Global Practice and the Transnational Flows of Knowledge: A Case Study on Diwang Tower, 1996

Diwang Tower built in 1996 was the tallest building in Shenzhen before 2011. Its image waswidelyusedasasymbolofpropagandashowcasingthesuccessofChina’sopening up policy and Shenzhen’s economy. As a result of international collaboration Diwang Tower was a crucial node where transnational flows of knowledge intersected. Many foreignfirmsandexpertscontributedinsuchaspectsasarchitecturaldesign,structural technology, and construction and property management. Diwang Tower showed ”Chinese” characteristics in subtle ways, while being ”modern” and ”international” at the same time. This paper focuses on the transnational flows of knowledge and the adaptation of modern aesthetics in the Chinese cultural context. It concludes that Diwang Tower is an important milestone in the contemporary architectural history of China since 1978, especially regarding the introduction of Western architecture and its adaptation in the Chinese context

Alcohol Extracts From Ganoderma lucidum Delay the Progress of Alzheimer’s Disease by Regulating DNA Methylation in Rodents

Age-related changes in methylation are involved in the occurrence and development of tumors, autoimmune disease, and nervous system disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in elderly individuals; hence, modulation of these methylation changes may be an effective strategy to delay the progression of AD pathology. In this study, the AD model rats were used to screen the main active extracts from the mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, for anti-aging properties, and their effects on DNA methylation were evaluated. The results of evaluation of rats treated with 100 mg/kg/day of D-galactose to induce accelerated aging showed that alcohol extracts of G. lucidum contained the main active anti-aging extract. The effects on DNA methylation of these G. lucidum extracts were then evaluated using SAMP8 and APP/PS1 AD model mice by whole genome bisulfite sequencing, and some methylation regulators including Histone H3, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B in brain tissues were up-regulated after treatment with alcohol extracts from G. lucidum. Molecular docking analysis was carried out to screen for molecules regulated by specific components, including ganoderic acid Mk, ganoderic acid C6, and lucidone A, which may be active ingredients of G. lucidum, including the methylation regulators of Histone H3, MYT, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B. Auxiliary tests also demonstrated that G. lucidum alcohol extracts could improve learning and memory function, ameliorate neuronal apoptosis and brain atrophy, and down-regulate the expression of the AD intracellular marker, Aβ1-42. We concluded that alcohol extracts from G. lucidum, including ganoderic acid and lucidone A, are the main extracts involved in delaying AD progression

The Architecture of China's Christian Universities: A Semiotic Study

© 2020 Yinrui XieArchitecture carries meanings, especially in the case of cultural and religious buildings when architecture is often intended to overtly demonstrate symbolic meanings. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, thirteen Christian universities were built in China by British and American missionaries to facilitate religious propoganda. In the quasi-colonial context of China, the university buildings, designed by Western architects, imitated local Chinese architecture in order to pacify local resistance. Chinese architectural elements were carefully adopted and combined with Western ones to express abundant meanings: the universities’ respectful attitude towards Chinese culture and Chinese people, the educational ideal of the universities to synthesise Western and Chinese education systems, and so on. But were the architectural meanings interpreted in the same way as envisioned by the designers? How efficacious was this architectural communication? The cross-cultural context made the situation even more complicated. The meanings embedded in the university buildings were interpreted by various groups of people from different cultural backgrounds: the Western missionaries and architects, Western media, staff from both China and the West, the Chinese students, the local government, and ordinary Chinese people. Each of them derived different meanings from the buildings with their own encyclopaedic knowledge. This leads to another question: How should the meaning of architecture be studied in cross-cultural contexts? This thesis explores the architectural history of China’s Christian universities constructed by Western missionaries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focusing on the interaction between architecture, politics, and culture, the thesis analyses how the Christian campuses were constructed against the complex socio-cultural context of modern China. Informed by semiotic theories, cross-cultural architectural “communication” between various groups at the campuses is examined, with a model describing architectural communication in cross-cultural contexts constructed and tested through analysis of case studies

China on display: the architecture of the Chinese pavilion at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition

After the Boxer Rebellion ended with China’s crushing defeat and the signing of the Boxer Protocol, China participated in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as its official debut at world’s fairs. The Chinese pavilion was supposed to represent the country’s national pride and cultural identity, yet ironically, the pavilion materialised the Chinese government’s weak position in its quasi-colonial relationship with the US – both politically and culturally – in terms of the appointment of architects, the design process, and the arrangement of construction. Such power interaction shaped an ambiguous ‘Chinese architecture’ presented at the fair, imitating the Beijing residence of a Chinese Prince while incorporating vernacular architectural elements from south China. It reflected the Chinese government’s early self-vision of its global image in an age of political turmoil and cultural uncertainty, and pioneered the exploration of an architectural ‘Chinese-ness’ in the early twentieth century

Planning a Christian campus in Quasi-colonial China: Lingnan University, Guangzhou, 1904–1931

Constructed from 1904 to 1931 in Guangzhou, Lingnan University was among the thirteen Christian universities founded by Western missionaries in China. It featured a hybrid campus with ‘Chinese-style’ buildings disposed on a Beaux-Arts planning scheme. This article argues that the campus planning and architectural design of Lingnan University was shaped by the unique quasi-colonial power interactions in Guangzhou involving both cooperation and conflict between multiple forces – Western missionaries and architects, local governments, merchants both local and overseas, and ordinary people in Guangzhou. Responding to the shifting social contexts, Lingnan contributed to the modernization of Guangzhou’s city plan in the early twentieth century. The architectural design of Lingnan University exemplified a re-invention of Chinese architectural styles in response to Guangzhou’s quasi-colonial context, achieved through the efforts of its American architects to learn and adapt ‘Chinese-ness’ in their building designs, and the political and financial support of local Chinese people and overseas Chinese merchants. The concept of Chinese architecture was not settled at Lingnan, but nevertheless the Beaux-Arts campus and its building designs were interpreted by multiple groups and were later adopted and modified by Chinese architects, illuminating a broader cross-cultural dialogue between China and the West

The Evolution of Western Interpretation of Chinese Architecture in the 20th Century Seen through the Edition Changes of Banister Fletcher’ s A History of Architecture

Abstract：Banister Fletcher’s A History of Architecture is a renowned monograph of architectural history in the West. Since its first publication in 1896, this book has experienced 20 edition changes over the past century. As a global history of architecture, the discussion of Chinese architecture in Fletcher’s A History of Architecture represents a high-level research on Chinese architectural history by Western scholars. This discussion has been continuously updated over the past century, to some extent reflecting the deepening understanding of Chinese architectural history in the West. Focusing on four representative editions (the 1901, 1921, 1987 and 2019 editions), this article analyzes how the discussion of Chinese architecture developed through the edition changes of Fletcher’s A History of Architecture, and uses this as a clue to unfold the social contexts in which these editions were completed, their research frameworks, and relations to parallel researches on Chinese architectural history. Through this perspective, it throws light upon the evolution of understanding of Chinese architectural history in Western scholarship, as well as the development of research methods and methodology in global architectural history

International and National Identities of Shenzhen Diwang Tower: A Case Study of Contemporary Chinese Architectural History

This paper focuses on Shenzhen Diwang Tower (1992-1996) as a case to explore the research methodology of contemporary Chinese architectural history from a perspective of “knowledge“. Diwang Tower is one of the most iconic buildings in Shenzhen in particular and China at large in the 1990s. Its construction process and architectural form reflect the combination of both international and Chinese identities. It also examines how Chinese-American architect Kwok Yin Cheung managed to reconcile both the “Chinese-traditional” and “Westernmodern”, two bodies of knowledge in architectural design, for the expression of “Chineseness” in modern super high-rise building

Chinese and Christian? The architecture of West China Union University

Founded in 1910, West China Union University (WCUU) was among the earliest Christian universities to be established by Western missionaries in China. In response to politico-cultural tensions between the missionaries and the local community, the designers of WCUU carefully reconciled a sense of ‘Chinese-ness’ and Christianity in its site planning and architectural design. Their ‘gestures’ to the local audiences included planning strategies, architectural signs, spatial arrangements, and other ‘architectural’ means. The built form of the campus was shaped through negotiations between various groups, during which the Beaux-Arts plan of the campus was compromised in response to local resistance. The ‘gestures’, or ‘meanings’, embedded in the built forms were also subject to various local interpretations across different periods, during which the interpreters were involved in the ongoing revision of architectural meaning. The ‘Chinese-ness’ of the WCUU campus resulted from the architect’s efforts to study and represent local architectural characteristics in Southwest China and the Chinese interpreters’ continuous attempt to ‘sinicise’ the campus, aiming to invest it with Chinese meanings via interpretation and sometimes physical alteration. This article explores the creation, transition, and interpretation of the WCUU campus planning and architectural design in terms of the communicative function of architecture and the interaction of multiple participants against the shifting contexts of modern China. Focusing on the intertwined relationship between the built form, history, and the interpretation/experience of architecture, a wider socio-cultural dialogue is illustrated between China and the Western world in the twentieth century

Open: The New Design Concept of Japanese Elementary School Architecture

With the new design concept of "open "，this research introduces the revolution of spatial patterns and design strategies of Japanese elementary school recently based on literature investigation as well as case study, which may be inspiring for school design in China nowadays. After an analysis of the necessity of "open" for Japanese elementary school in the current social background of Japan, we tried to make a brief summary of design strategies and spatial patterns of Japanese elementary schools nowadays, focusing on the development of "open space" and school-community relationship, providing new design strategies for elementary school architecture in contemporary China

Global Practice and the Transnational Flows of Knowledge: A Case Study on Diwang Tower, 1996

Diwang Tower built in 1996 was the tallest building in Shenzhen before 2011. Its image waswidelyusedasasymbolofpropagandashowcasingthesuccessofChina'sopening up policy and Shenzhen's economy. As a result of International collaboration Diwang Tower was a crucial node where transnational flows of knowledge intersected. Many foreignfirmsandexpertscontributedinsuchaspectsasarchitecturaldesign,structural technology, and construction and property management. Diwang Tower showed ”Chinese” characteristics in subtle ways, while being ”modern” and ”International” at the same time. This paper focuses on the transnational flows of knowledge and the adaptation of modern aesthetics in the Chinese cultural context. It concludes that Diwang Tower is an important milestone in the contemporary architectural history of China since 1978, especially regarding the introduction of Western architecture and its adaptation in the Chinese context