Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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Item‘Critical’ practice in state-owned design institutes in post-Mao China (1976-2000s): a case study of CAG (China Architecture Design and Research Group)( 2010)During the past three decades, China has witnessed an unprecedented upsurge of construction at astonishing speed. Architectural design firms from all over the world have participated in China’s design and building practice. One of the leading forces of this progress, however, is the state-owed design institute, which is a unique type of architectural design practice originally formed in the Maoist era (1949 - 1976) in China. Different from private practices, the design institute is institutionally associated with the government and significantly influenced by governmental policies. Taking the China Architecture Design and Research Group (CAG) as an example, this thesis aims to summarize the common and consistent features of the practice in the design institute in the post-Mao era (1976 - present) and to find an underlying socio-political mechanism that is perhaps driving the design practice in specific settings. In this research, the practice in the design institute is studied with a focus on the design agenda of architects. In order to capture a picture of the evolution of design ideas, I employed the concept of ‘criticality’ into my research from the ‘critical’ and ‘post-critical’ discussion in North America and East Asia. The formal characteristics of CAG’s works are tested in this measurement for an analytical interpretation. The investigation of CAG is conducted through both data analysis and fieldwork. Information from books, journals and the internet is collected to develop a comprehensive understanding of the design institute. During my fieldwork in Beijing, I visited important buildings designed by CAG and interviewed the chief architect of this institute. The evolution of its institutional system and its common design features in architectural language are at the core of this study. Through empirical studies on the relevant issues of CAG, I try to examine a relationship between a government-orientated operation of the institute and the design approach of the architects, and further explore the significance of this practicing mode in the socio-political context of contemporary China. Despite the criticism often raised in the existing literature, this thesis argues for a collectivist perspective for evaluations of the design institute. With the economic conditions of a developing country in mind, this thesis suggests that the design agenda of architects in the design institute reflects long-term considerations of public welfare. Consequently, the participation of the government in architectural practice, as I would propose at the end of this thesis, is an effective and necessary mode, especially for developing countries. This standpoint can help establishing a more cross-cultural and international framework in theorizing the architectural practice of different countries and cultures including nations such as China in contemporary world.