Research On The Architectural Department Hall Space Based On The Evolution Of Architectural Educational Ideas

Higher education in China is undergoing major reformation and development. Expansion of universities, including departments of architecture, is accompanied by construction or renovation of departmental halls to satisfy increased needs for complex functions. Research on the evolution of the design of architectural department hall, and on its relationship to architectural education, will provide theoretical basis for design.In this article, the author provided a historical overview of the evolution of the ideas of architectural education in the West by analyzing the origin of art education and the development of architectural education. Based on Bruno Zevi's methodology of the language of modern architecture, the author systematically analyzed the evolution of space in departmental halls of architecture departments. Initially such departmental halls directly reflected the architect's educational thoughts. However, after 1960's the design of the halls began to be separated from the education thoughts. On the other hand, the evolution of space in such departmental halls co-varied with the changes in architectural ideas, moving from classical centripetal space to centricity disaggregation of space, to exploration of uniform space, then to counter-uniform space, to main body disaggregation. The communication space, the most important element of department halls, underwent shifts from centripetal to fluidness to inclusiveness and extroversion.Architectural education in China has been influenced by academism since its introduction in early 20^th century. In 1950s architectural education experienced institutional adjustment and the tide of learning from the Soviet Union, throughout which it was confined continuously by academism. Transformation and development of architectural education began in 1980s when Western educational thought spread to China. Subsequently, unlike in the West, where the evolution of halls of architecture departments shows a clear path, such evolution in China does not show clear pattern, due to the complex changes in educational ideas. Nevertheless thereseems to be the trend to move from centripetal space centrifugal space in design. The communication space in Chinese architectural departmental halls is characteristically centripetal inner courtyard space, which is very different from their Western counterparts.