What are the main differences between Chinese and western university campus architectural culture?

The walls and gates of China school are the edge or periphery of the school heart, and are rarely connected with the main building. In the west, the two sides of the school gate are often not walls, but the physical buildings of the school. More precisely, the school gate is integrated with other physical buildings, and the traditional color of the edge and center is not as strong as that of China culture.

China University generally has administrative office buildings, which are often independent and prominent buildings. Office buildings are mostly located in conspicuous areas or the center of the whole school, and both architectural modeling and interior decoration are beyond ordinary teaching buildings. In the west, it is difficult to distinguish the principal's office building in many university campus buildings; Specialized, independent and prominent office buildings are not common. These administrative offices are usually located in large teaching buildings. Leadership and management, teaching and scientific research are not isolated but close in space, which can be said to be a manifestation of closeness to the people and commonality in western culture.

(3) Take "teacher" as the foundation and "student" as the foundation.

Almost all classrooms in our country are the same rectangular plane. One side of the classroom is open front and back. Interior layout is generally divided into two parts, the teacher's podium in front and the students' desks in the back. Teaching is teacher-centered, focusing on imparting knowledge, ignoring the communication between teachers and students. This design idea can be said to be

Originated from ancient academies in China. For example, Yuelu Academy, the podium is located on the podium. The platform base is not only spacious but also several feet higher than the flat ground, which highlights the central position and significance of the forum owner and produces a sense of visual dignity and psychological solemnity.

In the west, it should be said that traditionally this rectangular classroom is the main body. But today, they have realized the negative impact of this architectural model on teaching, so they have carried out a comprehensive reform. The so-called open classroom, mobile classroom and cellular classroom are typical examples. The classrooms in some western schools are arranged in the shape of round tables, which facilitates the communication between teachers and students and weakens teacher-centrism. In the so-called open-plan schools, the distinction between the front and the back of the traditional classroom is broken, the arrangement of desks and chairs enables students to communicate with each other, and the learning environment is relaxed. Some classrooms are directly connected with reference rooms, workshops and bathrooms. The design not only considers functionality, but also is convenient for students to use and full of human feelings.

(4) Lack of communication space and the concept of "pan-classroom"

In 1950s, China's campus planning was mainly to learn from the model of the former Soviet Union. Most of them use axisymmetric methods to combine with quadrangle buildings, and take roads as the dividing line of functional areas, resulting in the lack of contact between buildings and between buildings. Campus buildings and spaces are fragmented and incomplete. The overall style is serious and neat, the space is rigid, and there is no humanized communication space for students to stop and take a nap and chat. This is in line with China's traditional educational model, which attaches importance to theoretical study and despises scientific experiments. It is not unrelated to attach importance to the cultivation of students' sexual requirements and restrain the development of students' personality. Although some teaching buildings have broad lawns and beautiful inner courtyards, it is rare to see teachers and students having heart-to-heart talks here. Why is this? Because these square, isolated and homogeneous spaces are not real communication spaces. This kind of space has no directionality and stagnation, and lacks change and security. It can only be reduced to a large open space and become a luxurious landscape of architecture. This is a big mistake in China campus architecture.

The experience of western architects in creating communication space is worth learning. Building elements such as corridors, large steps, roof platforms and stairs are expanded into communication spaces. (The picture on the right shows the living area of Cambridge University) These spaces are not so unforgettable scenes, but more private small environments. They are open, have a certain spatial domain, and have their own internal order without lack of change. Such a space allows teaching to go beyond the limitations of desks and blackboards. We might as well call it a "pan-classroom". In the campus building, Pan pays attention to setting up various spacious and comfortable communication spaces, arranging many indoor and outdoor places, spaces and corners suitable for teachers and students to stay, rest and talk, placing comfortable chairs and sofas, and setting up vending machines or canteens where conditions permit. This good communication space will undoubtedly create more communication opportunities for teachers and students. All kinds of information, knowledge and ideas exchange, transmit, collide and even conflict here, thus achieving the sublimation of wisdom.

4. Creating campus architectural culture in the new century

From the above comparison, we can see that the campus architectural culture of western universities highlights the characteristics of "people-oriented" and attaches importance to the continuation of the aesthetic effect of the overall campus style, realizing the cross-integration of campus life and social life, and the high coordination and unity of material environment and humanistic environment. Comparing the basic differences between Chinese and western university campus architectural culture, we can see that different architectural styles in China and the West have different cultural backgrounds and unique expressive charm. To create excellent campus architecture in China, we must learn from the excellent campus architecture culture in the West, and strive to skillfully integrate the excellent culture of our nation into it, combining the elements of nationality, times and development.

In today's global environment, the cross-cultural communication of architecture has become more and more frequent, extensive and urgent. Reality also shows that foreign culture can only be accepted if it conforms to the living habits of the nation and adapts to the local natural conditions. Only by extensive foreign exchange and absorption can local culture remain youthful and energetic. Strengthen cultural exchange rather than substitution, promote diversity rather than global cultural consistency, thus promoting the progress of human culture.

As the carrier of teaching, scientific research and communication, university campus embodies the historical changes of internal activities of universities and reflects the development track of university functions in cities. Some people think that the first generation campus is a medieval closed campus in the13rd century; The second generation is the functional partition campus after the industrial revolution; The third generation is a free exchange campus represented by the United States after 19 century; The fourth generation is a multi-level and diversified higher education campus after World War II. So what should the campus look like in today's knowledge economy era and globalization background? What are the new development trends of university campus?

With the vigorous development of knowledge economy, universities as an intellectual resource are rapidly recognized. It has become an important feature of the development of university campus to establish a university science park integrating production, learning and research. In order to cultivate innovative and compound talents and improve the ability of communication and cooperation with others, it is necessary to emphasize communication and enjoyment of space in the spatial planning and layout, so as to promote the formation of a campus atmosphere with multiple exchanges and positive innovation. In the new era, the development of universities is no longer closed and independent, and the interaction between universities and society has been strengthened. Building socialized student apartments has become an effective way to encourage students to get in touch with society and participate in social practice. At the same time, the implementation of distance network teaching has changed the traditional teaching methods, provided new ways of learning and communication, broken the boundaries between time and space, and greatly improved the speed of information transmission and communication. These new trends are affecting the development of university campuses, transforming universities from a closed educational institution into a pluralistic and open social complex.

Mr. Wang Yiqian, the former vice president of Peking University, once put forward the idea of "literature, elegance, order and liveliness" to summarize the high-grade school cultural environment, in which "literature" embodies knowledge, that is, one can learn new knowledge anytime and anywhere on campus and feel a scientific and humanistic atmosphere; "Elegance" refers to elegant style, which is the opposite of vulgarity. It is manifested in the school's architecture and landscape layout, which gives people a beautiful feeling and edification; "Order" refers to order, which embodies the order of school life and the norms of management; "Living" is manifested as an atmosphere of vigor, vitality and innovation. In particular, the main building of the school should work hard on "literature" and "elegance" in order to clearly reflect the school's cultural taste and scientific humanistic spirit.

To sum up, it is the theme of campus construction in the new century to build a campus with profound cultural heritage and modern sense, embody historical inheritance and humanistic spirit, build an ecological, rich and harmonious campus landscape, and realize the sustainable growth of university campus space.