The continuation of traditional garden design principles into contemporary landscape architecture in China

2014-09-12This research aims to explore the possibilities of the continuation of traditional garden design principles into contemporary landscape architecture in China. ❧ Traditional Chinese gardens have a history of thousands of years. Influenced by local religions, traditional gardens reflect the values of the ancient Chinese people as well as their living environment preferences. The country’s transformation period from feudalism to communism lasted from the 1840s to the 1970s. Many cultural art forms, including garden design, have not been well inherited since then. Leaving a gap between garden design and contemporary landscape architecture. ❧ The rapidly increasing urbanization rate in China provides plentiful project opportunities for landscape architecture. Endeavors have been made by local and foreign scholars and practitioners from both perspectives of urban development and ecological sustainability. However, traditional garden design has been ignored despite how the profession is prospering. ❧ The argument of the thesis has been situated within the framework of Kenneth Frampton’s essay entitled “Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance” (1983). The importance of the continuation of tradition in contemporary design is stressed throughout the paper. Several attempts for applying traditional design principles in contemporary projects are introduced, and the future possibilities for such continuation are discussed. ❧ This research has ultimately aimed to seek ways in which traditional design culture can mediate the influence of globalization. An ideal outcome of this research would involve raising Chinese designers’ awareness about China’s cultural and landscape architectural heritage. ❧ In this research, efforts were made to seek ways in which traditional design culture can mediate the globalization influences. Also, it is hoped to raise Chinese designers’ awareness about China’s culture heritage in landscape architecture