The History Of Architectural Technology In Modern Nanjing

Nanjing is a city with special significance in China’s modern history as it has borne important witness to China’s initial modernization endeavor.Cultural development and productivity over that period of social transformation can be reflected by the city’s architecture—product out of the combination of technology and culture.The author focused his research on Nanjing,for cities of China may differ in ways and standards of development given their varied contexts.The thesis is a systematic study of Nanjing’s architectural technology development in near-modern times,which specifies the trajectory of urban modernization and the driving force behind.It provides a regional sample from the perspective of architecture based on clear logic and rigorous structure for research on the near-modern history of China.The research is focused on four aspects: social transformation in near-modern times that drove architectural technology development,and the development of building materials,building structures and construction technology.The second chapter began with a discussion on the driving force behind the social development of Nanjing in near-modern times based on sociology and political science,revealing regional features of Nanjing’s architectural technology in near-modern times and its unique evolution process through analysis on the political and cultural factors behind such development.The third chapter focused on the study of Nanjing’s cement and brick and tile industry in near-modern times.It included analysis of the development of modern production technology and equipment in the cement factory based on a large number of exclusive historical materials and elaborated on the regional features of Nanjing’s handmade production of brick and tile as well as their mechanized production technology.The fourth chapter involved the study of two main new building structures—western-style brick-wood structure and reinforced structure,discussing their development trajectory and technical basis and revealing ideology and construction ideas behind architectural styles and forms The fifth chapter is dedicated to the study of dominant large-scale building factories in Nanjing,in which the author mapped out their development trajectory and analyzed their respective characteristics.This chapter presented a holistic picture of the internal organization,operation,and construction technology of these plants on the basis of numerous exclusive historical materials.In the sixth chapter,the author discussed the relations between architectural technology and culture.The chapter began with an analysis on near-modern architecture from the perspective of construction ideas and concepts and ended with the author’s critical reflection on modern architectural philosophy.It summarized the contradiction between architectural culture and technology and drew systematic conclusion on the material and cultural characteristics of Nanjing’s architectural technology development in near-modern times.The thesis was the first to sort out historical data on Nanjing’s architectural technology in a comprehensive and systematic way as objective supporting materials that reflected an empirical view of history.It filled the blank of historical database for Nanjing’s near-modern architectural research to some extent.Relevant materials were presented following academic methods and in line with the features of architectural technology and architecture discipline.Various approaches were applied in technical analysis and interpretation of collected materials to organize them in a logical and systematic way.The thesis revealed ideology and means of technical expression behind rich styles of near-modern architecture.Special emphasis was given to technology as a causal factor behind architecture phenomenon with analysis on the level of technology development.The thesis was structured progressively,starting with a brief on the contribution of historical materials followed by analysis that ultimately led to theoretical conclusion with regard to near-modern architectural philosophy.Based on the critical summary of near-modern architectural philosophy,the thesis put forward a view that the formation of any architectural culture relies on full digestion and absorption of technical essence and material features.Modern architectural idea was indeed a product of years of adjustment,adaptation,and balance among various factors.The history of near-modern architectural technology can be a useful reference as we try to define the role and trend of architectural philosophy in the course of China’s architectural development at present and in the future.