The Conception of Modern Chinese Space in"Courtyard·Yard": Analysis on Two Plans for the Reconstruction and Expansion of Zhang Kaiji in His Later Years

Headnote

Abstract By introducing two famous works of Mr. Zhang Kaiji in his later years, the reconstruction plan of Beijing Planetarium and the Museum of Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History, the paper analyzes the "courtyard·yard" space he once imagined in the modern city and large public buildings, and expounds the value and significance of his conception. The author believes that the expansion and transformation of important works should be based on historical research and centered on the spirit of space, and the intangible space outside of tangible entities should be carefully treated, so as to better complete the transmission of modern Chinese space experience.

Keywords Courtyard·yard, Modern Chinese space, Zhang Kaiji, Beijing Planetarium, The Museum of Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History

DOI 10.16785/j.issn1943-989x.2021.3.008

Zhang Kaiji, a second-generation architect in China, graduated from the Department of Architectural Engineering of National Central University in 1935. He became one of the youngest registered architects in China before 1949. After 1949, he joined Beijing state-owned Yongmao Company (the predecessor of Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd.) and became one of the most famous architects after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Zhang Kaiji presided over the design of a large number of famous buildings, among which Beijing Planetarium and the Museum of Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History are classic cultural buildings in the 1950s, becoming the collective memory of the whole nation.

After decades, the equipments and components of Beijing Planetarium and the Museum of Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History were aging, and the space could not meet the needs of the new era. In the 1990s, under the auspices of Beijing Municipal Government and the Ministry of Culture, the two buildings were successively reconstructed and expanded. Mr. Zhang, who was in his 80s, was involved in the long reconstruction process of the two buildings, and in his sketches he left the conception of continuing to search for modern Chinese space in traditional "courtyardyard".

1 Introduction of scheme

1.1 Beijing Planetarium

1.1.1 Reconstruction and expansion process. In 1992, Beijing Planetarium commissioned Zhang Kaiji to re-plan the site comprehensively on the basis of the original design, in order to play better social and economic...