Research On The Concept Of Environmental Holism For Modern Architectural Design

In this thesis, we focus on some undesirable practices prevailing in China’s currentarchitectural design, including the ignorance of China’s national conditions, the absenceof fundamental theories and plagiarism in architectural forms, and then present theconcept of Environmental Holism for modern architectural design.This paper proceeds as follows：Section1conducts comparative analyses upon the definition of Architecture basedon extensive data collection, and tries to provide a relatively precise definition that canreveal the essence of architecture. On such basis, the paper gives a clear explanation tothe concept of Environmental Holism, and describes naturality, sociality, livability,buildability and evolvability as five basic attributes for architectural creation, which alsomeans to treat with natural, humanistic and technological environment of architecturefrom an evolutionary point of view.Section2conducts longitudinal studies to chase the roots of architecture from theperspective of sociology, and discusses the essential relations between the environmentand the architectural space, explain how space form variation has inner connections anddialectical relations with the change of the whole environment under social development.Section3suggest six principles for modern architectural design under the conceptof Environmental Holism, by taking into account of contemporary practices andexplorations. The principles are as below：1．Holistic thinking–the foundation of design2．Fitting into the environment–the purpose of design3．Applying to life–the ideal of design4．Appropriate techniques–the quality of design5．Focus on humanity–the upgrading of design6．Looking forward into the future–the prospect of designIn the last section, the author analyzes some excellent Lingnan architecture projectin recent years based on the above-mentioned theories, which verifies the concept ofEnvironmental Holism, and provides both theoretical and practical reference for modernarchitectural design. Innovations of the thesis：1．The paper provides a relatively precise definition that can reveal the essence ofarchitecture, and further gives a clear explanation to the concept of EnvironmentalHolism. Meanwhile, it describes naturality, sociality, livability, buildability andevolvability as five basic attributes for architectural design, which also means to viewthe natural, humanistic and technological environment of architecturefrom an evolutionary point of view.2．The paper illuminate the inner connections and dialectical relations between thechange of the whole environment and the variation of the space form under socialdevelopment from the perspective of sociology. It also suggest six principles for modernarchitectural creation under the concept of Environmental Holism, by taking intoaccount of contemporary practices and explorations.3．The paper analyzes some excellent Lingnan architecture project in recent yearsbased on the above-mentioned theories, which verifies the concept of EnvironmentalHolism, and provides both theoretical and practical reference for modern architecturaldesign.