The group of columns outside is composed of X-shaped oblique columns three-dimensionally composed of inter-inserted glulam poles, which support the roof. The two support systems work together to construct a column-free space under the timber frame.
2- Ablation: Disappearing out of Respect
The goal of design in many new and renovated rural construction projects is to maintain the area’s natural environment and the character of rural development while preserving its unique architectural features and maintaining its original appearance. Designers are continually exploring and exploring this thesis, as opposed to earlier attempts at copying, by employing classic materials for new interpretations, preserving forms to add highlights, merging new structures with preserved characteristics, and creating new interpretations from classic materials. And other new design ideas and contemporary design methods.
Highlight： Qimen Black Tea House / Atelier Lai
The village of Taoyuan, where the project is located, is relatively isolated. Since the original layout pattern of the village and the Huizhou style architectural appearance remained intact. As a result, the function of λ house gradually became clearer: to build a daily and ceremonial teahouse in a two-layer, 60-square-meter farmhouse. The architects chose to keep the accumulated signs of time. The historic house’s four facades were preserved in their entirety. Only the wooden constructions and roofs that had become damaged were repaired because the roof and walls are independent of one another as load-bearing systems. While on the second floor, the wood structure roof is made of a smart cantilevered crown shape to cover and protect the old wall. At the same time, the elevated roof leaves a gap on the second floor. This reduces the sense of spatial enclosure on the second floor by opening the view and sight line communication between the inside and outside. The old house is replaced with a new roof, which respects the regional style while illuminating village life.
Disguise： Xiadi Paddy Field Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde / TAO
Xiadi Paddy Field Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde is located on the north side of Xiadi Village, Pingnan, Fujian, surrounded by paddy fields. The building was a long-abandoned local residence, with three rammed earth walls that remained intact and a few dilapidated courtyard walls at the time the architect arrived. Most part of the new construction is hidden inside the remnants of the old house and so it seems as if nothing has happened from the outside, demonstrating great respect for the history of the local area and the overall natural landscape of the village. Internally, two kinked concrete walls form the main structure of the building, while two cantilevered floor slabs spread throughout the space and connect with the rammed earth walls at the corners, providing structural stability. Edges of the floor slabs are detached from the rammed earth wall to let light in through the skylight. The new structure cleverly disguises itself with crumbling old walls, providing residents with a new spatial experience.
Harmony: Renovation of Yunnan Dazhixianxian B&B / ruanxiaozhou design studio
The project reused the masonry materials removed from the old house, exploring the renovation strategies of three-story frame brick buildings and newly-built the Floating House, the Clay Screen, the Bamboo Pavilion, the Rain Pavilion, the Tile Pavilions, the Slope Pavilion, and the original walls with slight renovation. Using local building materials and combining methods of advanced technology and local crafting of different processes, which effectively adapts to the contemporary nature of the rural material process. Create new living spaces while integrating perfectly into the countryside in the overall environment.