A Combination of both Traditional and Modern Elements

-- On Designing Principles of China Pavilion by Chief Designer,

Academician He Jingtang

Academician He Jingtang, the chief designer of China Pavilion in Shanghai World Expo 2010, holds that China Pavilion should not only be built to represent peculiar Chinese culture and Chinese spirit, but also be shaped to the tastes of people all over the world, as Expo acts as both an effective way of presenting the achieved advancements of modern science & technology and civilization, and a desired direction towards which future developments of science & technology should go. Therefore, the design of China Pavilion should well display modern spirit of the age, as well as traditional Chinese elements. To embody both unique Chinese features and the spirit of the modern times forms two primary guiding principles for our design , He put it in this way.

Academician He believes that the notion of harmony is the essence of traditional Chinese culture along the years. And present-day architects can actually learn and benefit a lot from the conventional Chinese archi-cultural concepts, the ideology of adapting to the natural and social changes thus attaining harmony among human, nature and the society, and its far-reaching influence on the distinctive features of urban and garden planning that have already been formed in China. Designers should be encouraged to refer to and apply these precious treasures into their own designing works.

What can best represent Chinese characteristics? He and his team tackled and answered this question from the following three perspectives. First of all, we should bear in mind how foreigners view China and what foreigners know about China. They argue that the answer can be found in traditional Chinese cultural symbols like Chinese characters, calligraphy, seals, the color of red, Peking opera, paper cutting etc., which can be integrated into our design. Second, China being a nation that is extremely rich in history, bronze vessels that have been widely used in ancient China can be regarded as our national treasure, the shape of which can be borrowed and utilized. Last but not least, or even the most important aspect is what we can learn from traditional Chinese urban planning as well as garden planning practices and traditional architectural elements, such as chessboard layout, wooden structure, Dougong brackets, and so on.

The contour design of the pavilion is based on the concept of "Oriental Crown, Splendid China, Ample Barn, and Rich People," to express the spirit and disposition of Chinese culture. Chief Designer He claims that the Oriental Crown (or the Crown of the East ) attempts to convey traditional Chinese elements in an abstract, rather than a concrete manner. Some think it s just a Dougong bracket; others feel it looks like a barn, but everyone agrees to say that it s with very special Chinese flavor. And that is exactly what we want to achieve while designing .

Apart from harnessing traditional Chinese elements, he said, China Pavilion also reflects the application of modern science and technology, the sustainability of which lies in three aspects as follows. First and foremost, it carries on traditional culture, and this by itself can be seen as sustainable development. China Pavilion rises above ground based on a layer-upon-layer Dougong structure, which makes people feel quite strongly about its being able to fly up high in the sky. The shape of the overhead pavilion can well make its viewers associate it with China that has been getting increasingly civilized and prosperous, advanced and thriving, thus gaining more respect and reputation as a giant country in the international community. And this feeling was indeed shared by many who did make their way to the pavilion. In short, China pavilion not only carries forward, but also demonstrates Chinese traditions and culture. The thirty-one ventilation openings on each side of the pavilion, which miraculously compose four Chinese characters indicating the four directions presented in beautiful Chinese calligraphy, can illustrate a wonderful combination of modern functions and traditional Chinese culture. What viewers can see are just seals , a typical Chinese cultural symbol; many may be absorbed in the Chinese elements, without realizing their original function of ventilation.

In the second place, the layout of the China Pavilion itself is also sustainable. For instance, the multi-layer design of the pavilion provides great ventilation which keeps sunlight out in summer and lets sunshine in in winter. Moreover, the space formed due to the overhead construction can offer ample space for public activities. Roof gardens can also become very nice choices for leisure activities. The combination of sustainable development and modern science & technology can be seen in the spatial layout of the construction itself.

Thirdly, the China pavilion can be sustainable thanks to the application of a great deal of modern technology. For example, the solar electric panels installed on the roof can help to generate electricity partially needed for the pavilion. At the same time, the whole roof can act as a rainfall collecting mechanism, which can help to reuse the collected rain water afterwards.

(Originally from Guangming Daily, by Li Jinjie, May 2010; translated by Liu Chang)