Comparison between Chinese and western architecture

Comparison of Chinese and Western architectural structures;

1, differences in building materials

There are three traditional building materials in China and the West: earth, wood and stone. China's traditional building materials are mainly wood, while the west is mainly stone. China people use stones and mud to build foundations and walls, while westerners use wood to build roofs, which makes Chinese and western buildings have different characteristics and express different feelings. China's architecture is more about expressing one's feelings, while western architecture is a kind of feeling of god.

Stone buildings in the west generally develop vertically, pointing directly at God. In this way, whether the high-density stone roof can be lifted to the sky has become the key to architectural art, and the pillars that perform this task have become the key. Therefore, the "basic vocabulary" of western architecture is columns, that is, those vertical and indomitable stones. If the column is the "basic vocabulary" of western architectural art, then the roof is its "main sentence". Different roofs lead to different styles, such as Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Gothic, Baroque and so on.

The ancient wooden buildings in China took the bucket arch as the "basic vocabulary". The so-called bucket arch is the overlapping curved wood supporting the eaves, which can expand the longitudinal force to the lateral direction, thus constructing various cornices. Like the roofs of western buildings, as the "main sentence" of ancient buildings in China, there are many kinds of cornices, which are drooping, vertical or overhanging. Its different forms create different artistic effects, either light, simple or strict. Not only pavilions should use cornices to identify themselves and express their feelings, but also the height and length of cornices will often become the difficulty and focus in architectural design. As the saying goes, "adding one point is too long, subtracting one point is too short", cornices must be properly designed, light but not frivolous, simple but not mechanical, dignified and not rigid.

2. Differences in building structure

China's traditional architectural structure has the following three characteristics: first, it pays attention to the symmetrical artistic effect; The second is to use wood as the main framework; The third is the unique personality modeling. Western architecture does not pay attention to the structural beauty of architecture, but pursues the sculptural beauty of architecture. The most common buildings in the west are stone pillars and corridors, which show the beauty of the human body abstractly.

3. Differences in architectural values

China's architecture has a strong painting effect, paying attention to the creation of artistic conception beauty, not paying much attention to the modeling and perspective effect of architecture, and often paying more attention to the perspective effect of architecture in space, which can give people a feeling of extension and winding path, including the implicit beauty of China's national tradition and the pursuit of harmony. Compared with traditional architecture in China, western architecture is more inclined to sculpture, and attaches importance to the harmony and unity of the whole and the part of the building.

4. Differences in architectural development

Judging from the development of architecture, China architecture is conservative. The architectural forms and materials used in China will remain unchanged for 3000 years. Different from China, western architecture is constantly changing, and its structure and materials have undergone rapid evolution. It has been more than 2500 years since the first temples appeared in the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. During this period, the architectural forms of ancient Europe have been constantly developing and changing. Great changes have taken place in image, proportion, decoration and spatial layout, from the classical columns in ancient Greece to the arch and dome technology in ancient Rome, from the spike, cross arch and flying pile technology in Gothic architecture to St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome during the European Renaissance. This reflects the spirit of westerners who dare to find a new way and be brave in innovation.

5. Differences in spatial layout of buildings

Judging from the spatial layout of buildings, the buildings in our country are the spatial pattern of closed groups, which are scattered on the ground plane. No matter what kind of buildings in China, from residential houses to palaces, they are almost a pattern, similar to the "quadrangle" model. The architectural beauty of China is a kind of "collective" beauty. For example; During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Forbidden City, the Ming Tombs and the Confucius Temple in Qufu were all huge buildings with many courtyards, and all kinds of buildings were arranged in order, which reflected the introverted characteristics, patriarchal ideology and ethical code system of the club structure in ancient China. Contrary to China, western architecture is an open and single spatial pattern, which develops towards high altitude. Using the upward expansion and vertical superposition of "volume", a huge and changeable body is formed, forming a towering and magnificent whole. Moreover, from the polis of ancient Greece and Rome, colonnades, doors and windows were widely used to increase information exchange and transparency, and buildings were surrounded by external space to highlight the physical image of buildings. This is related to the frequent exchanges between westerners through the sea and the implementation of slave democracy in society. The extroversion and scientific and democratic spirit of ancient Greece not only influenced ancient Rome, but also influenced the whole western world.