China's architects - building on past glories
Xinhua, October 29, 2016 Adjust font size:
Scores of visitors have appreciated a wooden model of a pagoda based on Chinese architect Liang Sicheng's sketches in the Art Museum at Tsinghua University, where visitors may see Liang's original sketches of many historical sites.
"It is exquisite," said Lai Fei, an art teacher visiting the exhibit.
In 1937, Liang, a pioneer in the preservation of historical monuments, visited the pagoda in northern China's Shanxi Province. Nearly 80 years later, the model was made from his drawings.
The "Build China" exhibition, which runs until March, highlights the work of the China Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture, and pays tribute to Liang and his peers in the work they did to preserve China's past.
Zhang Yue of Tsinghua University school of architecture believes that the work done by the society represented the beginning of a fundamentally different approach to restoration and preservation of China's antiquities.
Founded in 1930, the society continued with its field work, regardless of the various conflicts which plagued the nation, for the next 16 years. Members of the society visited 11 provinces and cataloged almost 3,000buildings of historical interest. They collected and curated architectural plans, drawings, contracts and other materials, all the while focused on protecting China's architectural heritage.
When a lack of funds led to the collapse of the society in 1946, Liang, together with some colleagues from the defunct organization, set up the Tsinghua architecture school.
OUR PAST IS OUR PRIORITY
Although the society itself is now a thing of the past, protection of architectural treasures remains one of the most important strands of China's work to maintain the country's collective memory.
Scholars, including Chen Zhihua, Wang Guixiang and Lyu Zhou, study traditional buildings and building techniques alongside Chinese architectural theory. They have made the preservation of what remains of the architectural past their top priority.
"Lots of architects want to design building in a traditional Chinese style. That was what drove me to study the oldest buildings I could find," Zhang Yichi, a doctoral student majoring in the field.
Last year, the central government made appeals to retain unique local cultural traits, including architecture. In April this year, protection of sites of interest was proposed at a national conference and now, some private enterprises invest in protecting these monuments as part of their commitment to society at large.
ARCHITECTURAL FOLLIES.
Despite the hard work of many committed individuals, unprofessional or incompetent restoration remains a serious problem.
In September this year, a 700-year-old section of the Great Wall in northeastern China's Liaoning Province was "restored," bringing a barrage of criticism from the Internet.
Zhang Yichi and her fellows attempted to survey one building this summer, but discovered that the walls were completely rendered in cement.
"All historical information was lost. There is nothing worse than to find a once-beautiful building over-restored," she said.
Zhang Yue wants to continue her research, identify the most prominent values in traditional Chinese architecture, recognize those buildings most worthy of protection and then find the best way to protect them. Endi