Essay about Traditional vs. Modern Architecture in China

The history of Architecture started long time ago. The nomadic were groups of people whom move from one place to another in order find shelter and food to survive. As they progress, their techniques to survive evolve. The need for a permanent shelter became vital for a better stability of the group. This is the time when the first structures that provided protection appeared. Post and lintel were the first forms of Architecture, that satisficed the basic needs. Architecture evolved to be more sophisticated and fulfill the people’s needs. Consequently, Architecture evolved throughout different periods such as: Ancient architecture, Romanesque, The medieval, Renaissance, Early modern, and the industrial age, Modernism and Contemporary

“Architecture should not be seen as representing a magical transition from the worldly to the heavenly, as had been implied by the Baroque Style, but rather as a medium that told nothing less than the story of the “origins” of mankind.” (Ching 610)

Louis Henry Sullivan was the architect that created and promoted the paramount precept to 19th century architectural design, ‘form follows function.’ The idea behind the design philosophy was that, “structural and aesthetic considerations should be entirely subject to functionality it was met with both approval and scepticism.” (Boundless, 2017) Modern architecture is commonly defined by its simplification of form. Early modern architecture began in the 20th century, with attempts to integrate, “the principles underlying architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society.” (Boundless, 2017)

One of the most recognized architectural movements are the modern movements which comprise of the International Style, Art Deco Style, and Moderne Style. Modern Movements occurred between 1925 and 1950. Out of the three styles of architecture, International Style has been selected for this art analysis. The International Style of Architecture occurred between 1920s and 1930s, and it is characterized by starkly unornamented rectangular shapes which are very different from the traditional forms of architecture. The reason why International Style of architecture has been chosen for analysis in this paper is the fact that the rectangular shapes used in constructing the style have been punctuated with bands of windows which depict the modern purpose

A global city becomes the place where the typical project and the so-called objects of international style in architecture are realized when building the main complexes - from flats to trade centres and administrative buildings. The sources of international style in the modern architecture are rooted in the epoch of modernism at the beginning of the 20th century, when the rejection of the old artistic and plastic language was perceived as something new and modern.

The late 19th century to the early 20th century, architecture was typically influenced by Roman or even Greek architecture, which is also known as “federal style” or “Greek Revival”. And of course, each revival style can be identified specifically with an architeture of an earlier time period. Expecially the ones fom early American or Euorpienc places. One could also the call the architecture buildings in this time period: Neoclassical (New Classical) , which are inspired from Greece and Rome. Building such as Wall Street (built in 1924), Academy of Athens (build 1926), the Egyptian Museum (built 1902), and even private homes; Neoclassism featureis a dominatnt style for domestic building worldwide, as seen by the pictures of domestic buildings

The article argued that although new and modern architectural buildings are satisfying and innovating, they can take away from a sense of place or culture as Meade’s states himself “New, shiny buildings are all well and good, but what architects forget about is a sense of place – and beauty of wastelands” (Meades, 2012). Meades expresses his issue against architects overly modernizing structures, which might also have to do with that fact that the artists are getting paid for the designing of the “vanity projects” and the projects themselves are getting paid for. To draw reference to the Rome’s ancient city there is a constant style, grey colour and material that is used. If one were to view an image of the ancient city it is easily noticeable as to where it may it located, in this case Rome. It is almost essential that cities do not let go of their architectural traditions to keep the history and character life. Although it is inevitable for modernizations to be made, they should be worked traditional

By analyzing various articles that provides various viewpoint on the phenomenon of Modernism and its relationship to modernist architectures during the 1920s and 1930s, linkages, similarities and differences between how each author define modern architecture can be observed. These varying viewpoints encourages not only the identification of ‘Traditional’ and ‘Art Deco’ movements but also the critical understanding of modern architecture’s evolution and its relation to the societal beliefs, authority, resource and function during the Interwar Period.

Coming to the United States for college from China was already quite eye-opening to me. The study abroad program to Italy opened up my horizon even more – I designed a memorial hall dedicated to the Nanking Massacre during WWII, and the moment that a dozen architects coming from Chinese, American, Italian, and other European backgrounds got together and shared their intelligent thoughts on the project really struck me. There were so many cultural and intellectual sparks colliding, and I felt substantial potential there. This is why I decided to take a summer off and travel around China to see different architectures and educate myself. Being a resident of three diverse environments has enabled me to integrate into other cultures, discover how they understand buildings, and imagine the greater potential for our built environment.

Architecture is a medium to give creativity and phantasy full scope. Different styles are contained and combined in sometimes only one building. To trace the origin of Europe’s architecture, on have to look in times before Christ. What is proved is the use of columns and stonework in cultures like the Egyptian, which might have influenced the Greek’s culture, who subsequent spread their style in Europe. Therefore Europe gained the most diverse styles and eras whereas American architecture had a modest beginning. It started with the Native American architecture. After Christopher Columbus found the North American continent, colonist, during the great colonial times, fought the Indian Americans and demolished not only their architecture but also

Although, most post-modernist architects had been associated with modern architects in terms of training during the twentieth century, they refused most their teachers ideas. In addition, today's architects cannot deny the modern architecture ways of designing any building. Their design, for instance, has many philosophical meaning such as constructional, environmental, sociological, commercial and metaphorical meaning.

“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” (Gehry, 2012). What Frank Gehry was trying to say in simple terms was our culture cannot do without proper appreciation of its classical roots and it goes without saying that the Romans and Greeks have influenced art and architecture with its classical style in a number of different ways. Allow me to give a definition for the word classical. “Classical” refers to any art or architecture modelled after ancient Roman or Greek styles. In this essay I will be discussing what the word architecture means in architecture, tracing its origins through Greek and Roman civilisation and comparing the key similarities of these two different but similar influential cultures. I will also be referring to a few examples of past and present examples of classical styles and scrutinizing from these examples why and how the style of classical architecture has evolved and still stayed appropriate in our very different contemporary cultures.

The end of the twentieth century was marked by the unprecedented scale of construction, huge advances in science and technology: new advanced designs, building materials, construction technology and strategies.1 Along with that, architects have been disclosing the failure of the traditional aesthetic concepts in the art of postmodern architecture, which were based on the assumption that politics should no longer be connected with the disciplines of administration.2 Therefore, the consequence of this failure was enormous number of debates occurred during that time: whether to reject the modernity and to return to conservative values or to embrace "the imperatives of modern technology".3

During the Industrial Revolution around 19th century to 20th century, people were trying to build an “Ideal City” based on the notion of socio-economical class of citizens. Starting from the middle-class to the high-class of society, townhouses were built all over the place that even stretches out to Australia. The planning of these townhouses, were also based on function and class. Higher class spaces are separated from the lower class spaces. The separation can be recognized through the position of stairs, work spaces and living quarters. Hence, what happens to building the “Ideal City”, also happens to the interior planning of townhouses.

‘Malaysian Architecture: Crisis Within’ by Mohammad Tajjudin Haji is an analysis and critique of the struggle to develop a Malaysian architectural identity. His introduction mentions the peculiarity of such a search; since one must first either not have an identity, or has lost his/her identity, in order to begin such a quest. Whether this is a conscious effort by the people and the government, or a colonial progression that does not confront any architectural conscious resistance, the author attempts to classify the different perspectives applied for the development of an architectural Identity (Mohammad Rasdi 2005).