Architectural Study On The Lanzhou Iron Bridge Of The Yellow River As Industrial Heritage

The Lanzhou Iron Bridge of the Yellow River is famous as a case of technology cooperation between the West and China in the period of Westernization Movement in the Qing Dynasty. There are plenty of theses about the national heritage; however, the majority of them are researched from the perspective of history, culture, sociology and so on, but not the architecture. It is necessary to study the bridge on the idea of industrial heritage. By this means, it is not only to re-evaluate the value of the heritage, but also to build the "database" of the conservation as sake of the city development.It is discussed from an architectural perspective including practical survey, textual research, and case analysis. Moreover, combined with other related disciplines including sociology, economics, law, bionomics, aesthetics and urban history, it proposes a concept of conservation plan in the balance of the urban development and historical protection. The principal parts are as following,1. It reviews the relationship between the bridge and the conditions of the physiognomy, the hydrographic and the transport in the area of Yellow River with the history of Lanzhou city.2. It analyzes the proportion, scale, material, constructer of the bridge with the process of design, build and maintenance, and indicate that the integrated aesthetics of this architecture come from the unification of the function and the form.3. It points out the function of the bridge is changing from transport to heritage, and the means of landscape and tourist is more important than transport.4. It proposes that the conservation must base on the urban development, river environment and the noumenon itself.The final part is a conclusion, which bases on the integral evaluation of the Lanzhou Iron Bridge. 55 thousand words, 59 sheets and charts...