A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A Common Heritage? The Interpretation of Heritage in Museum Design
A common heritage? The interpretation of heritage in museum design. Aside from the ever increasing number of museums in China and the political agenda behind this museum boom calling to attention, the architectural design of the museums themselves merits closer observation. For good reasons, Chinese architects have increasingly come to the attention of foreign design media due to their commitment to engaging with Chinese context and heritage. Chinese architects have increasingly shown interest to interpret anew their own ‘heritage’ for incorporation into contemporary design. This includes the use of the vernacular, ‘traditional’ materials, local craftsmanship, scaled typologies, the referencing to traditional arts such as shanshui painting, etc. They attempt to give answers to rapidly changing conditions, to negotiate with surroundings instead of starting from a tabula rasa attitude. At the same time, the design process and the final realized project show us what the designer considers to be ‘Chinese tradition’. Since designers have a certain freedom to choose what heritage to work with, they present us with their – often simplified or reduced – vision of Chineseness. But what exactly is Chineseness in a plural and multi-ethnic society? This paper will explore recurrent themes of modernity, tradition, collective identity, unity and plurality, authenticity, and appropriateness in recent museum building through a number of case studies in China. The selected projects vary geographically, incorporating museums in the coastal area as well as the interior and frontier regions. Designers include foreign and locally educated architects. Through the use of the writings by architecture critics and by the architects themselves, and close readings of the spatial and formal qualities of the museum buildings, I will attempt show the complexity that befall architects when negotiating plurality and unity in a country as vast as China and the community each of them separately imagines.
A Common Heritage? The Interpretation of Heritage in Museum Design
A common heritage? The interpretation of heritage in museum design. Aside from the ever increasing number of museums in China and the political agenda behind this museum boom calling to attention, the architectural design of the museums themselves merits closer observation. For good reasons, Chinese architects have increasingly come to the attention of foreign design media due to their commitment to engaging with Chinese context and heritage. Chinese architects have increasingly shown interest to interpret anew their own ‘heritage’ for incorporation into contemporary design. This includes the use of the vernacular, ‘traditional’ materials, local craftsmanship, scaled typologies, the referencing to traditional arts such as shanshui painting, etc. They attempt to give answers to rapidly changing conditions, to negotiate with surroundings instead of starting from a tabula rasa attitude. At the same time, the design process and the final realized project show us what the designer considers to be ‘Chinese tradition’. Since designers have a certain freedom to choose what heritage to work with, they present us with their – often simplified or reduced – vision of Chineseness. But what exactly is Chineseness in a plural and multi-ethnic society? This paper will explore recurrent themes of modernity, tradition, collective identity, unity and plurality, authenticity, and appropriateness in recent museum building through a number of case studies in China. The selected projects vary geographically, incorporating museums in the coastal area as well as the interior and frontier regions. Designers include foreign and locally educated architects. Through the use of the writings by architecture critics and by the architects themselves, and close readings of the spatial and formal qualities of the museum buildings, I will attempt show the complexity that befall architects when negotiating plurality and unity in a country as vast as China and the community each of them separately imagines.
A Common Heritage? The Interpretation of Heritage in Museum Design
Chan, Hong Wan (author)
2018-01-01
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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