Tong Jun
Text
100th Birth Anniversary of Famous Architect
A ceremony marking the 100th birth anniversary of Tong Jun, a famous architect and educator, was held Friday on the campus of Southeast University in east China's Nanjing City. Tong Jun (1900-1983) was a leading Chinese architect who took part in more than 200 architecture design projects and published 12 academic works and 50 papers. Tong, who was born in northeast China, went to the University of Pennsylvania to study architecture in 1925 and returned to China in 1930. Since 1940s, Tong started his teaching in the Southeast University and educated a large number of architecture professionals in China. Hundreds of architects and students and teachers from Southeast University today attended the ceremony and an exhibition on Tong's life and architectural achievements.
THIS IS REAL ARCHITECTURE
Wang Shu's Amateur Architecture 'I design a house instead of a building. The house is the amateur architecture approach to the infinitely spontaneous order. Built spontaneously, illegally and temporarily, amateur architecture is equal to professional architecture. But amateur architecture is just not significant. One problem of professional architecture is, that it thinks too much of a building. A house, which is close to our simple and trivial life, is more fundamental than architecture. Before becoming an architect, I was only a literati. Architecture is part time work to me. For one place, humanity is more important than architecture while simple handicraft is more important than technology. The attitude of amateur architecture, - though first of all being an attitude towards a critical experimental building process -, can have more entire and fundamental meaning than professional architecture. For me, any building activity without comprehensive thoughtfulness will be insignificant. Winning this award is something that I had not expected. For many years, I have been pursuing my dream on a solitary course. Before this award, I had never published any architectural design collections or designed any buildings outside of China. I always see myself as an amateur architect, so it was a huge and pleasant surprise for me to receive this honor. I wish to thank the judges for their insight and comments.' - Wang Shu Pritzker Prize acceptance Speech As the first architect born and educated in China to win this award, I accept with both honor and reverence. You should know that China, despite its great architectural tradition, has not had an official system for professional architects over the past thousands of years. Modern architecture as a profession, starting from my teacher's teacher, has only been in existence for three generations, making this award one of special importance for Chinese architects. A young architect myself, I have to say that I owe this award to the age we now live in. It is in this golden age that China has achieved unprecedented prosperity and openness, giving me so many opportunities to make difficult architectural experiments in a short span of time. Here, I wish to thank my partner Lu Wenyu and all my friends who have helped me before. Yes, I can see some of you in this room today. Maybe it is because the professional architecture system in this country is still in its infancy stage, or maybe it is because so many things have happened in the past decades, but I still remember that 30 years ago, when I was studying at the architecture department of Nanjing Institute of Technology, "What is architecture?" was the question most often raised. Once, Mr. Tong Jun, my respected professor, who is also the first architect in modern China to study traditional gardens, was asked this same question by a humble student. His answer was simple, "Architecture is just a small thing." Yet, it is this small thing that has profoundly changed the outlook of China and the lives of the Chinese people over the past 30 years. It has been a process full of experiments and confusions. As an architecture student who had read too much philosophy at school, I first embraced modern architecture with full passion, and then quickly turned my attention to post-modern architecture. Just as I was starting to feel bored about the extensively artificial features of the modern buildings, I fell in love with deconstruction philosophy and architecture. I was so excited that I even designed and built several deconstructive buildings myself. But throughout the process I was confused by the same question, "Are my buildings deeply rooted in my own culture?" This was one of the reasons why I chose to live in seclusion in the 1990s. I withdrew from the professional architecture system, and turned to the renovation of old buildings. I spent days and nights working with local craftsmen. And I realized that compared with modern buildings that are more about fabrication, there is another type of building that recognizes things that are already in existence. Unlike modern buildings that focus on abstract space, this other type of building focused on creating a sense of place and connecting with the past. And compared with buildings carrying a strong human imprint, traditional Chinese buildings are closer to nature, taking architecture to a whole new horizon. It is an entirely different world of architecture that I had never seen or learned before, but it contains something more valuable than what modern buildings can offer. If modern architecture is all about the professional architecture system, I would rather call myself an amateur. All my architectural activities so far have taken place in and for China, but the issues involved in these activities are not confined to China. Many of the architecture-related issues that have emerged in China amidst tectonic changes in the past decades have all been experienced in other parts of the world, although they are taking place in China on a larger scale, with a stronger impact and at a faster speed. In a country that only had craftsmen but not architects just 100 years ago, such changes have resulted in a sharp conflict of civilizations. Therefore, architects should not just see themselves as professional technicians, but also demonstrate a wider perspective, deeper thinking, clearer values and conviction. In all of my architectural design activities I have constantly asked myself the following questions: How can an architecture founded on craftsmanship survive in today's world? What is the relevance of the traditional Chinese landscape system in a world filled with gigantic artificial structures? In a society undergoing massive city-building campaigns, how should urban development be handled without resorting to major demolition and reconstruction? How can new urban buildings connect with memories of the past–that might be otherwise lost as structures are demolished–and re-establish their cultural identities? What can be done in the realm of architecture to overcome the stark contrast between urban and rural areas in China? Is it possible to ensure that alongside the top-down professional system of modern architecture, ordinary people’s right to initiate their own building activities is also protected? Is it possible to find smarter ways for addressing environmental and ecological challenges by drawing on the wisdom found in traditional architecture and grassroots building activities? Is there a way for us to express our architectural pursuit with stories and feelings without resorting to gigantic, symbolic and iconic structures? How can an independent architect maintain the attitude and work style against the background of a powerful modern system? I always say that I am not just designing a building, but a world of diversity and difference and a path that leads us back to nature. These are the questions I was asking myself when I learned I was given the award, and these are the questions I will continue to focus on in my future endeavors.
Text Recommended
童寯：中式大屋顶像辫子一样累赘多余
在中国第一代建筑师的设计之中，童寯的名字让人感到陌生，即使在建筑界熟悉他的人也并不多，或许是因为童寯的默默无闻1966年和1980年在中国建筑学会第四届和第五届理事会的理事名单中，甚至没有出现童寯的名字，童寯淡出人们的视野是在1950年代之后，而在上个世纪三十年代，他是当时最著名的华盖建筑师事务所的三巨头之一，其建筑作品遍布南京、上海，1921年童寯中学毕业，此时呢“五四”涛声未平，青年学子都很激奋，童寯决心攻读土木工程，于是投考了唐山交大和北平清华学校，考试结果公布，童寯在交大名列第一，在清华名列第三，最后童寯选择了清华。 1925年9月，从清华毕业的童寯立志于建筑学，以实现科学与艺术相结合的理想，受到高班同学杨廷宝的影响，童寯选择留学美国宾夕法尼亚大学建筑系。当时的宾夕法尼亚大学正处在极盛时期，在全美拥有一流的师资队伍，学生中的天才更是云集，童寯的同屋室友就是梁思成，此外中国建筑学界的宗室人物杨廷宝、陈植等人也悉数出于宾大建筑系。 回国之后的童寯先是在东北大学建筑系执教，然而短短一年之后，“九一八事变”爆发，童寯离开沈阳南下北平，旋即他应同学陈植之邀前往上海，参加了华盖建筑师事务所，在当时“华盖”是唯一一个中国人自己创办的可以与外国建筑事务所抗衡的建筑设计机构，当然华盖在当时中国建筑界也算是一个另类，当时建筑界正在掀起一股“建筑艺术复兴”的浪潮，不过所谓“复兴”不过是在现代建筑上加上中式的大屋顶而已，童寯对此并不认同，他说他们喜爱中式建筑，却不知精髓所在，只认定最显著的部分屋顶为建筑美的代表，便把这屋顶移植到现代房屋之上，以为中国建筑就算是步入了“文艺复兴时代”。 虽然身为满族，童寯依然认为这大屋顶像辫子一样累赘多余，当然童寯的看法也代表了“华盖”的观点，在当时所谓的“复古潮流”中，华盖建筑师事务所始终坚持新建筑方向，完成的大量建筑设计作品都摒弃了风行一时的“大屋顶”的风格，童寯主持设计的建筑作品有120余件，但是他的创作在1952年画上了句号，不过童寯在建筑学上的贡献并未止步于此。
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Tong Jun is an architectural coherence of Chinese and western, ancient and modern master of buddhism.
2 Tong Jun's design work is distinctive and dignified and generous, innovative spirit.
3 During 1932~1952, the projects Tong Jun hosted and participated are more than 100.