Chien, Auo, Shih : evolution of space perception and space making in China

Thesis (M.Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1985.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 105-106.The question of "what is the essence of Chinese architecture" has been puzzling Westerners as well as Chinese since the incept i on of Traditional Chinese Architecture Studies five decades ago . This thesis attempts to answer the question by exploring some spatial concepts which have not been clearly documented before. Based on the exploration of those spatial concepts, a new historical perspective will be introduced to show succinctly how Chinese architecture evolved in the last 30 centuries. The theoretical assumptions guiding the thesis are: the emergence of spatial concepts is due to the fact of man-always-having-to-perceive-spatial-phenomena, the characteristics of spatial concepts are .determined by the relationship between man and phenomena , the relationship between man and phenomena may evolve, the evolution of spatial concepts makes up t he hi story of architecture.by Chih-Ta Lai.M.Arc