After the First World War, marked by the teaching and design practice of Gropius and his colleagues in Bauhaus, Le? 6? 1 Corbusier's architectural activities in France are another symbol. In Germany, France, the Netherlands and even Russia, avant-garde architectural design experiments have led to endless modern architectural achievements. Around 1925, the modern architectural movement reached a vigorous development momentum, sweeping across Europe and gradually affecting all parts of the world, including China, a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country in Asia.
There are two historical facts that are very clear to the architectural circles in China around 1930. First, modern architectural styles appeared in Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, Wuhan, Qingdao, Dalian, Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin and other places occupied by the Japanese, or "modern style", "modern style", "international style", art decoration style, modern Japan and so on. , including some pure modernist works. Secondly, western modern architectural culture and ideas are widely spread in China through newspapers and magazines, architect exchanges and architectural education. This shows that the influence of the western modern architectural movement has spread to China from the beginning, and it has produced results. China's modern architecture has maintained a certain degree of contact with the development of world architecture.
First, the birth of modern style
As the largest trade, finance, industrial city and window city of foreign trade in the Far East, Shanghai is the economic center of China in the late 1920s and the earliest place where modern architecture was born. On September 5th, 1929, the Sassoon Building on Nanjing Road in Shanghai Bund was completed. It was designed by Palmer & Turner Architects, which was the largest design agency that dominated Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s. The building is 10 (13 floors locally). Steel frame structure with a pyramid-shaped copper roof with a height of 19m at the top. As far as its form is concerned, although it is similar to the image of the world's tallest skyscraper-the headquarters of Monto Gomery Ward in Chicago, USA (built at 1900), it was built in Shanghai in the late 1920s, where retro and eclecticism prevailed, which undoubtedly brought people strong visual stimulation. Its contour line is similar to Montgomery's, and gradually narrows upward. The waist and eaves are still decorated with geometric patterns, and the overall posture has not yet gone out of retro style. However, compared with the surrounding heavy western classical buildings, the modeling, composition and decoration details are greatly simplified, giving people a fresh and straight sense of modernity. The completion of Sassoon Mansion marks the beginning of modern thoughts and opens the curtain of modern architectural design, which is of great value in the history of modern architecture.
Following Shaxun Mansion, Gonghe Foreign Firm built a riverside apartment in 1933, with 8 ~ 10 floors, and the plane combination formed an "S"-shaped layout, which was simple and straight. Hamilton Mansion and Capital Hotel were built in 1933 and 1934 respectively. The layout, floors and forms of the two buildings are almost the same. Ling Jun apartment was built in 1934, with a strip-shaped five-fold annular symmetrical layout, with 19 floor in the middle and vertical lines on the facade. These skyscrapers are characterized by outstanding building volume and few geometric patterns. Compared with Sassoon Tower, the architectural style of these skyscrapers is obviously more modern. As the most influential design firm in Shanghai, the change of design style of Gonghe Foreign Firm shows that Shanghai's architectural community led the design trend with modern style in the early 1930s, and the modern architecture designed by Gonghe Foreign Firm made great achievements, which had an important impact on the architectural community in Shanghai and even the whole country.
Second, the pursuit of modern style by foreign architects.
1933, the Shanghai Daguangming Cinema, designed by Hungarian architect Hudac, who is known as the pioneer of modern new style in China, was completed. The facade of the building is treated as a combination of horizontal and vertical lines, with milky curved outer walls, large glass windows and square glass lamp posts. Indoor ceilings and walls are naturally smooth, and the tedious routine of repeating the ancient style immediately attracted everyone's attention. Different from the transitional characteristics of Sassoon architecture, it has become a typical modern architecture. Another modern work by Hudac, International Hotel, was completed in the following year, with 24 floors, including 2 floors underground, 83.8 m high above ground, steel frame structure and reinforced concrete floor. It was the tallest building in China and Asia at that time, and kept the highest height record in Shanghai for half a century. The building is located in Nanjing West Road, Shanghai, with a cramped land, I-shaped plane layout, vertical vertical lines, and the front 15 floor is pushed in all directions step by step, which is a replica of American skyscrapers in the 1920s. Wu's residence was designed and built between 1935 and 1937, which reflected Hudac's pursuit of modern architectural customs. It is a small residence with four-story reinforced concrete structure, with local arc volume, ribbon glass windows, streamlined outdoor stairs and horizontal balcony, sun room with glass ceiling, small dining room with spring floor, air conditioning, elevators and other advanced equipment.
Lai 'an Company (composed of French architects A. Leonard and P. Veysseyre) plays an important role in modern architectural design in Shanghai. 1933 The teaching building of Remy Primary School (Eco 1e Remi) is an "international" building with three floors and four floors for students' activities. In addition, the World Savings Club Apartment and Daofei South Apartment built by 1935 and the Mailan Capture House built by 1936 are all high-rise buildings with 10 floors and above, and the middle part of the facade is treated with rigid lines that are used to going up and down; The horizontal lines on both sides show skillful modern architectural design skills.
1933, built by the new building of Yong 'an Company designed by Hashad Foreign Firm, has a triangular plane with 22 floors in the north and 8 floors in the south, and has a steel frame structure. 1934, the Shanghai Broadway Mansion, designed by the British Commercial Broadcasting Corporation, was completed. 0? 0 model, 22 floors, aluminum steel frame structure; Yan Chai Hospital 1932 designed by Dehe Foreign Firm was completed, and Jialing Building 1936 was completed; Shanghai Warriors Stadium, Bund Bikadi Apartment and France Post Building were completed in 1934, 1935 and 1936 respectively. These simple, bright and modern buildings appear constantly, which makes Shanghai become the fashion of modern cities.
Third, the modern architectural works of China architects.
In 1930s, China architecture was a period of "self-reliance" for China architects. In this trend of modern architectural design which is in line with the world, China architects show their enthusiasm for modern architecture, but also have a strong national consciousness. During this period, almost all major design companies or architects had modern architectural works. The Shanghai Wuzhou Shopping Mall designed by Zhuang Jun was completed and opened in 1933, with a height of 10, and the facade is only partially simple. Two years later, Shanghai Sunkeji Maternity Hospital was designed and built, with five floors, vertical volume in the middle of the facade and strip lines on both sides, and its modeling style was close to "international" architecture. Gaihua Architects Office, from 1932 to 1947, has more than 20 design works with obvious modern style characteristics, including the Great Shanghai Theatre and Hengli Bank built by 1938, and the Shanghai-Zhejiang First Commercial Bank built by 1947. Shanghai Daxin Company, designed by Ji Tai Engineering Department, was established and opened in 1936. The central hall was equipped with the first escalator in China at that time, and the 10 reinforced concrete superstructure. The facade is decorated with China local martial arts only at the hanging place under the railing and flower stand on the roof. Fan is an active advocate of modern architectural thought. The Xiefa Apartment (1933), Chaoya Apartment and Shanghai Meiqi Grand Theatre (194 1) designed by his firm are all modern styles. The architectural form of Shanghai Hongqiao sanatorium designed and built by Xi Fuquan 1934 fully meets the internal functional requirements, without any decoration irrelevant to the structure, and pays attention to function and practicality, hygiene and environment, with beautiful and generous shape, which has won the essential characteristics of modernist architecture. In addition, Li Jingpei's works, such as Shanghai Guangdong Bank Building (1934), Shanghai Wuding Luyan Building, Dong's Home (1935) and Lu Qianshou and Wu's Shanghai China Bank Hongkou Branch (1936), are all explorations of modern styles. Shanghai Bank of China Tower, designed in 1934 and completed in 1936, is the only skyscraper on the Bund in Shanghai mainly designed by China people. The main building17th floor is about 69m high. Designer Lu Qianshou organized the plane completely according to the functional requirements, showing rational design ideas. The facade design not only embodies the characteristics of modern architecture, but also partly adopts the traditional decoration of China. The East Main Building adopts a deformed quadrangular pointed roof, the eaves are decorated with bucket arches, and the eaves and facades are connected with lotus leaves, which is a symbol of the integration of modernity and tradition and shows the contradictory cultural psychology of China architects in the period of self-reliance.
Fourthly, the distribution of modern architecture in modern China.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was the central city and frontier of modern architecture, with the largest number, scale and quality of modern architecture. This is because with the development of social economy, Shanghai has become the largest city in China and even the Far East during this period, and the construction industry has reached an extremely prosperous level, which has brought infinite opportunities to the architectural design industry. This lucky opportunity has attracted a group of foreign architects, China architects who have studied overseas and China students who have studied architecture overseas to return to Shanghai to engage in architectural design. It is these architects who know the world that brought the modern architectural ideas that originated in Europe and influenced the world to the most prosperous Shanghai in the Far East at that time, which led to the large-scale design and construction of modern architecture in Shanghai. Just as the wave of modern architecture began in Shanghai, some cities in China also experienced the trend of changing to modern style and producing simplified design of modern architectural works.
In Nanjing, Gaihua architect Tong Yu designed the Capital Hotel from 1932 to 1933. Building planes are combined into L-shaped layout according to functional requirements. The architectural modeling is simple and generous, and there are no redundant decorative details at all. The fa? ade truly reflects the internal use function and has a distinct functionalist rational thought. The Supreme Court of the Capital designed by Guo Yangmei has a tower-shaped entrance in the middle of the facade, decorated with vertical lines. To some extent, it also has the characteristics of Art Nouveau architecture, but the architectural modeling has been obviously concise and the decoration has been obviously reduced, showing the design characteristics of transition to pure modern architecture. In addition, 1935' s Dahua Grand Theatre in Yang Tingbao, 1936' s Xindu Grand Theatre designed and built by Li Jinpei, 1936' s International Gala designed and built by Liang Yan of Ji Tai Engineering Department, and 1937' s Geology and Mineral Exhibition Hall designed and built in Gaihua Tongyu all present simple and novel shapes and economical cost.
In Tianjin, "in the 1930s, the influence of the new architectural movement changed the face of modern architecture in Tianjin, and … the wave of modernist architecture became the mainstream of modern architecture in Tianjin during this period. Bohai Building (1935) and Lihua Building (1936) were designed by French architect Mu 1er, while the French Club (193 1) and Xinhua Trust and Savings Bank (1934) were designed by French architects Mu. The China Grand Theatre (1935) was designed by British architect B.C. Young and Swiss architect Loup, while the Warriors Stadium in the Italian Concession (1935) was designed by Italian architect Bonetti and Swiss architect Kessler. In addition, Tianjin Ren Li Wool Textile Company.
In Wuhan, Lu Yongbiao, a self-taught architect, first studied architectural design at Jingming Foreign Firm in Hankou for two years, and began to engage in architectural design in 1930s. His series of works include: Siming Bank established by 1934, Industrial Bank of China established by 1934 and 1935. These works showed the latest modern architectural meaning at that time, "paying attention to internal function, taking the lead in accepting the concept of European new architectural movement and adopting advanced western structural technology, caused a sensation in Hankou at that time." In addition, the Amway Yinyangxing Building designed by Jingming Foreign Firm 1929 and the Dafu Bank Building designed by Jingming Foreign Firm 1935 and completed in 0936 all became the representatives of early modern architecture in Hankou.
In 1930s, Qingdao was far away from war, with relatively stable political situation, influx of foreign capital, development of national capital and bureaucratic capital, and prosperous urban construction. With the coexistence of western classicism, eclecticism and China's traditional architectural revival thought, "the spread of western modern architectural theory in China spread to Qingdao, and some modernist buildings imitated and explored". Although the eaves and main entrances of some buildings are decorated with geometric figures, the design ideas have long existed. Began to pay attention to practicality and economy, pay attention to the proportional relationship between outer blocks and window openings, get rid of cumbersome details and columns, and have entered the ranks of modern buildings, such as the Continental Bank designed by Luo Bangjie and built by 1934; China Bank was designed by Lu Qianshou and Wu and built in1934; Designed by Su and built in Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank 1934. This kind of architectural design mostly comes from the son of a Shanghai architect who returned from studying abroad. In addition, there are several famous buildings in the world, such as Donghai Hotel, designed by Shanghai Xinrui and Yang Hang (UK) and built in 1936. It has a six-story reinforced concrete structure with simple architectural modeling. It is an important representative work of modernist style architecture.
In Kunming, "modern architecture was introduced by some locals and more foreigners from Shanghai and other places". Before and after the Anti-Japanese War, architects, engineers and senior technicians from coastal and inland areas moved to Kunming, and the architectural experience from Shanghai and coastal areas moved westward and applied to Kunming. Modern architectural forms have also appeared in Kunming, including Nanping Cinema built in 1939, anning hot spring Guest House and Bathroom built in 1943, and
In these cities, modern architecture has obviously changed the face of the city, and the design and construction of modern architecture has formed a wave. In addition, there are cities with sporadic modern architecture, such as geological museum of Peking University (1934 design 1935 completion) designed by Liang Encheng, the ancient capital of Beijing, and the girls' dormitory of Peking University (193 1). Guangzhou has the staff dormitory of Sun Yat-sen University 1935 designed and built by Yang Xizong, the astronomy department of the School of Science of Sun Yat-sen University 1936 designed and built by Zheng, and the Aiqun Building 1936 designed and built by Chen. In Yantai, there are Jincheng Cinema built in 1935 and Yantai Workers' Sanatorium Building built in 1938.
It should be said that modern architecture only caused a wave in the limited cities of modern China, and the coverage of modern architecture was "the central cities of Shanghai-Tianjin, Nanjing, etc.". , which are greatly affected-Beijing, Guangzhou, etc. Only sporadic modern buildings ",such a reduced state exists.