Architecture is an integral part of the artificial world, so it should meet certain functional and aesthetic requirements. China's traditional culture emphasizes "harmony between man and nature", sublimes nature and blends with nature. Therefore, for thousands of years, China architecture has been building houses and palaces with wooden frames, forming a unique wooden architecture culture in China. The characteristics of western classical architecture are: the architectural function is relatively single, and there are not many architectural types. In terms of construction means, it is mainly a stone structure, and people often regard architecture as a history book of stones. We can see that the differences between traditional architectural culture and historical development have caused the differences between Chinese and foreign architectural aesthetic concepts.

1 differences between Chinese and western architectural aesthetics

In ancient China, the form of single buildings was relatively simple, and most of them were stereotyped. Isolated single buildings do not constitute a complete artistic image, and the artistic effect of buildings mainly depends on the group sequence. Confucianism, represented by Confucius, established a set of hierarchical ethical norms, which directly influenced the style and layout of traditional buildings in China. Traditional architecture pays attention to the plane layout with symmetrical axis and orderly ethical structure, and the layout of groups on the plane also embodies the spirit of Confucianism, thus forming the character of traditional architecture in China. This is true from ancient capitals, palaces, temples, royal gardens, and even residential buildings. From the group to the individual, from the whole to the part, we pay great attention to the reasonable collocation of scale and volume, pay attention to the ingenious combination of spatial order, and create a harmonious aesthetic feeling. So that the group can not only give people the overall grandeur and grandeur from a distance, but also give people local aesthetic interest and affinity from a close distance.

Western classical architecture, whether it is the pyramids in Egypt, the Parthenon in Greece, the Arc de Triomphe in Rome, the Taj Mahal in India, the most famous Giralda Tower in Spain, the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Notre Dame de Paris in France and the bell tower of Pisa Cathedral in Italy, all pay more attention to the external shape and huge volume of single buildings. They tend to exaggerate religious fanaticism and awe on a superhuman scale.

2 reasons for the differences between Chinese and Western architectural aesthetics

The differences between Chinese and western architecture are mainly determined by the differences between Chinese and western cultures. The difference between cultural traditions is reflected in the different harmonious beauty of architectural styles, that is, the difference between Chinese and western architectural cultures. Different Chinese and western cultures have created different values of Chinese and western famous families, and they have different architectural styles: China's architectural culture emphasizes people, China's culture emphasizes morality and art, and China's culture emphasizes integration. At the same time, China's famous family style is implicit, kind and cordial. Western culture attaches great importance to science and religion and the unique spirit of different times or schools.

Spiritual phenomena are always closely related to spatial consciousness. Most scholars believe that the strong spatial consciousness of western culture is related to its specific physical and geographical background. As an important birthplace of western culture, ancient Greece represents the glory of Mediterranean civilization. There are many islands scattered in the vast Mediterranean, which are discontinuous and separated from each other. Its mixed farming economy and fishing activities make westerners living here feel strongly about geographical location and spatial layout, and it is very easy to have a strong sense of space. Many islands in ancient Greece were relatively isolated, which virtually gave birth to the concept of space of the ancient Greek nation and accumulated its subconscious mind of "pure space". The changeable terrain objectively creates the mindset and cognitive model of "space can be restricted and restricted" in the western concept. However, the orientals living in the farming geographical environment work at sunrise and rest at sunset on the flat and continuous alluvial plain. Their lives are very regular and their work is quite orderly. Day after day, year after year, they live a cycle of rural life. Its single farming economic structure depends heavily on the changes of the four seasons, and people are prone to have a strong sense of time. This different view of time and space naturally affects the differences of architectural styles. China traditional (classical) architectural culture emphasizes the time factor of architectural groups, while western traditional (classical) architectural culture emphasizes the space factor of architectural units. Because most ethnic groups in the east live in the big river basin, the living environment is superior and relatively stable, and the living environment is relatively isolated from the outside world, so most ethnic groups in the east have developed cultural characteristics such as being indifferent, doing nothing with nature, being gentle, respectful and frugal, and pursuing harmony. The geographical environment of western national life is poor and the lifestyle is unstable. They often have to fight against nature and foreign enemies, so they have formed cultural characteristics such as hard struggle, competition, attaching importance to reality and seeking truth. At the same time, the geographical environment in which the oriental nationalities live belongs to monsoon climate, with the same season of rain and heat, the fertile and loose soil in the alluvial plain of big rivers, convenient irrigation, good combination of natural factors such as light, heat, water and soil, and stable and orderly rhythm of farming life, resulting in the idea of "harmony between man and nature" and "golden mean". European countries in the Mediterranean, such as Greece, have a Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and rainy winters. The land is barren, and the natural factors of light, heat, soil and water are not harmonious (nor are the natural factors in Western Europe). In addition, life at sea often struggles with violent wind and waves, so they have ideas such as "Heaven and Man are separated" and "Man can conquer nature". This cultural concept is embodied in the architectural style. Compared with western traditional architecture, China traditional architecture pays more attention to the harmony with the natural environment, and its style is relatively peaceful and implicit.

3 abstract

In architectural research, we should use holistic thinking and make vertical and horizontal comparative analysis. Chinese and western traditional buildings have formed different forms on the basis of their respective ideology and culture. In terms of ontological differences, China people attach importance to overall harmony, while westerners attach importance to analyzing differences. China's philosophy pays attention to the unity of opposites and emphasizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature and between people. Western philosophy advocates the independence of the objective world, the dichotomy of subject and object, opposition but not complementarity; There are different attitudes towards nature, which is called mechanical naturalism in the west and organic naturalism in China.

In the globalization environment of 2 1 century, by comparing the influence of Chinese and western cultural differences on architecture, we have a basic understanding of the context of Chinese and western cultural differences, and have a clearer understanding of the differences between Chinese and western architecture in various aspects and the reasons for these differences. We should continue to strengthen the communication between various cultural categories and national cultures, at the same time protect our national and regional cultures, adhere to the principle of complementary advantages, maintain cultural diversity and effectively avoid cultural convergence.