Jingming Wu studied Architecture at Southeast University in Nanjing, China, and graduated in 2008. In 2012 she received a Masters in Architectural History and Theory from the same university. She supervised undergraduate students in architectural history and theory up until she began her PhD at the Architectural Association in 2013. She has been awarded several design prizes, including the Shikenchikusha design competition in Japan, has published several papers, and has presented internationally at various conferences.
The Invented Chinese Classical Garden
Mark Cousins, Doreen Bernath
The “Chinese classical garden” has been a popular topic in Chinese architecture for almost 80 years, in use not only in landscape design, but also in architecture and urban design. Wang Shu, the laureate of the 2012 Pritzker Prize, referred to it in presenting his design. The “Chinese classical garden” has encouraged the birth of a Chinese contemporary architecture satisfying both Chinese and western audiences. However, why does “Chinese classical garden” and not any the other types of antique architecture become the representative of Chinese architecture? This study investigates the conception of “Chinese classical garden” in the architectural history and theory writings of the 20th century. A further aim is to consider the ambitions of government and of the architects who invented the term “Chinese classical garden” as a “traditional architecture” during the revolution period of the 1950s.