An artistic architectural modernity: past and tradition in Liu Jipiao’s decorative architectural design in the late-1920s China

Abstract

Local traditions have been the critical considerations in the current project of iterating architectural modernities outside of the West. Situated in these emerging debates, this article investigates an underrepresented artistic architectural modernity created by Liu Jipiao in the late-1920s China and re-evaluates the relationships among the past, tradition, and modernity. It recovers the method Liu used and how he used it to address the “past,” invent “tradition,” and create an “artistic modernity.” Moreover, it adopts the concept of collective identity to interrogate the way in which Liu harnessed the contemporary Chinese architectural zeitgeist to promote both his chosen method and the artistic modernity. Two related desires – the desire for designing tradition and the desire to define what it is to be both “Chinese” and an “architect” – had interwoven together, creating the artistic architectural modernity. This article thus explores the possibilities of China’s multiple architectural modernities, investigating more diverse positions for the past and tradition than previous research has revealed. Meanwhile, the article’s use of the concept of collective identity unveils more perspectives on Chinese architects’ longstanding desire for tradition in building Chinese modernity and avoids simplifying the motivation for this desire into a political stance on national identity.

Keywords

• past
• tradition and modernity
• liu jipiao
• artistic architectural modernity
• french art movements
• decoration and design