Mutual Influence Between Russian And Chinese Architecture During The Russian Concession Period (1898-1904)

This paper is dedicated to the mutual influence of the Russian and Chinese architecture caused by Russian concession period in China (1898-1904). The study subject is buildings of Russian concession period in Dalian city in Zhongshan area.Scientific novelty of the article is to attempt a systematic review of the Far East architecture:an array of little-known factual and bibliographic information was introduced during the scientific revolution, the study of which will trace the genesis of Russian Far Eastern architecture; Far East architecture is still regarded as an independent phenomenon in isolation from existing analogues.In addition to this review, the work is relevant to the extent that all the historical research results presented in the dissertation material can be used for the preparation of generalized fundamental works on the history of domestic architecture, to complement the training programs and courses in architecture schools, and may also be relevant to be used in local history and religious books on the history of the Russian architecture and art.The issue of mutual influence of Russian and Chinese architecture was previously considered in the works of architects and architectural historians, but was mainly based on the architectural monuments in Harbin, Shanghai, etc. North-east China (Manchuria) appears extremely productive for architectural research. There are4reports published on the Russian architectural heritage in Manchuria (Kradin N.P., Levoshko S.S., Troitskaya T.Y.). T.Y. TroitskayaPh.D. in architecture in1996defended the thesis "Special features of Sino-Eastern Railway architecture (end of XIX-the first third of XX century)" in1996, which was the first step in the study of Russian architecture of the region.However, buildings in Dalian are special architectural constructions and represent a mix of styles. The layout of the city is also interesting to study and is used in its new urban concept (garden city). The paper considers the urban development concept Dalian, all surviving structures during the Russian concession period:their historical destiny, the situation in the building and the city structure, morphological, structural and stylistic analysis. Historical-political, cultural, architectural situation in China and the Russian Empire in the period of the lease Russian territories in northern Manchuria was studied in the paper, as well as urban planning, design, architectural and stylistic landscape-planning traditions of both countries.The aim of the study was to identify the vectors of interference between the cultures of China and Russia that have arisen in connection with the Russian presence in northern Manchuria. Influence of national traditions of Chinese architecture style solutions was detected in the architectural style of Russian buildings involving works on the general history of architecture.Methods used for the research include the study of the literature on the topic of research, archive search, analysis of maps, detailed on-site investigations, photographic images of buildings and specific prospects of Dalian, compositional aesthetic, typological, comparative analysis of urban facilities and techniques, and the generalization of the results.Work structure consists of seven chapters. The first chapter is introduction, which described the relevance of the research topic in detail, the scientific significance and novelty of the research goals and objectives, geographical and temporal scope of the study, research methodology, and the structure of the dissertation. Chapter also gives an overview of the literature of the Chinese. Russian and foreign sources, named the main points of each work. The works are divided into types:books, articles, dissertations, and illustrative material.The second chapter discusses in detail the historical and architectural background. Key historical and political events in the city of Dalian have a direct impact on its destiny and architectural uniqueness. Cultural and architectural backgrounds include separately considered aspects such as:urban planning (traditional urban planning and urban development in China in the Russian XIX-XX centuries), architectural style (traditional Chinese style in architecture and popular architectural styles in Russia in XIX-XX centuries), construction (traditional designs in buildings in China and Russia). The brief typology of buildings existing in the XIX-XX centuries is presented in the chapter as well.The third chapter is devoted to the study of the surviving monuments of Dalian Russian concession period. Each monument was considered separately from the parameters:1) Name, year of construction and history of utilization2) Position in the urban environment3) Morphological analysis4) Constructive analysis a. Walls b. Roof c. Floor structure5) Fenestration (doors and windows)6) DetailsAlso a research on the stylistic facility of the buildings was carried out. Each style has been considered in terms of its development and adaptation of Russian architects in the concession. For each style the following features as stylistic, structural, aesthetic features has been identified and considered by the example of each individual plant.The chapter four brings the grand total of the studies made in chapter four. All data are presented in graphical or tabular form. Also there is statistical expression research.The fifth chapter is the result of analysis of the information from the previous chapters. The sixth chapter presents the main vectors of interference between the Chinese and Russian culture, caused by the Russian concession on the north of Manchuria. Results of the study are divided into chapters:urban planning, architecture interference (stylistic and constructive), landscape planning or gardening art. This chapter presents the main results on the influence of Russian architecture Chinese architecture. For example, the Chinese public familiarity with advanced European styles and techniques of urban development, the exchange of construction technologies, the application of new methods of building materials. The chapter emphasized the influence of Chinese culture on the gardening art of Russia. Despite the fact that this influence began in the18th century, the cooperation between China and Russia has only reinforced the interest of Russian architects to landscape parks and gardens free layout. Despite the obvious difference between the cultures of China and Russia, Russian architects managed to bring something new into the architecture of China and borrow from China architectural innovations.Last chapter is the final chapter with the main conclusions on the paper.