Source: Overseas Network
Fridric Stannai , dean of the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania ( first from left ) , delivers a speech at the opening of the exhibition. Photo by Lin Zhongjie
Overseas network electricity (reporter Li Xiaohong) "We should do one thing, that is, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Lin Huiyin graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and receiving a bachelor's degree in fine arts, we will reissue her bachelor's degree in architecture to realize her long-cherished wish." A few days ago, at the opening ceremony of the exhibition "Built in China: A Century of Dialogue on Modern Architecture" held at the University of Pennsylvania, Frederick Steiner, dean of the Stuart Wetsman School of Design, said.
The Department of Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania is a cradle of modern Chinese architecture pioneers, in addition to Lin Huiyin, Liang Sicheng, Yang Tingbao, Tong Jun, Fan Wenzhao, Zhao Shen, Chen Zhi and other industry masters are from this. In order to commemorate the centenary relationship between Penn and Chinese architecture, the Weitzmann School of Design, Together with Southeast University of China and Tongji University, jointly held the "China Construction" exhibition at Penn University, showing the development and evolution of Chinese architecture in the past century since the first generation of modern architects in China since the Beginning of the Year since the First Generation of Modern Architects in China.
The founder of modern chinese architecture
This is Lin Huiyin's transcript of the elective architecture course at Penn University that year. Unlike today, the letter D on that year's transcript meant that she was rated 'Distinguished' in these classes. Dean Stanai said that when Lin Huiyin entered Penn University in 1924, the architecture major did not recruit girls, so he registered in the department of fine arts. However, she took most of the courses in architecture, and the credits met the graduation requirements of the major.
In the exhibition, the student status information, transcripts, design drawings, competition award presentations, graduation books, photos of the masquerade ball and other materials preserved by the Penn Architecture Archives nearly 100 years ago are clear and complete, vividly telling the story of their studies in that year.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Penn's architecture department, which was the leading american university, attracted students from all over the world like a magnet. According to statistics, between 1918 and 1937, about 23 Chinese students studied architecture at Penn. Most of them are hard-working, and some of them are very good at school. For example, there is a 1925 Philadelphia Proclamation newspaper in the exhibition, which has an article on it that reports the story of Yang Tingbao, a student at Penn who won the most awards in a personal architecture competition at that time.
According to reports, after returning to China, this group of people not only created China's modern architectural education, committed to the excavation and protection of material heritage, but also became the backbone of modern architectural practice. On the one hand, they developed the traditional Buza system Chinese and helped architectural modernism to germinate in China, and on the other hand, they explored the integration of Western design ideas and Chinese local culture in construction practice, making groundbreaking contributions to the development of modern architecture in China.
The interweaving and evolution of "modernity" and "locality"
Part of the "Built in China" exhibition history exhibition at the Penn Building Archives. Photo by Lin Zhongjie
Over the past 100 years, Modern Chinese architecture has continued to develop in dialogue with the international community and in its own practice and exploration. The exhibition is based on a narrative from "History" and "Contemporary" and runs for 100 days until May 16.
"The public impression is that the Bund in Shanghai and the Wanguo complex on Nanjing Road were designed by foreigners, but this is not the case." Lin Zhongjie, associate professor of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Penn University's Weitzman School of Design, said that the Daxin Company on Nanjing Road East Road, later the Shibaiyi Store, was designed by the Keita Engineering Division founded by three Chinese architects in the United States, and zhu Bin and Yang Tingbao, who were early students of Penn University.
Displayed in the history section of the Penn Architecture Archives, it highlights the architectural practices of early Chinese architecture graduates after returning to China. "After returning to China, they completed the design of more than 600 projects, including a large number of modern buildings on Sichuan Road and Jiangxi Road behind the Bund complex in Shanghai." Tong Ming, a professor at Southeast University, said the exhibition featured 22 architectural projects they designed between the 1930s and 1950s, with modern buildings in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenyang and Kunming. These works reflect their understanding of the international modernist architectural trends of the time, as well as their reflections on the public architecture of developing Chinese cities. "How to absorb the nourishment of traditional culture and integrate it into the creation of modern architecture has attracted attention since the first generation of Chinese architects."
This model of combining Chinese and Western dialogue and self-development continues in contemporary Chinese architecture, manifesting itself as the interweaving and evolution of modernity and locality. This is also the theme that runs through the entire exhibition. Lin Zhongjie said. To this end, the three curators Lin Zhongjie and Tong Ming, and Li Xiangning, dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University, discussed the use of the perspective of "dialogue", and strived to tell the century-old attempts and efforts of Chinese architects to explore the expression of modern architecture with Chinese characteristics through the dialogue between China and the West, the dialogue between generations, and the dialogue between contemporaries presented by different eras and different creations.
Partial contemporary exhibition area. Photo by Ariel Genadt
The "Contemporary" section on display at the Penn Fisher Art Library features the designs of two outstanding representatives of returnees and localists, contemporary architects and educators Zhang Yonghe and Wang Shu. From museums to artists' studios, from university campuses to village renovation projects, through the presentation and comparison of 6 works of different scales, large, medium, and small, the audience can see how the new generation of Chinese architects seek a balance between modernity and locality from different angles in the context of China's unique regional culture, and can also see that the works contain architects' ideals and pursuits for contemporary Chinese society.
"Looking forward to more exchanges and cooperation"
At the exhibition site, Professor Zhang Yonghe (second from the left) warmly interacted with the students. Photo by Ariel Genadt
On the evening of the opening ceremony of the exhibition, participating architect Professor Yonghe Zhang gave a keynote lecture at the Clermont Lecture Hall in the Penn Fisher Art Library. The large lecture hall was full, and the stairs were full of students who had come to listen to the lectures. The freezing snow outside contrasts sharply with the fiery heat of the indoor speech scene. "What ignites people's hearts is not only the academic spark they transmit, but also their strong social responsibility." Penn University architecture PhD student Shang Qiran, who was present, said.
"That's what we're doing with this exhibition." Tong Ming said that from a professional level, the exhibition is to trace the source. Both architects and practitioners are not very clear about the roots and context of their profession, and there are some regrets. "A generation has a generation's challenge, but each generation needs to draw nourishment from the roots of the past and refine its own coping tools. Tracing is to do a good job in the present. ”
"From a social perspective, the more important contribution of the first generation of Chinese students at Penn is to establish China's own modern architectural education system and cultivate follow-up talents for China." Tong Ming said that their emphasis on the excavation and protection of architectural heritage was something that many architects and planners in the United States at the time were unaware of, and also inspired their American counterparts.
Fridric Stannai, dean of the Penn Weitzman School of Design, was interviewed by reporters. Photo by Li Xiaohong
"In the architectural practice of Yang Tingbao and others, we can see their attention to public affairs, and this spirit is still passed down in today's Weitzman School of Design, which has been shared by professors to the students of the School of Design." Dean Stanai said, "This is the quality we look forward to seeing from our own students. ”
"Today, there are about 300 Chinese students out of more than 700 students at Penn School of Design, which also shows that we are more closely connected with China." Dean Stanai said that we have close ties with Chinese universities, especially Tongji University, Southeast University and Tsinghua University. In 2019, we held a large seminar in Beijing called "Beautiful China", which brought together a large number of top scholars from China's landscape and planning community, and published a monograph of the same name on this topic in the early days of the epidemic.
Speaking of the construction of ecological civilization, President Stanai frankly said that responding to climate change is the most urgent environmental problem in the world at present, and China has made positive efforts to reduce carbon emissions and advocate the construction of "sponge cities". It is expected that there will be more exchanges and cooperation with China in academic research and talent training, and jointly promote the construction of global eco-cities and low-carbon built environments.