1918-1937, more than 20 Chinese students went to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States to study architecture.
Finally, about 15 people returned to China after graduation.
They designed and built more than 600 buildings in various parts of China, each of which was classic;
established China's own architectural education system to cultivate future generations.
And this group of international students,
is the first generation of architects in China.
Penin University international students group photo
Most of them are from the preparatory class for studying in the United States of Tsinghua School .
is mostly a deep family background and is originally the "elite among the elites".
includes: Liang Sicheng , Lin Huiyin , Yang Tingbao ,
Tonghua , Fan Wenzhao, Zhao Shen, Chen Zhi...
Among them, Tonghua's grandson Tongming ,
is also an architect, engaged in architecture for more than 30 years,
is a professor at the School of Urban Planning of Tongji University.
Since 2015, he began to prepare for the exhibition "Awakening Modernity -
The First Generation of Chinese Architects Graduated from Pennsylvania ".
Through more than 1,400 photos, drawings, and interview records of the year,
shows us the growth and struggle history of this group of people.
and Architecture , the origin of the discipline in China.
Shanghai Concert Hall 1930, Design/Fan Wenzhao, Zhao Shen
Meiqi Grand Theater Shanghai 1941, Design/Fan Wenzhao
Eight Immortal Bridge YMCA Shanghai 1929, Design/Li Jinpei, Fan Wenzhao, Zhao Shen
Huangpu Theater 1952, Design/Huagai Architects Firm
Shanghai No. 1 Department Store 1936, Design/Kitai Engineering Department Photo provided by Zhang Chongxia
Today, the important classic buildings in these cities,
are all works by this group of Chinese first generation architects.
Self-Reading Tong Ming Edit Xiaoyue
Tong Ming
We have built houses since ancient times, but how to design and build a house has just begun in our country, that is, 100 years ago.
1918-1937, about the first and second World Wars, more than 20 Chinese students went to the University of Pennsylvania to study architecture.
Chinese students transfer to Seattle
Bin University Student Graduation Photo Second in the back row: Tonghua
Among the first generation of Chinese architects, there are Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Yang Tingbao, Fan Wenzhao, Zhao Shen, Chen Zhi...
My grandfather Tonghua is also one of them. Actually, I grew up among them when I was a child. But the time has passed and a lot of information is lost, so their understanding is still very vague. The cause of the exhibition
was in 2015. I went to the Archives of Pennsch School of Architecture to read the information from that year and found that Pennsch retained a large number of their homework, drawings, and transcripts.
What is the growth and struggle history of these people? What is the significance of modern Chinese architecture to us younger generations?
So, we spent 2 years visiting the descendants of these architects, interviewing scholars and experts, and finally exhibiting more than 1,400 exhibitions, a large number of drawings, photos, charts, and more than 20 interview records to present the journey that the international students of Penn University have gone through in their lives.
The beginning of study
This exhibition is very important. Their generation is a strong microcosm of our country's 100 years in the 20th century.
Most of their generation were born around 1900, and their life span coincided with the important historical stages of China.
When they first started to study, the Qing Dynasty was destroyed, and then the May Fourth Movement rose, and basic education was affected by many new and international influences.
The total number of Chinese architecture students studying at Penn University is about 24-25, and about 20 of them have passed from mainland China. The students mainly come from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, most of which come from Tsinghua Academy.
Tsinghua School originated in 1911 and was formed by benefiting from the Boxer Indemnity. The preparatory class for studying in the United States will send 50-60 students to various American schools every year for further studies.
Tong Hu, Chen Zhi took a photo with his classmates at Penn
The earliest one to study architecture from Tsinghua University was Zhuang Jun , in the Department of Architecture Engineering, University of Illinois, USA. After 1918, more international students chose to study architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.
The first to study architecture at Penn University was Zhu Bin. At almost the same time as Fan Wenzhao, there were endless students in the future, including Zhao Shen, Chen Zhi, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Ha Xiongwen...
Elite among the elite
these students themselves are the pride of heaven and the elite among the elite. At that time, many students were able to enter Tsinghua University, and their family backgrounds were very profound.
Like Liang Sicheng, they are well-known. Their three generations have left a strong mark in the modern academic and architectural history of China.
Lin Huiyin, his father is a diplomat and an important figure in the cultural field.
Chen Zhi, his father worked in the education industry before and after the Xinhai Revolution, and was one of the founders of Hangzhou Qiushi Academy (the predecessor of Zhejiang University today). Tong Hu's father was once a seventh-rank official appointed and also served as the director of the Provincial Department of Education.
Tong Hu, Guo Yuanxi, Chen Zhi
Many students have formed very close relationships before going abroad. Yang Tingbao, Zhu Bin, Liang Sicheng and Tong Hu have all served as members of Tsinghua Art Club, publishing annual magazines and creating paintings together.
Liang Sicheng and Chen Zhi are roommates in the same class and dormitory. Liang originally planned to go abroad in the same year as Chen Zhi, but because he broke his leg on a motorcycle, he was one year late before going to the United States with Lin Huiyin.
Later, Ha Xiongwen and Wang Huabin, from childhood to adulthood, were as close as brothers, and went to the United States to study on the same boat.
People of Penn University took a group photo
Chinese academic masters have made Americans jealous and jealous
During their study at Penn University, they happened to meet the peak of Penn University education. They met the best teacher Paul P. Cret, and followed him to learn the Beaux-Arts architectural system and received the best architectural education.
Paul Crui
Mr. Chen Zhi had a memory at that time that these Chinese students studying architecture were called a group of "Chinese Contingent" because they were particularly conspicuous. This is not only a special person, but also an outstanding performance.
Yang Tingbao transcript
This exhibition also exhibited their transcripts of that year.
The learning scores at Pennsylvania were divided into three levels: the first level was P and Pass; the second level was G and Good (Excellent); the third level was the highest score, Distinguished (Excellent), marked D.
We found the transcript at the time in the Penn Archives. Almost all Chinese students in D and G are in grades D and G, and the Pass ratio is extremely low.
Pennsylvania University Hayden Tower Drawing Classroom. Photographed in the second half of the 1910s.
Yang Tingbao took a photo in the student dormitory.
Yang Tingbao is the most powerful academic master here. He has taken about 97 credits, most of whom are D (outstanding), and he also serves as the president of Chinese students.
Their outstandingness has aroused the red eye of American students, and they may even swear: These damn Chinese people always take away the highest grades.
Chen Zhi City Hall is processed along the facade of Parker Avenue, the first prize entry for the 1927 Walter Cop Memorial Competition
On the other hand, a more important criterion for measuring whether the architectural students were excellent at that time was the students participating in various architectural design competitions and the prizes they won in the competition.
Zhu Bin, as soon as he went, he won the second prize in a competition organized by the design school across the United States. It was published in local tabloids at that time, which was very surprising, and winning the award later became commonplace.
Tonghua Pennsylvania Church design
Tonghua once won the first prize in the American design competition, with participation from more than 50 schools across the United States, such as Yale University , Cornell University , Harvard University , MIT, etc., he won the first prize among them.
Yang Tingbao in the drawing classroom
According to the memories of their classmates of the same era, these Chinese students were also the most hard-working group at that time. Other students may go around to play and have fun during the holidays, but Chinese students draw pictures all night long. This is also a characteristic that architecture students have always had since ancient times.
American newspapers and magazines reported that Chinese students from Penn University graduated
At that time, the academic system of the Department of Architecture of Penn University was five years of undergraduate degree and one year of master's degree. Chinese students basically completed six years of courses in just three to four years.
Chinese students at the University of Pennsylvania, Lin Huiyin (second from left) Chen Zhi (first from right)
Not only are students, but more versatile
They are by no means nerds, and they are also versatile in addition to their studies.
Medieval Masquerade Party of the Academy of Architecture
Chen Zhi (left) and Tonghua (right)
Chen Zhi is the most active and cheerful student among this group of international students. Most of his photos are smiling happily. He joined the Pennsylvania choir and served as the baritone. Chen Zhi can often be seen in various performance photos of the Pennsylvania Poetry Group.
Another character is Lin Huiyin, because she traveled with her father in the UK for a year in her early years, so she was very integrated into American life.
Lin Huiyin is not only beautiful, but her sweet smile and wise conversation have left an extremely far-reaching impression among American students.
Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng on campus
Her and Liang Sicheng also tutored and promoted each other in their academic process, becoming very firm companions. Even in many Liang Sicheng's homework, some shadows of Lin Huiyin's hand-painted are visible.
After completing the study at Penn University, the two got married.
Masquerade Party Yang Tingbao (left)
There is another student, who may not be known to everyone, named Liang Yan. He only studied at Penn for a year and later transferred to Yale University. He is talented and good at playing violin. He often plays violin to cheer everyone up in the "Tali Eisen" studio on , Wright .
Children's and Yang Tingbao's watercolor paintings
The only difference is my grandfatherChildren's. His character is naturally taciturn and is more used in his paintings. During his study at Penn University, his ability to paint watercolors has grown greatly. Later, when he traveled to Europe, he created more than 200 watercolor paintings and charcoal paintings. Professional painters thought it was top-notch and amazing when they saw it.
Fei Weimei and Liang Sicheng and his wife
And the friendship between them studied abroad continued for the second half of their lives, even to their old age. Not only in the professionalism of architecture, but also in life, they are also very close.
Chinese Society of Architecture
As soon as they graduated, most of them chose to return to China, and in the end, about 15 people actually returned from their studies.
That generation of people had feelings. It was their mission to study abroad. With historical responsibility, they went to the West to learn new technologies and new ideas and concepts, and brought them back to the country.
Industry to save the country and contribute its own strength to the construction of the country is a supreme thing for them.
600 architectural works lay the foundation for modern Chinese architecture from the late 20s to the early 1930s, when the entire country was in a state of emerging development, these international students brought the Beaux-Arts architectural system they learned in the United States back to China and actively intervened in the architectural practice at that time.
Nanjing Central Stadium 1931 Photo provided by Wang Xiaoqian, Design/Kitai Engineering Department
Old photo of Shanghai No. 1 Department Store 1936, Design/Kitai Engineering Department
Zhu Bin and Yang Tingbao are both the main architects of the Kitai Engineering Department. Chitai Engineering Department is the most important architectural firm in China in the 1930s and 1940s.
They built the Central Hospital and the Central Stadium in Nanjing.
has realized the "Shanghai Hundred One Store" in Shanghai, which is today's Shanghai No. 1 Department Store, and is still known as Shanghai classic architecture.
Nanjing Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building
Jincheng Grand Theater (now Huangpu Theater)
Nanjing National Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office Building 1935, Design/Huagai Architects Firm
Another very important force comes from Huagai Architects Firm. The three main founding members are Zhao Shen, Chen Zhi and Tong Hu.
They have done a lot of architectural works in Shanghai and Nanjing. In Nanjing, they designed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, the dormitory camp of the US military advisory group in Nanjing after the revival of the Anti-Japanese War, the Zhongshan Memorial Hall, and the Ministry of Railways building, etc.
In Shanghai, they designed the Great Shanghai Grand Theater, the Jincheng Grand Theater (now Huangpu Theater), Zhejiang Industrial Bank, Henry Bank, etc., which can all be called Shanghai's classic modern and contemporary architecture.
Shanghai Theater
Among them, the Shanghai Theater is located at the intersection of today's Tibet Middle Road and Nanjing East Road . The facade is extremely modern, with a series of neon red light columns, which brings an unprecedented life experience to citizens at night. It also reflects a process transformation from traditional to modern in Shanghai in the 1930s. Unfortunately, the Shanghai Grand Theater was demolished and rebuilt during the urban development in the 1990s.
Shanghai Concert Hall (formerly Nanjing Grand Theater), designer/Fan Wenzhao, Zhao Shen
Another very important architect isFan Wenzhao.
He also established his own firm and left behind very important works in Shanghai: Nanjing Grand Theater (now Shanghai Concert Hall), Meiqi Grand Theater , Shanghai Baxianqiao Youth Club and other series of public buildings, which were well received. It is still used by Shanghai citizens today.
Jiya Apartment is now in appearance
Shanghai Hengshan Road Jiya Apartment is also a work by Fan Wenzhao. It can be said to be one of the earliest batch of centralized residential houses in our country. He began to think about how to make the middle class more comfortable and modern housing.
Jiya Apartment looks at it today, and it still exudes the bright colors of modernist architecture, modern and simple, and is remarkable around the world.
"Great Shanghai Plan" Exhibition
Establish an architecture education system
Cultivate generations of Chinese architects
After this group of international students returned to China, in addition to architectural practice, more importantly, they established China's own architecture education system and cultivated generations of talents.
So after them, we will have the second and third generation architects to take the stage of history and continue the architectural miracle they created in the 30s and 40s.
Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin couple
Group photo of Northeastern University Department of Architecture
For example, Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin co-founded Northeastern University in the early days. After 1946, the Department of Architecture of Tsinghua University was founded.
Yang Tingbao (left) and Tong Hu (right)
Like Tong Hu, Yang Tingbao, Tan Yuan, both held important teaching positions at Central University, as well as later Nanjing University, Nanjing Institute of Technology .
Liang Sicheng's hand-painted appearance evolution of wooden structures throughout the ages
In the second half of their lives, this group of people focused more on the development of architecture disciplines and majors.
Like Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, they have made unignorable contributions to the research on traditional Chinese architecture.
Mr. Tong Hu was developing the research on Chinese classical gardens and wrote the "Jiangnan Garden Chronicle".
40s Shanghai Bund scenery
Ha Xiongwen may not be familiar with it. He is actually one of the earliest urban planning experts in China. He drafted and formulated the first urban planning law in modern China.
and more like Zhao Shen, Chen Zhi, and Yang Tingbao, they are very important for the subsequent cultivation of architectural talents and the continuation of architectural design strength in our country. Today, the two most important design institutes in Shanghai, Shanghai Architectural Design Institute and East China Architectural Design Institute, are also inherited from their pulse.
"Awakening Modernity" Exhibition site
We trace the first generation of architects, and in fact, it is more important to us now, to provide a reference.
We now face all kinds of busyness, practical problems, and business demands every day. But in fact, what architecture shapes is not just a house or a commercial product. Architecture has a sense of social responsibility -
brings a better and cultural environment to a city. The spirit of
now seems even more valuable.
