The new era of Chinese modern architecture

(1977～)

China crushed the "Gang of Four" in October 1976, especially after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in December 1978. Entering a new era of building a modern socialist country. From October 1976 to December 1978, construction activities basically continued the design ideas and creative methods of the previous period. Large-scale buildings such as Chairman Mao Memorial Hall were built. Since 1979, the ideological confinement of architectural workers has been lifted, and architectural academic thought has become increasingly active. The main manifestations are: ① Re-understanding foreign architectural theories and Western modern architectural experience; ② Publishing a group of Chinese architects and architects Academic works; ③ Extensively carry out design competitions and special academic discussions; ④ Government authorities promote the prosperity of architectural creation and carry out activities to select outstanding architectural designs. These activities have enlivened ideas that have been imprisoned for many years and improved the academic level of Chinese architecture. In the gradually improving creative environment, Chinese architectural activities have begun to see a new situation of overall prosperity, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects.

Village and Town Construction

China’s reform started in rural areas, and the climax of rural housing construction is an obvious feature of the new era. From 1979 to 1984, 3.4 billion square meters of new housing was built in rural areas across the country, exceeding the total of the past 30 years. In 1984, the proportion of rural residential mixed structures reached 28.5. Some wealthy farmers built "villa-style", "garden-style" and "manor-style" residences. Farmers describe the development process of rural housing as follows: living in thatched houses in the 1950s, building tile houses in the 1960s, adding porches in the 1970s, and building buildings in the 1980s.

Various new building types are constantly emerging in rural areas, such as children's palaces, cultural centers, market town cinemas, new factories, sports buildings, etc. Relevant departments put forward the policy for rural housing construction at the National Rural Housing Construction Work Conference: "Comprehensive planning, correct leadership, relying on the masses, self-reliance, adapting measures to local conditions, and gradual construction."

Urban residential construction

Urban housing has been a problem for many years. During the Cultural Revolution, the amount of urban housing built per year dropped to 10 million square meters. In 1978, the completed residential area was 37.52 million square meters, which increased to 100 million square meters in 1980 and to 123.543 million square meters in 1984. From 1979 to 1984, 672.12 million square meters of residential buildings were built in cities and towns across the country, accounting for 55.8% of the total residential area of ??1.2038 million square meters built in the 35 years from 1950 to 1984. New debts are no longer owed and old debts are gradually paid off. In 1978, the per capita residential area was 3.6 square meters, which increased to 4.77 square meters in 1984.

The level of residential design has been steadily improved, which is first reflected in the design of the living environment: attention is paid to the construction of roads, green spaces, rest gardens, and sketches. The interior design of the residence, including floor plan and equipment conditions, has been improved. There is a trend of diversification in residential forms. Since the 1970s, high-rise residential buildings began to appear in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Since 1979, residential construction has surged, land in big cities has become more scarce, and the proportion of high-rise residential buildings in residential buildings has increased. From 1982 to 1984, hundreds of high-rise residential buildings were completed every year in Beijing and Shanghai. Most of the new buildings in Shenzhen, Guangdong are comprehensive high-rise buildings, with the lower parts used for commercial and service industries and the upper parts used for residences.

Hotel Construction

After the implementation of the opening-up policy, the number of people visiting, traveling and sightseeing in China has increased day by day, and there has been an upsurge in hotel construction in the country. Many hotels are built with foreign capital or Sino-foreign joint ventures. Therefore, some are designed entirely by foreign architects, and some are designed by Sino-foreign cooperation. This creates a situation where different Chinese and foreign ideas and techniques are exchanged, compared and integrated.

Foreign-designed hotels include Beijing Fragrant Hill Hotel (Figure 21, built in 1982, designed by I.M. Pei). The designers of the Xiangshan Hotel proposed new and valuable ways to integrate China's historical and cultural traditions with modern architecture.

Chinese Modern Architecture

High-end hotels designed by Chinese architects have also been built.

Guangzhou White Swan Hotel, Shanghai Longbai Hotel, Shanghai Hotel, etc. are outstanding representatives of this type of projects. The White Swan Hotel adopted the internationally popular Four Seasons Hall at the time, organized the "Hometown Water" indoor waterscape, and combined Lingnan gardening techniques with modern architecture, filling it with a rich traditional Chinese atmosphere. The architectural shape of Shanghai Longbai Hotel is innovative and integrated with the surrounding natural environment. Shanghai Hotel (Figure 22, built in 1983, designed by Wang Dingzeng and others) has made efforts to improve the efficiency of the use of floor plan, and the interior design shows an elegant traditional cultural style. Chinese modern architecture

The design of the hotel has become a breakthrough in architecture in the new era. Chinese architects have seen foreign achievements in design, technology, equipment, materials and scientific management from reality, and have been inspired by comparisons and conflicts. At the same time, they have also shown their talents in combining national conditions.

High-rise buildings

The shortage of urban land and the development of construction technology led to the first boom in the construction of high-rise buildings in the history of Chinese architecture in the 1980s. High-rise office buildings are mainly built in big cities and special economic zones such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Representative ones are Beijing International Building, Shanghai Lianyi Building (Figure 23, built in 1985, designed by Zhang Qianyuan), and Shenzhen International Trade Center Building. Some multi-story office buildings have also been built in other places, such as Lanzhou Provincial Government Building No. 1. High-rise buildings can save land, but imperfect equipment will cause a series of usage problems. Some people are worried that high-rise buildings will have adverse effects on municipal management and the built environment of cultural cities.

Projects built abroad

Since 1980, China has reformed its economic management system and implemented a contract responsibility system, overcoming the past practice of focusing on political influence and not counting economic accounts. . Most of the projects completed during this period include high-end public buildings, sports facilities, and processing plants. The Sierra Leone Police Headquarters Office Building (Figure 24, built in 1983, designed by Luo Renxiong and Wang Tianxi) has the characteristics of architecture in hot and humid areas and is named "Friendship Building"; the Cameroon Cultural Palace combines with hills to form an asymmetrical free pattern, and uses local materials Do interior decoration. Benin Friendship Stadium (Fig. 25, built in 1982, designed by Fang Jianquan, Ni Tianzeng, Qin Zhixin), Mauritania National Stadium, Pakistan Islamabad Sports Complex, etc. are masterpieces of this period.

Architectural Technology

In the 1984 National Excellent Architectural Design Selection, many projects won awards for using advanced technology or reaching a high technical level in a certain design. For example, the recording building of the Shanghai Film Technology Factory is a building with high acoustic requirements; the second phase of the Hubei Provincial Bureau of Metrology project includes large-tonnage measurement precision balances, isotope radioactivity measurement and other testing contents, which is a high-precision measurement project; the Pakistan Stadium uses four The fulcrum and the 93.6×93.6-meter large grid are lifted simultaneously; the fabric machine workshop of Shanghai Yarn-dyed Factory No. 4 adopts a 6-layer, 20-meter double-span prestressed structure.

Special Zone Construction

The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was developed in 1980. Within 5 years, the urban development and construction area had reached 47.6 square kilometers. By the end of 1985, the total investment was 6.4 billion yuan, and the construction area It has increased from more than 100,000 square meters to 9.27 million square meters, the population has reached 470,000, and the number of industrial and commercial enterprises has grown from 200 to more than 7,000. A modern city rose from the ground. The Shenzhen International Trade Center Building is 159.5 meters high and has 50 floors above ground. There is a 380-seat revolving restaurant on the top of the main building and a 26-meter-diameter helicopter landing pad on the roof. By the end of 1985, 10 residential areas, three large tourist resort centers, and a large number of public buildings had been built, such as Nanhai Hotel (Figure 26, built in 1985, designed by Chen Shimin), East Lake Hotel, Yayuan Hotel, etc. Modern Architecture in China

Reconstruction of Tangshan

In the early morning of July 28, 1976, a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.8 occurred in Tangshan and Fengnan areas of Hebei Province. 94 civil buildings in the urban area were destroyed. 90 industrial buildings were damaged. After preparations in 1978, restoration and construction began in 1979. By 1986, a brand-new city of Tangshan had risen from the ruins.

The rebuilt Tangshan has industrial areas, living areas, commercial areas (Figure 27, Tangshan Department Store, designed by Shi Xuehai, Yu Jiafeng, and Chen Guixiang), reasonable warehouse layouts, beautiful residential areas, and relatively good living service facilities. Complete. Urban roads have been widened and straightened, and the road system consists of more than 50 primary and secondary arterial roads, with a total length of more than 150 kilometers. By June 1986, 4.151 billion yuan had been invested in rebuilding Tangshan City, with a total construction area of ??18 million square meters, including 11.22 million square meters of residential buildings. During the restoration and construction in Tangshan, many aspects of the earthquake-proof technology in architectural design were discussed, which provided experience for earthquake-proof work across the country and valuable information for countries in earthquake zones around the world. Modern Architecture in China

Protection and Construction of Ancient Buildings

The protection and construction of ancient buildings in China began in the 1950s. At that time, the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Norbulingka in Tibet, the Forbidden City in Shenyang, etc. were repaired, and the Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei was reinforced. During the "Cultural Revolution", ancient buildings were severely damaged. After entering a new era, the government has taken a series of measures to protect cultural relics and ancient buildings. In many places, some antique buildings have been restored or some famous streets and lanes have been restored in combination with cultural relics. Such as Qinglong Temple in Xi'an, Taibai Hall in Jiangyou County, Sichuan, Ancient Observatory in Beijing, and Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan. Beijing Liulichang and Tianjin Ancient Culture Street (Figure 28, built in 1985, designed by Tianjin Architectural Design Institute) are examples of street restoration and new antique buildings, preserving cultural traditions, folk customs, and enriching the city's appearance and people’s cultural life. The Yellow Crane Tower was rebuilt on site and was recreated based on the original materials and the images in the poems. Among the three buildings in Jiangnan, the Yueyang Tower has been renovated, and the Yellow Crane Tower and Tengwang Pavilion have been rebuilt.

Institutional Reforms

During this period, industry reforms were implemented in the construction sector. Since 1984, we have begun to explore a new design system. On the basis of implementing design fees, we have implemented corporate management and economic contracting responsibility systems for design units, and developed towards corporate and socialization. The government has also extensively established technical policies for construction and compiled various specifications.

Trends in architectural creation

There are two major trends in architectural creation since entering the new era.

The combination of traditional architectural art and modern architecture China’s traditional architecture has a long history and far-reaching influence. However, since Western architecture was introduced to China, it has had a sharp conflict with new materials and new technologies. The issue of tradition and innovation has always been a topic faced by Chinese architects. In the 1920s and 1930s, the inheritance of tradition appeared in the "inherent Chinese form", and in the 1950s, it appeared in the "national form". In the new era, exploration will be carried out at a deeper level. Some architects believe that traditional Chinese architectural styles should be completely abandoned to highlight the sense of the times; some architects have expressed their willingness to inherit and carry forward China's excellent architectural traditions in different ways and put them into practice to create modern, national, and local Examples of buildings that combine elements are as follows. The guest house in Queli, Qufu, Shandong Province is located near the Confucius Temple and Confucius Mansion, a large ancient architectural complex. The creator set the guest house among the classical buildings. The lobby of the hotel cleverly combines the modern architectural space structure with the classical architectural form, and its courtyard fully embodies the friendly and pleasant charm of the traditional residential courtyard. The appearance of the Tibet Lhasa Hotel (built in 1985 and designed by the Jiangsu Provincial Architectural Design Institute) is a white modern building with a simple appearance and an orderly volume, reflecting the sense of the times, while the interior design reflects the Tibetan national culture. It is an example of the combination of the spirit of the times and national style. Xinjiang Urumqi Guesthouse (built in 1985, designed by Gao Qinglin, Luo Chuanhao, and Wu Jianye), Xinjiang Science and Technology Museum, Xinjiang People's Hall, etc. use a large number of local and ethnic architectural languages. Yunnan Zhulou Hotel is also an example of local style.