Adaptations in early 20th-century modern Chinese architecture: The pursuit of a “new architectural style” in Art Deco
Since the late 19th century, foreign influences have shaped modern Chinese architecture, prompting early 20th-century Chinese architects to blend Western modernism with local traditions. This article focuses on the adaptations and transformations in modern Chinese architecture during this period, exploring how the concept of the “modern” was embraced by both Western and Chinese architects. At the time, modern architecture in China faced a wide array of critiques, including concerns about excessive cost and impractical designs. In the early 1920s, Western architects began experimenting in Chinese cities such as Tianjin, Hankou, and Hong Kong, introducing various new design forms and attempting – often in vain – to convince their Chinese clients to integrate local characteristics into the architecture. Meanwhile, other architects entered a stage of exploration, debating distinctions between restoring traditional Chinese architecture and adapting Chinese features for modern purposes. According to Dong Dayou (1899 – 1973), a prominent first-generation modern architect, they were seeking a new style of architecture. Finally, this article addresses how Chinese architects responded to modern international expositions, particularly the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) in Paris, highlighting Liu Jipiao (1900 – 1992), another first-generation Chinese architect, and his experiments with Art Deco.
Andersen, B. (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections of the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.
Bergamini, J. V. W. (1924). Architectural Meditations. The Chinese Recorder, 55(10):650-656.
Chen, P. P. (2009). The Making of a Modern Art World: The Institutionalisation of Guohua in Shanghai, 1929-1937. Ph.D Dissertation, University of London.
Clunas, C. (1989). Chinese art and Chinese artists in France 1924-1925. In: Arts Asiatiques. Vol. 44. California: Tome, p. 100-106
Colquhoun, A. (2002). Modern Architecture. Oxford: New York: Oxford University Press.
Crinson, M. (2003). Modern Architecture and the End of Empire. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.
Denison, E., & Guang Y. R. (2008). Modernism in China: Architectural Visions and Revolutions. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
Dong, D. Y. (1936). Architecture chronicle. In: T’ien Hsia Monthly. Vol. 3. Nanking: Sun Yat-sen Institute for the Advancement of Culture and Education.
Fletcher, B. (1975). A History of Architecture. 18th ed. London: Athlone Press.
Gu, Q. Y. (1936). The New Trend of Architectural Style [Xiandai jianzhu xingshi zhi xin qushi]. The Builder [Jianzhu Yuekan], 4(7):4.
Hsia, C. J. (2002). Theorizing colonial architecture and urbanism: Building colonial modernity in Taiwan. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 3(1):7-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649370220135788
Kao, M. C. (1972). China’s Response to the West in Art: 1898-1937. Stanford University: UIM Dissertation Service.
Kuan, S. (2011). Between Beaux-arts and modernism. In F Cody, N Steinhardt and T Atkin (eds.). Chinese Architecture and the Beaux-Arts. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Lau, L. K. P. (2018). Building a modern city: Legacies of residential development and architectural adaptation in colonial Hong Kong. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 28(2):339-353. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186317000517
Lee, L. O. F. (1999). Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930-1945. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Lin, F. M. (1934). Art and New Life Movement [Yishu yu Xinshenghuo Yundong]. Nanjing: Zhengzhong Shuju, p. 67-68.
Lin, F. M. (1999). The Approach of Lin Fengmian [Lin Fengmian zhilu]. Hangzhou: Zhongguo Meishuyuan Chubanse, p. 30-31.
Liu, J. P. (1927). How modern Chinese architecture should be formulated [Zhongguo xinjianzhu yinggai ruhe zhuji]. Eastern Miscellany, 24(24):???.
Liu, J. P. (1928). Principles of architecture [Jianzhu yuanli]. Gongxian, 3(6):27-35.
Liu, J. P. (1929). West lake exposition and architecture as fine arts [Xihu bolanhui yu Meishu jianzhu]. Eastern Miscellany, 26(10):87.
Lucchi, E. (2023). Energy and climatic performances of modern architecture: A complete overview of building physics implications. Engineering Proceedings, 53(1):19. https://doi.org/10.3390/IOCBD2023-15203
Metcalf, T. (1989). An Imperial Vision: Indian Architecture and Britain’s Raj. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Minick, S., & Jiao, P. (1990). Chinese Graphic Design in the Twentieth Century. London: Thames and Hudson.
Rowe, P., & Kuan, S. (2002). Architectural Encounters with Essence and Form in Modern China. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 24-55.
Sabatino, M. (2016). Heat and light thematised in the modern architecture of Houston. The Journal of Architecture, 21(4):500-523. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2016.1192423
Sullivan, M. (1959). Chinese Art in the Twentieth Century. London: Faber and Faber.
Sullivan, M. (2006). Modern Chinese Artists: A Biographical Dictionary. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Van Wylick, G. (1927). L’architecture contemporaine en Chine. L’Émulation: Organe de la Société Centrale d’Architecture de Belgique, 47(9):99-103.
Wright, G. (1991). The Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Wu, J. (1997). A Century of Shanghai Architecture 1840-1949 [Shanghai Bainian Jianzhushi: 1840-1949]. Shanghai: Tongji University Press.
Xu, S.B. (2010). The Beginning of Chinese Modern Architecture [Jindai Zhongguo Jianzhuxue de Dan Sheng]. Tianjin: Tianjin Daxue Chubanshe, p. 193-230.
Zheng, J. (2007). A local response to the national ideal: Aesthetic education in the shanghai art school (1913-1937). Art Criticism, 22(1), 29-57.
Zhou, C. Z. (1960). The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Zhu, J. (2009). Architecture of Modern China: A Historical Critique. New York: Routledge.