Windows In The Private Garden Aesthetic Connotation

Windows stem from people's physiological needs, such as lighting, ventilation and so on. Nevertheless, with the constant evolution of civilization and the continuous development of the architectural arts, people's demands towards windows are confined to not only their utilitarian functions, but also their aesthetic features. Windows not only present people with sunshine, gentle breeze, warmth, and pleasance, but also provide them with inspiration, poetic aura and picturesque scene for scholars and artists. In Chinese garden arts, windows are important visual elements in traditional landscaping and deep accumulation of traditional culture and national spirit as well. In typical residential buildings windows'utilitarian functions, such as ventilation and lighting etc., are highlighted, but what deserves more notice is a the prominent role played by windows in the art of landscaping, namely, an important means of achieving aesthetic significance. Windows make the eyes of the viewer more focused, maintain an appropriate distance between subjects and objects, and display a great originality to a full length from a confined space via commuting between illusion and reality, and consequently expand artistic space, extend levels of vision and foreground poetic imageries. Therefore, designers of gardens attach great importance to windows, and achieve a sense of fine subtlety and beauty by way of various windows'arrangements and decorations.Private gardens in the South, renowned for being small, free, exquisite, elegant and freehand, well exemplifies Chinese classical garden art. Well fostered by scholars' interest in the process of construction, the architectural design, the construction of mountains and waters, and the maintenance of flowers and trees all embody the humanism and romanticism of the traditional Chinese culture. As a result gardens in the South top the traditional garden system, which is known as the best under heaven.Based on the study about the windows of private gardens in the South, the thesis is going to figure out the aesthetic connotation behind windows and explore their unique aesthetic value through careful analysis of windows'beauty of pattern features and functions. Windows of private gardens in the South can be divided into various categories, such as flower windows, empty windows, windows without glass panes and so on. Panes of windows contain abundant cultural connotation, and the arrangement of windows is rich in the beauty of rhythm as well. Gardens of different categories also have different aesthetic functions by means of obtaining or citation or separation. Through windows we can extend our vision, communicate better with internal and external world and strengthen potential aesthetic exchanges. Taking windows to appreciate the beauty and express emotions has become the important aesthetic characteristics of Chinese intellectuals in the South. Therefore, windows of the gardens, which are used for seclusion by their masters, seem to be the construction's eyes and gardens'orifices, playing an important role in the art of the garden.