According to public information, the University of Pennsylvania will award a belated bachelor's degree in architecture to Chinese architect, poet, artist and historic preservationist Lin Huiyin this weekend.
The Paper reporter noticed that on May 14, the WeChat public account "Penn Wharton PWCC" released a message "Event Details|Lin Huiyin's Centennial Admission to Penn and Architecture Degree Posthumous Ceremony". The celebration will be held on May 19, 2024, 14:00-17:00 (EST); The location is the Clermont Pulpit on the fourth floor of the Fisher Fine Arts Library at the University of Pennsylvania. The event agenda includes a seminar and a reception.
Photograph of Lin Huiyin on the Penn transcript Penn Archives data map
At the 2024 Weitzman School of Design's graduation ceremony, Penn will posthumously award Ms. Lin Huiyin a long-overdue bachelor of architecture degree in recognition of her outstanding contributions as a pioneer of modern architecture in China.
In 1936, Lin Huiyin surveyed and mapped the memorial hall of the China Construction Society in the tower of Xinglong Temple in Ziyang, Shandong
The news mentioned that a century ago, the University of Pennsylvania witnessed a turning point in the internationalization of Chinese architecture. Between 1918 and 1941, twenty-three young men crossed the ocean to study architecture. As the first generation of modern architects in China, they established China's architectural education system after returning to China, devoted themselves to the excavation and protection of architectural cultural heritage, and completed many far-reaching architectural works.
On the one hand, their design was influenced by Penn's rigorous education system, and on the other hand, they actively sought to innovatively integrate with traditional Chinese architectural language, exploring the Chinese modernist style through experimental creation.
Group photo of most of the international students in the twenties of the last century, from left to right: Yang Tingbao, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Chen Yi, Sun Ximing, Zhao Shen, and Yang Tingbao's family picture
From the twenties to the fifties of the last century, they designed many outstanding works that reflected the social changes and progress of China in the twentieth century, and laid the foundation for the subsequent development of Chinese architecture. The international dialogue initiated by these architectural pioneers is still influential today, and Lin Huiyin is one of them.
On Saturday, May 18, 2024, the University of Pennsylvania posthumously awarded Ms. Lin a degree in architecture at the college's commencement ceremony, and held a celebration on the afternoon of May 19 to honor her, celebrating her extraordinary accomplishments, legacy and global impact.
In fact, on October 16 last year, the WeChat public account "Penn Wharton PWCC" had already announced the above news.
In 1937, Lin Huiyin surveyed and mapped the scriptures in the Foguang Temple of Wutai Mountain, and the memorial hall of the China Construction Society
当时，宾大方面介绍，宾夕法尼亚大学宾大沃顿中国中心正在展出由韦茨曼设计学院(Weitzman School of Design) 策划的“中国建造：现代建筑百年对话”(Building in China: A Century of Dialogues on Modern Architecture)展览。
The most striking aspect of the exhibit is a 15-foot-long panel showing 23 Chinese students studying architecture at the University of Pennsylvania between 1918 and 1941. A series of black-and-white portraits, their degrees, and years of study document the footsteps of Penn's first Chinese students who returned to their homeland to pioneer the study of modern architecture and the practice and education of modern urban planning and design in China. In the center of the panel, Lin Huiyin is the only woman in the group and the only student in the group to have completed their studies without being awarded a degree in architecture at Penn.
Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, 1936, Penn University Art Library, data map
Lin Huiyin came to Penn in 1924 with some of her classmates and Liang Sicheng, a brilliant Chinese student who would later become her husband and longtime partner. Lin studied under Paul Philippe Cret, a distinguished professor of architecture at Penn and the director of Penn's Beaux Arts-based architecture program at the time.
Penn said that while the Penn School of Fine Arts (the original 20th-century name of the Weitzman School of Design) began offering make-up architecture degrees to women who had previously studied architecture at Penn, including Georgiana Pope Yeatman, the first female director of Philadelphia's Department of Urban Construction, Ms. Lin's situation remained overlooked, even though she completed more architecture courses than other female students of the same period.
"From the records at the time, it was clear that Lin Huiyin wanted to study architecture and become an architect, and she later achieved great success in this field. As we continue to delve into this, it becomes clear why she was not awarded a degree: her status as a woman. Fritz Steiner, Dean of the Weitzmann School of Design and Paley Chair Professor, said. He initiated the research and review process in 2022, stating that "this is a historical mistake and it's time to correct it." ”
Source: The Paper