Knowledge Form With University Architecture

The rule of evolution of Chinese university architecture is discussed in this dissertation on the basis of the relations between knowledge, knowledge activity and architecture. As a peculiar kind of architecture type, university architecture not only follows the rule of development of architecture, but also echoes with the change of (profound ) knowledge and knowledge activity. With the help of human knowledge activity, stablely inherent conjunction between the forms of (profound ) knowledge and university architecture is established. This conjunction is just the peculiar and stable determinant during the development and evolvement of university architecture. Profound knowledge and university architecture has two kinds of conjunctive dimension. First , as the media of knowledge activity, architecture conveys indescribable knowledge by the way of "symbolization" and "excitation"; Second, as the site of knowledge activity, architecture provides suitable space and environment for the subject of activity, and helps to finish the whole knowledge activity. These two kinds of conjunctive dimension aren't equal. Generally, "site dimension" as the basic conjunctive dimension is explicit, while "media dimension" is connotive. In ancient China, the "media dimension" of university architecture had explicit forms, but it has been overshadowed in contemporary. The reason is that the knowledge which produced and propagated by university has changed qualitatively. So firstly, we bring forward a basic theoretic frame for the relationship of knowledge, knowledge activity and architecture, and this frame is used as the tool of understanding the evolvement rule of Chinese university architecture. This study is a historical study, with "historical fact of university architecture" as clue, discussing the rule of development and evolvement of Chinese university architecture on the basis of the relations between knowledge, knowledge activity and architecture,. And this study is also a comparative study. There has ever been existing two different types of university in Chinese high education history. One is classical university with Chinese traditional learning as core, another is modern university with western modern science as core. During the western learning spreading to the East, the latter substituted the former, and Chinese university architecture also changed greatly. Two different types of university represents two different knowledge forms—— Confucian and science, the former focused on looking after the determination of subjectivity, the latter focuses on looking after the determination of objectivity. The former relied on human's sense thingking, the latter relied on human's rational thinking. The former used "image" as the tool of propagating "dao", the latter use "language" as form of truth. The difference between the two knowledge forms is the key cause of that why the classical university architecture is different from modern university architecture. The main mission of Chinese classical university was studying and propagating Confucian. Confucian is sensitive to emotion, with "image" as main media, and put the emphasis on discussing human's value and meaning, its organization mode was integrated. Emotion and "image" combined to "emotion-scene".In Chinese classical university, besides book-centered knowledge activities such as reading, teaching, writing, etc., there existed "emotion-scene"-centered knowledge activities, for example, sacrifice, practise and traveling, etc.. The latter placed "emotion-scene" a very important location. In classical university architecture, the space, path and characteristic should not only be in concert with the acting mode of these knowledge activities, but also take part in constructing a peculiar "emotion-scene", because "emotion-scene" implicated inexpressible "dao", experiencing the scene was grasping the "dao". In contemporary, western modern university replaced Chinese classical university as quickly as thought. This manifested in the striking of science on Confucian firstly. Science is high rational, low emotional knowledge system, with language as main medium, focusing on studying the truth of outside world, with discipline-organized. Scientific experiment and disciplinarity, as two kinds of brand-new knowledge activities, take up most of university life. Scientific experiment makes scientific research buildings quantitativilization, modelization and man-madelization. Disciplinarity results in the division of university functions and the appearing of department buildings. The university architecture as medium role of knowledge is overshadowed, which becomes only a place for some specialized scientific activity that is required to obey to efficiency but not emotion. While Confucian declines in modern university day by day, the "emotion-image"-centered knowledge activity has lost grounds gradually. The sacrifice was cancelled, practise became personal culture that no longer belonged to knowledge activity. Traveling was even looked as a kind of recreation in daily life, losing the meaning of "dao". While the "emotion-scene"-centered knowledge activity fades out, modern university breaks the integral and uniform building layout with definite function division. Classical university's free, quiet and emotion-rich circumstance was substituted by the high-efficient and logistic building space. Compared with classical university, modern university is more like a factory in which people is busy doing his work on one's own place. Main contributions of this study are: First, attempting to analyse architecture from the point view of pedagogy, build a communicating bridge between the two disciplines. This communication is necessary to university architecture research.. Several years of Architecture-studying background makes the author study university architecture systematically. And five-year's study as candidate for Education Ph.D makes the authorconstruct the relationship between architecture and education theoretically. Second, The author puts forward the "emotion-scene" characteristics of Chinese classical university architecture for the first time. And we also have discussed what conditions make this "emotion-scene" architecture come true, and what conditions make it go to end. In modern society, the fact that heavily relied on scientific knowledge quicken the tendency of technologization and utilitarian in university education, resulting in student's unilateral development. Values education has become the unpreventable tide of modern university. The architecture system serving for Values education should be "emotion-scene". The "emotion-scene" university architecture theory will give some new clues for modern even future university campus construction.