The Paper's reporter Yue Huairang
Tsinghua University School of Architecture WeChat public number picture
The surging news reporter learned from the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University that Mr. Chen Zhihua, a famous architect, architectural educator and professor of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, died in Beijing at the age of 92 at 19:00 on January 20, 2022 due to ineffective medical treatment.
According to public information, Professor Chen Zhihua was born in Yinxian County, Zhejiang Province on September 2, 1929, was admitted to the Department of Sociology of Tsinghua University in 1947, transferred to the Department of Architecture in 1949, and stayed on to teach after graduation in 1953.
Chen Zhihua's research on vernacular architecture that integrates architectural and sociological methods has greatly promoted the development of the discipline of vernacular architecture in China. Since the 1980s, Mr. Chen Zhihua has introduced the concept of international cultural heritage protection to the Chinese cultural relics protection industry, and through his own practice and teaching, he has effectively promoted the construction of the theory of cultural relics protection in the mainland and made outstanding contributions to the cause of Cultural Heritage Protection in China. Mr. Chen Zhihua is a keen intellectual, and his criticism of contemporary Chinese architecture has made an important contribution to Chinese architectural criticism.
Chen Zhihua's works are rich and his academic achievements are outstanding, and his academic coverage covers many fields such as foreign architectural history, Chinese and foreign classical garden research, Chinese vernacular architecture research, architectural theory and architectural criticism, and cultural heritage protection theory and research. His historical thinking that combines the study of architectural history with the Marxist concept of social history was fully expressed in the textbook "History of Foreign Architecture" published in 1962, which is also the first systematic general history of foreign architectural history in China.
Mr. Chen Zhihua established and led the vernacular architecture research team in 1989, and completed a series of monographs such as "Vernacular Architecture in the Middle Reaches of nanxi River", "Vernacular Architecture in Zhuge Village", "Preliminary Study of Chinese Vernacular Architecture" with a new overall research paradigm, and put forward the concept of overall protection of vernacular settlements.
In the field of garden research, Professor Chen Zhihua's papers such as "The Influence of Chinese Gardening Art in Europe" completed through literature research are the founding works of Western garden history research in China, and he is also the founder of extending the scope of historical garden research to local landscapes.
Professor Chen Zhihua has made important contributions to mainland architectural criticism with a critical academic spirit, advocating innovation, advocating social care and humanization, and writing for 32 years, "Miscellaneous Notes on the North Window" is one of the most informative columns published in the Chinese architecture media.
Responsible editor: Jiang Chenrui Photo editor: Zhang Tongze