There are basically two types of buildings in the world (here mainly refers to large-scale public buildings belonging to the art category): one is mainly composed of stones, called "stone buildings", which are popular in most parts of the world; A kind of building mainly made of wood, called "wooden structure building", is very popular in East Asia, mainly in China. These two architectural forms have profound cultural origins and different styles and artistic characteristics. As far as art is concerned, each has different value orientation and aesthetic orientation, and it is difficult to distinguish between high and low. From the perspective of reflection, this paper focuses on the negative phenomena that restrict the development of Chinese architectural culture, which deserve our serious consideration and overcoming.
Inertial thinking of vertical inheritance
China people are always used to "touching the past", while westerners are good at "exploring the unknown". Two different cultural mentalities lead to two different results: one is to repeat predecessors without thinking about breakthrough; One is continuous innovation and leaping forward.
Our wooden building has a history of at least 2000 years, as evidenced by Epang Palace, which covers an area of 300 miles. In this long process, from form to style, it is only a single development without qualitative change, which can be described as "two thousand years consistent system" However, since the ancient Greece and Rome period, stone buildings in Europe have updated at least a dozen styles: ancient Greek style, ancient Roman style, Byzantine style, Roman style, Gothic style, Renaissance style, melodramatic style, baroque style, classical style, romantic style, eclectic style, modernist style and "postmodern" style ... One of the reasons for this difference is that we are used to it. Take the level of predecessors as the coordinate, and take the achievements of predecessors as the glory. Europeans are not like this. No matter how great their predecessors have achieved, they have not stopped at heights, but strived to surpass and explore forward. As Lu Xun summed up in those years, we in China are always used to "exploring the unknown", while westerners are good at "exploring the unknown". Two different cultural mentalities lead to two different results: one is to repeat predecessors without thinking about breakthrough; One is continuous innovation and leaping forward.
An outstanding example of vertical inheritance thinking in recent years is that people are keen on antique buildings in various places, among which the voice of "Rebuilding Yuanmingyuan" is the highest. It is said that it is to "reproduce the glory of gardening art in the past", but as everyone knows, beauty cannot be repeated! If I could do it all over again, there would be no place to pile works of art in the world today. What's more, Yuanmingyuan is an extremely important memorial to national humiliation and a "crime scene" for robbers invading China. Reconstruction means the destruction of "scenes", that is, cultural relics.
As a branch of art and a carrier of aesthetics, architecture's life lies in constant innovation, because people's aesthetic consciousness is constantly changing, which is also the objective requirement of historical development.
From the second half of the19th century, from a global perspective, with the development of productive forces, the birth of new building theories and new building materials, architecture began a brand-new revolution. As a product of the farming era, the wooden structure buildings in China have gone through its historical process and are facing transformation. The development of China's history, on the whole, is much slower than that of the west, that is, it lacks an industrial age. As a strong culture, western ideas quickly poured into China. This means that the objective situation has not allowed China architecture to breed new embryos of its own nation from its mother's womb, and we accept them while parrying; If you don't have time to chew carefully, you will inevitably swallow it, which is simply imitation. This is inevitable in the early days. For the achievements of foreign human civilization, we must first "bring them" in order to identify, choose and learn from them. But if you just "bring it" or "take it" for too long, it is worth noting. Absorbing the strengths of others, after all, cannot replace your own creation. To learn from others, if you only learn the superficial, that is, the form and style, but not the essential, that is, the creative spirit, that is to give up the foundation. Throughout the 20th century, we failed to jump out of the pattern of western architecture in general, neither created anything belonging to our own national personality, nor achieved a significant position in the new world trend of thought. As a result, at the end of the century, when I saw what I lacked, I immediately turned to my ancestors for help without necessary reflection. I regarded the "big roof" style as the eternal architectural aesthetic law and artistic mode of the Chinese nation, and restored the ancients with reinforced concrete everywhere.
It should be said that as a national heritage, it is understandable to rebuild some ancient buildings properly and solidly. However, if all localities do this, it is against the historical law to even hang up "symbols of ancient buildings" in the name of "promotion".