Integrate the tradition into the present life: A new community centre in Chicago Chinatown

Traditional Chinese architecture, developed under its own cultural and social environment for thousands years, has its unique characteristics and principles. It is different from Western architecture not only simply in exterior shape or configuration, but also in the underlying conception of the architectural approaches and expressions.; Could some of these distinctive elements in traditional Chinese architecture be studied and interpreted into the contemporary architectural design?; This interpretive study of traditional Chinese architecture is explored in three areas: the harmonious relationship between the nature and the build form; the balance between the solid and the void; and the unification of the spatial organization and the structure system.; The studied elements are addressed in the design of a Chinese community centre, located in Chicago Chinatown.; The architectural design focus on the translation of these elements in architectural language, and the integration of them into the sequence of spaces and events.