Symposium explores images’s function in preserving Twentieth-century structure

2025-12-01 chinadaily.com.cn Editor：Gong Weiwei

Fine architectural images goes a good distance. It has the ability to tell, enthrall and encourage. When preserved properly, it information the collective recollections tied to structure and stands as compelling testimony to historic change.

Landscapes in View: Exploring the Beauty of Heritage, an educational symposium held on Nov 24 in Beijing, made a powerful case for the significance of architectural images in each defending and selling Twentieth-century architectural heritage.

The occasion, which introduced collectively almost 100 architects, photographers, professors and college students who specialise in structure and heritage research, was collectively hosted by the College of Architecture and Art at North China University of Technology, China Electronics Engineering Design Institute Co, and the editorial departments of three journals: China Architectural Heritage, The Architectural ReviewandArchitectural Photography.

Academic assist for the symposium was offered by the Committee on Twentieth-Century Architectural Heritage, which is affiliated with the Chinese Cultural Relics Society.

Jin Lei, the committee’s deputy director and secretary-general, moderated the convention and burdened the numerous function of images in speaking the worth of architectural heritage.

“To promote great architecture, we need high-quality images,” he stated.

“Concise and easy-to-read architectural photography not only documents and interprets buildings but can also resonate with a wide audience, helping to revive architectural heritage and raise public awareness.”

In the previous decade, the committee, China’s largest tutorial group devoted to researching and selling Twentieth-century architectural heritage, has chosen 1,000 architectural works from across the nation in 10 rounds. These buildings have been granted heritage standing for exemplifying China’s modernization and showcasing the ingenuity of Chinese architects.

Jin additionally revealed that the committee is curating a images exhibition on China’s Twentieth-century architectural heritage, which is able to open early subsequent 12 months in Beijing after which journey to eight different cities, together with Chongqing, Changchun, Wuhan and Shenzhen.

In his keynote deal with, Ma Guoxin, a famend architect, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and avid photographer who has printed a number of images books of structure and documentary portraits, reviewed the early growth of architectural images in China. He additionally emphasised that architectural images is a vital instrument for preserving architectural heritage, documenting spatial transformation and advancing the examine of cultural reminiscence.

Ma famous that the novice {and professional} photographers who got here to China within the mid-Nineteenth century left behind an unlimited variety of priceless photos for architectural historical past analysis. He highlighted the work of Felice Beato (1832–1909), an Italian-born British navy photographer who captured the ruins of the Old Summer Palace, and John Dudgeon (1837–1901), a British missionary and Sinologist who created an in depth visible report of Beijing.

During the Twentieth century, Chinese students like Chen Wanli, Liang Sicheng and Jin Shisheng superior the systematic documentation of architectural photos. Their efforts cemented images as a significant useful resource for learning architectural historical past.

Discussing up to date developments, Ma famous that the widespread use of good units and advances in digital know-how have led to explosive progress in architectural images. Many architectural design institutes have fashioned skilled images groups, though theoretical analysis, picture authentication and archival growth nonetheless lag behind.

Wan Yuzao, head of the committee’s images division, argued that architectural heritage images is just not merely the illustration of “beauty”. Instead, it’s a strategy of steadily understanding the feelings and historic context embodied in structure via in depth on-site expertise.

A Beijing native and skilled photojournalist, Wan has devoted years to capturing the capital’s Twentieth-century architectural heritage. His intimate data of the town permits him to anticipate the most effective gentle and angles for photographing main landmarks such because the Beijing Hotel, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing, and the Beijing Workers’ Stadium.

When working exterior Beijing, at websites such because the Shenzhen International Trade Center, the Turpan Museum and the Xinjiang People’s Theatre, Wan burdened the significance of preliminary analysis. On-site surveys and comparisons from a number of angles helped him decide probably the most expressive views.

Wei Shuxiang, an expert architectural photographer from Northeast Heilongjiang province, shared a sequence of images of protected buildings alongside the historic Chinese Eastern Railway. Built by the Russians and accomplished within the early 1900s, the railway runs from Manzhouli on the Hulunbuir grasslands to Suifenhe on the Russian border.

In Wei’s putting compositions, which steadiness gentle and shadow, buildings corresponding to the previous residence of the Suifenhe railway officer, Harbin’s Jihong Bridge, and the puppet “Manchukuo” regime-era police station in Boketu Town mix with their environments, whereas human exercise is a delicate presence.

“I like my photos of architecture to include people because architecture exists to serve people. Images without people feel a bit soulless to me,” he stated.

Dong Ming, a veteran architect and photographer from Guizhou province in Southwest China, shares an analogous strategy. He has lengthy documented the structure of the native Miao and Dong communities, together with timber homes, thatched dwellings, conventional roofs, and wind-and-rain bridges, a few of which have since disappeared or fallen into decay.

In addition to recording vivid architectural particulars, Dong’s pictures captivate viewers by capturing the ambiance of communities. His deal with aged villagers and left-behind youngsters lends his work a deeply human high quality.

During the panel dialogue, contributors shared their ideas on bettering architectural images of Twentieth-century heritage, the way it must be evaluated and the way public consciousness may be raised.

Veteran photographer Ye Jinzhong emphasised the significance of authenticity, noting that images of historic buildings should honestly seize their spatial qualities to retain documentary worth.

Liu Dong, head of the images heart at Tianjin Architecture Design Institute Co, famous that synthetic intelligence and video applied sciences are difficult and reshaping architectural images.

He argued that conventional strategies and fashionable applied sciences must be built-in in architectural heritage imaging. Film images and conventional printing strategies can convey the textures and materials qualities of architectural heritage, whereas digital instruments can assist inform the historic tales behind buildings.

For instance, to advertise Tianjin’s historic buildings, industrial stays, and websites alongside the Grand Canal, his workforce produced transferring photos supported by tales written by historians and performances by digital characters. The ensuing movies are displayed in museums, universities and cultural venues, permitting audiences to study architectural historical past even once they can not enter the buildings.

Zhang Zhe, a professor at North China University of Technology, argued that images of Twentieth-century architectural heritage must be developed right into a recognizable model with its personal worth proposition. To obtain this, she instructed making higher use of rising digital applied sciences, corresponding to brief movies and digital actuality, to inform the tales behind historic buildings and have interaction a wider viewers.