Architecture is local, national and international. To qualitatively analyze the differences between Chinese and foreign architectural cultures, we must first understand the main classification of architectural styles: architecture can be divided into China style, Japanese style, Singaporean style, British style, French style and American style according to countries (nationalities) and regions. Or a region, such as: European, European, Mediterranean, Australian, African, Latin American and so on. According to the building type, it can be divided into: residential building style, villa building style, office building style, commercial building style, religious building style and other public building styles (such as schools, museums and government office buildings); Can be divided according to historical development schools; Can be divided according to the way of architecture.
Main differences between Chinese and foreign architectural cultures;
First, the differences in cultural concepts.
The difference of cultural concepts is the primary reason for the formation of architectural culture. As we all know, architecture is built for people, which determines the humanity of architecture. To study architecture in Chinese and foreign architectural culture, we should first start with material reality, ideology and cultural worship to see whether architecture worships people, people or gods. Secondly, look at the lifestyle and aesthetic taste reflected by architecture; Finally, look at architectural skills, traditions and the spirit of change. Because of the close relationship between architecture and human life, its great artistic expression and its profound isomorphic correspondence with human culture reflect human cultural ideas. In short, China's ancient architecture has always been centered on secular monarchs, permeated with China's ethical concepts; Ancient western architecture is religious and theocratic.
The charm of China's traditional aesthetics lies in attaching importance to real life, human relations and order, downplaying religious beliefs, and always instilling the secular spirit of rebirth and comity, which embodies the traditional Confucian consciousness of attaching importance to people's group life. Therefore, the ancient capital of China laid special emphasis on the ritual order, and embodied the basic idea of Confucian etiquette of up and down, men and women in the residential layout, thus forming the architectural space model of interpersonal relationship. From the perspective of architectural culture, China ancient architecture not only embodies the practical rational tendency of attaching importance to real life, but also incorporates China's outlook on life and cosmology. China's economic model based on primitive agriculture created an activity model that emphasized selection, collection and storage in primitive civilization. China's traditional philosophy, which developed from this, preached the world outlook of "harmony between man and nature". "The Unity of Heaven and Man" reveals the relationship between man and nature. Nature and man are closely linked as a whole, and man is a link in nature. China people choose wood as the basic building material, which is the result of attaching importance to its affinity with life and its character and life.
If Confucian philosophy is the general theory governing feudal society in China, on the contrary, Christian theology is the general theory and all-encompassing program of European feudal society. The church has become the center of society, which has led to the worship of gods and religions in western civilization, and deeply influenced their architectural art, thus highlighting the individual characteristics such as architectural ontology, diverse styles and artistic modeling pointing directly at the sky. Therefore, European classical architecture has the aesthetic characteristics of individual "sublime", which can be regarded as the expression of publicizing individuality and advocating individual image in culture. The primitive economy dominated by hunting in the west has created a primitive mentality of valuing things over people. From westerners' affirmation of stones, we can see the rational spirit of seeking wisdom and truth, emphasizing that in the relationship between man and nature, man is the master of the world, and his strength and wisdom can overcome everything.
To sum up, China architecture pays more attention to spirit and artistic conception in temperament; Western architecture emphasizes material and appearance. The former is the unity of the group, which is internal and implicit; The latter is the highlight of the monomer and exposed to the outside world. As Mr. Liang Sicheng said: Generally speaking, a European-style building, like a European oil painting, can be seen at a glance; Any building in China is like a hand-painted painting by China. Hand-painted paintings must be spread out end to end, and it is impossible to see them all at the same time. When you walk into a house in China, you can only approach another garden from one garden, and you must walk through it all to see it all. "
2. Differences in building materials
Material is the basic quality of architecture. The architectural contrast of different nationalities and different times often starts from different materials.
From the perspective of building materials, before the emergence of modern architecture, all mature building systems in the world, including Indian buildings belonging to oriental architecture, were basically built with masonry as the main building material, belonging to the masonry structure system. For example, the pyramids in Egypt, the temples in ancient Greece, the Colosseum and aqueduct in ancient Rome, and the churches in medieval Europe were all built of stones, which are historical witnesses left in this "Stone History Book". Only China's classical architecture (including neighboring Japanese and Korean areas) is a house with wood as the main frame, which belongs to the wood structure system, so it is known as "the history book of wood". The ancient buildings in China, from the imperial palace buildings in history to the residences of ordinary people, are the "world" of civil engineering. Taking civil engineering as the material determines the development direction of building technology and structure in China. Taking civil engineering as the material, the wall is only a means to divide the space, and is generally not used for bearing. Taking the wooden frame as the main structural mode, the plane and building facade appearance corresponding to the wooden frame are created. Since the end of primitive society in China, this kind of civil architecture has come down in one continuous line, and has influenced the architectural features of neighboring countries such as Japan and Korea.
Most of the ancient buildings in the west are built of stone. A large number of temples in ancient Greece were built of stone; A large number of secular buildings such as temples and squares in ancient Rome were built of stone; Until the Renaissance,17th century classical buildings,18th century palaces and religious buildings, their main forms were also stone structures.
Different building materials provide different possibilities for their own architectural art. Different building materials and different social functions make Chinese and western classical architecture have different "artistic languages". Different languages express different ideas and reveal different emotions; Different buildings carry different cultures and beliefs. The differences between Chinese and western building materials bring about aesthetic differences. Generally speaking, China buildings made of civil materials are soft and natural, with strong plasticity and natural and beautiful texture; European architecture made of stone is hard and heavy, with weak plasticity and full of masculinity in texture.
Third, the difference of building structure.
The performance of materials determines the structural mode and logic of buildings. Therefore, different building materials will inevitably lead to different building structures.
One of the architectural features of ancient buildings in China is the "frame structure" system, that is, wooden columns and beams form the frame of the house, and the weight of the roof and eaves is transferred to the columns through the beam frame, and the wall only serves as a partition, not a structural part that bears the weight of the house. In addition, China people's attitude towards architecture is that freshness is the most important thing, while foreigners are full of respect and respect for ancient buildings. In addition, western architecture is full of religious mysticism, while China's architecture is a reflection of Confucian culture.
Western architecture, especially European architecture, does not cling to the beauty of structure, but worships a sculptural architectural beauty. European buildings, especially temples and other important buildings, usually have colonnades on the front. The colonnade and columns are set up to express the beauty of the human body abstractly. This abstract "stone human body" is an abstract sculpture beauty about the human body. From the outside, European-style stone buildings have a particularly strong sense of sculpture. Architects deal with the structural problems of buildings with strong creative impulse and complex of worshipping sculpture beauty.
Fourth, the differences in layout methods.
From ancient documents to existing ancient buildings, the plane layout of ancient buildings in China has a simple organization law, that is, every building such as residence, palace, official residence and temple is composed of several single buildings and some cloisters and walls surrounded by courtyards, which is a closed group's spatial pattern and unfolds on the ground level, similar to the "quadrangle" model. Except for pagodas, buildings in China usually have only one or two floors, but most of them are laid around the ground. At the same time, this courtyard-style group and layout are generally designed symmetrically along the longitudinal axis (also known as the front and rear axis) and the horizontal axis. It is a kind of "collective" beauty that the more important buildings are placed on the vertical axis and the secondary houses are placed on the left and right horizontal axes. In fact, China's ancient buildings, regardless of size, usually have such a predetermined plan, which was built according to the concept of etiquette, with the feudal regime as its core. For example; Beijing Palace in Ming and Qing Dynasties, Ming Tombs and Confucius Temple in Qufu are all huge buildings with many courtyards. All kinds of buildings are arranged in a regular way, which embodies the introverted characteristics of China's ancient social structure, patriarchal ideology and ethical code system.
European architecture is an open and single spatial pattern, which develops towards high altitude, making it tall and majestic, and expanding and strengthening it in the vertical direction, presenting artistic characteristics with towering domes, bell towers and minarets. Usually, the development layout is centered on one or several churches with the nature of citizens' public affairs activities. Streets are either freely tortuous or radial, and the shape of the periphery of the city is generally irregular. Shops and workshops are all over the city, facing the streets. Compared with the Louvre in Paris, the Forbidden City in Beijing, newly built and expanded in similar years, is a magnificent building complex composed of thousands of single houses, forming a series of courtyards around the axis, with an extremely huge plane; The latter uses the upward expansion and vertical superposition of "volume" to form a towering and magnificent whole from a huge and changeable body. Moreover, from the polis of ancient Greece and Rome, colonnades, doors and windows were widely used to increase information exchange and transparency, and buildings were surrounded by external space to highlight the physical image of buildings. This is related to the frequent exchanges between westerners through the sea and the implementation of slave democracy in society. The extroversion and scientific and democratic spirit of ancient Greece not only influenced ancient Rome, but also influenced the whole western world. At the same time, if the buildings in China occupy the ground, then the buildings in the west occupy the space. For example, the Colosseum in Risim, Rome is 48 meters high and the Pantheon is 43.5 meters high. In the medieval Hagia Sophia, the dome of its central hall was 60 meters above the ground. St Peter's Cathedral is the most brilliant work in Renaissance architecture, with a height of137m. This building in Zhuang certainly reflects the westerners' enthusiasm for worshipping the gods, and more importantly, it gives people a spiritual force to strive for progress with advanced scientific and technological achievements.
So it can be said that the layout of European architecture is "square". The introversion of the courtyard is the embodiment of China people's introverted, quiet and implicit character since ancient times; The openness of the square is the embodiment of Europeans' active personality.
Verb (abbreviation for verb) Differences in architectural development
The different development of architecture shows the difference between Chinese and western attitudes towards innovation. Judging from the development of architecture, China architecture is conservative. According to documents, the architectural forms and materials used in China have not changed for 3000 years. Different from China, western architecture is constantly changing, and its structure and materials have undergone rapid evolution. It has been more than 2500 years since the first temples appeared in the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. During this period, the architectural forms of ancient Europe have been constantly developing and changing. Great changes have taken place in image, proportion, decoration and spatial layout, from the classical columns in ancient Greece to the arch and dome technology in ancient Rome, from the spike, cross arch and flying pile technology in Gothic architecture to St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome during the European Renaissance. This reflects the spirit of westerners who dare to find a new way and be brave in innovation.
Sixth, the difference between aesthetics and art.
China emphasized curve and implicit beauty, that is, "fable is false, not straightforward". For example, the layout, conception and scenery selection of gardens all emphasize the combination of reality and reality, and literature and quality complement each other. One step at a time, the winding path leads to a secluded place. Waterways are natural waterfalls, streams and lakes. They either pursue natural feelings, or love rural landscapes, or express their feelings and pin their hearts on them. Work hard on "borrowing scenery" to be subtle, mysterious and gesture; Clever use of "curve" can make nature, environment and garden coordinate with each other in personality and overall, and complement each other. The technique of "skillful borrowing and skillful style" is similar to China's classical poetry, which emphasizes the implication. It seems to be casual and flowing, but in fact it is extraordinary, meticulous and profound. The traditional buildings in China use bucket arches to support the overlapping curved wood on the eaves. Bucket arch can not only "reduce the shear force at the beam-column connection", but also play a decorative role. It expands the vertical force to the horizontal direction, thus constructing various cornices. There are many kinds of cornices, including drooping, straight and rising. Its different forms create different artistic effects, either light, simple or majestic. Not only pavilions should use cornices to identify themselves and express their feelings, but also the height and length of cornices will often become the difficulty and focus in architectural design. As the saying goes, "adding one point is too long, subtracting one point is too short", cornices must be properly designed, light but not frivolous, simple but not mechanical, dignified and not rigid. The slope or curved surface of the roof is formed by lifting and folding. Wing roof is the pride of our national culture. In terms of color, China architecture is the boldest of all architectural systems in the world. ". Scarlet is not only used in large buildings, but also a large number of wooden frames are decorated with colored paintings. In addition, the decorative parts of China buildings, from structural parts, roofs and tiles to doors and windows, knockers and corner leaves, all have strong decorative shapes or patterns.
In the west, straightness, exposure, scale and grandeur are beautiful, such as open and flat lawns, huge stadiums and magnificent high-rise buildings. Both emphasize the analysis of axes and geometric figures. Straightness, openness and openness are undoubtedly important features, which are different from the symbolism, implication and implication of China architecture. Western architecture pays attention to physical objects. Geometric aesthetics and mathematical logic initiated by Pythagoras and Euclid in ancient Greece, rationalism of "unity" and "order" and "theory of harmonious beauty" laid by Aristotle have had a decisive influence on the structure of the whole western civilization. The fate of all science and art depends on this concept. Turning over the history of western architecture, it is not difficult to find that the configuration consciousness of western architectural beauty is actually a geometric form; The shape of the Parthenon in Athens "line of control" is two squares; From the dome of the Pantheon to the ground, a sphere with a diameter of 43.3 meters can be embedded; The "line of control" of Milan Cathedral is a regular triangle, the facade of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is a square, and its central arch and "line of control" are two whole circles. Even natural objects such as landscaping, flowers, trees, etc., after artificial pruning and deliberate carving, also present neat and orderly geometric patterns, which are in sharp contrast with the natural sentiment of "man-made, natural" gardens in China with their "artificial beauty" of transcending and controlling nature. As early as more than 2,000 years ago, Vitruwei, an architectural theorist in the period of Augustus in ancient Rome, put forward the classic viewpoint of "applicability, firmness and beauty" in his famous Ten Books on Architecture, which was regarded as a standard by later generations and passed down from generation to generation. /kloc-at the beginning of the 0/7th century, architect Henry Wood proposed that excellent architecture must meet three conditions; "Strong, practical and happy." Westerners regard "firmness" and "practicality" as the first and second principles for evaluating excellent buildings. Therefore, when China's ancient buildings are destroyed or "disappeared" with the passage of time, the western ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian buildings are still well preserved, and their own culture is interpreted with physical images.
Of course, aesthetic differences are actually part of cultural differences, which include aesthetic differences and are related to many factors.
A list of Chinese and foreign traditional architectural classics;
1. Magnificence-magnificent palace art
Palace building, also known as palace building, is a huge and magnificent building built by the emperor to consolidate his rule, show the majesty of imperial power and satisfy the enjoyment of spiritual and material life. Most of these buildings are magnificent. Such as the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square in the Forbidden City, the Parthenon in the Acropolis, the Potala Palace, Buckingham Palace in Britain, the Kremlin in Russia, the Glacier Gallery in Versailles, and the Louvre in France.
Second, the masterpiece of religious art-sacred temple architecture
It has extraordinary artistic value and stems from the power of religious belief. When people create art for their inner beliefs, religious temple buildings appear. Such as the Temple of Heaven in China, Notre Dame de Paris, Saint Michel Abbey, Saint Peter's Cathedral, Ginkgo Temple in Kyoto, brick tower of Kaiyuan Temple in Zhengding, Hebei, and leaning tower of Pisa in Italy.
3. Pursuing the Eternity of Life-Quiet Mausoleum Architecture
The ancients believed that there was a soul after death. They look forward to the eternal life of the soul and the rebirth of the afterlife, so they build a luxurious mausoleum as a place to live after death, and pay attention to "death is like life." Therefore, many immortal mausoleum buildings were left in ancient times. Such as pyramid of khufu, the Sphinx, Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, Taj Mahal, etc.
To sum up, the differences between Chinese and foreign architectural cultures are not formed overnight, but with the development of social economy and the deepening of world integration, the differences between China and foreign countries are gradually narrowing, and cultural blending between countries is not uncommon in daily life. For example, cultural exchanges between countries such as China culture and French tour are also increasing, and the diversified development of architectural culture has become a topic that modern architectural scholars are studying deeply. With regard to the blending, reorganization and innovation of architectural culture, we should strengthen the research on architectural creation, actively learn from the excellent western architectural design concepts, and form an aesthetic trend that truly belongs to our China cultural style and architecture!