"Shi Zhe Ru Si"

If the nature of architecture is space, then the nature of space is consciousness.This paper makes spatial awareness as the main research object, and research the core of architecture:where does spatial awareness come from and where will spatial awareness go? In the past decades, people regarded the struggle of Wood and Stone or other abstract concepts to define the difference of East and West buildings, but ignored the architectural spatial awareness problem of East and West.In the first part of this paper, the author raises a question about the western spatial awareness, which makes "image" as core and is supported by the development of glass. According five stages of the glass development:the stage of "glassware", stage of "windows and mirrors made by glass", stage of "optical lens", stage of "camera lens", stage of "optical fiber", the author raises five related patterns of spatial awareness:pattern of buildings-eyes primary image", pattern of "buildings-glass-false image", pattern of "buildings-lens-true image", pattern of "building-camera lens-screenage", pattern of "buildings-fiber optic-virtual image"-then studies the development of western spatial awareness.In the second part of the paper, the author proposes the concept of "objective selection, survival of the resemblance" in the context of globalization, combines the two meanings of "Image" and "Essence" established on the basis of "Shi Zhe" with the context of "buildings-mirror-image" in the dominant western culture, and proposes the "essence" as the core of architectural spatial awareness of the orient, especially China, which based on the development of landscape painting and clay. However, the essence of Chinese tradition has no development in the modern and contemporary history, it still remain in the plain concept of the ancients---"whether view " and "natural view".Since the previous turn of the capital in western modern times, the sense of "image" as the core of western architectural spatial awareness penetrate into the core of the oriental architectural spatial awareness, resulting in two situations:firstly, foreign architects in the view of "image", built grand narrativity buildings in China. As the extension of the "building" in the space consciousness, the "image" penetrate directly into the spatial awareness of contemporary Chinese architects. Secondly, western "image" spatial awareness penetrate into the undeveloped Chinese spatial awareness, the contemporary Chinese architects become "mirror" identity rather than subject identity in the condition of "false spontaneous awareness","collective unconscious" and "globalization context"In the third part of the paper, the author propose the core of the oriental spatial awareness---"Building-Clay-Essence", distinguish the essential between" image "and" essence", and clearly point out the reason why "essence" did not get development in China. The existence of "essence" which different from the western "image" spatial awareness based on a material basic. It exists in the clay, landscape painting, in the awareness of the traditional literati, and exists in the "object and image".The concluding section put forward the prospect:"in"(mirror) is the trap of the western (Europe and the United States) spatial awareness;"out"(clay) is the way of the awareness of the oriental (China) spatial awareness. It needs Chinese contemporary architects holding the attitude of "exploring the original "to cross-examine:What is real?...