Inside the circle, outside the square : analysis of traditional Chinese architecture

Abstract

This thesis deals with a process of analyzing specific examples in traditional Chinese architecture in an attempt to understand and identify the underlying principles that make it essentially Chinese. The basic intent is that the development of this process of observation would later inform a process of design that would generate a 'new' architecture which could be worthily referred to as a continuum of the traditional architecture. The examples studied range from Palace and Temple architecture to Chinese gardens. To varying degrees, these places have been analyzed in terms of their spatial organization, degrees of public and private, structural systems, use of light, method of composition, system of proportions and system of circulation.