Stupa to Pagoda and Mat to Chair

 Stupa to Pagoda and Mat to Chair 

    India and China have major influences in the Asian history, first for their geographic space and secondly their population size. In its early history India was not a consolidated entity while China has had the world's longest continuous population. Both of these societies had a large impact on the history of Architecture and sculptures as well. 

   One of China's earliest capitols could be an example of a proto-urban center. One of the first that paved the way for more beginning societies. The name was Zhengzhou, and it relied on the waters of the Yellow River to survive. A wall surrounded the shape and kept the space enclosed that held the platforms for which building was built upon. Interesting enough Buddhism had a large effect on art of these periods, the body of the building were all interrelated to a diagrammatic pattern known as the mandala. This was a common feature of this time in artwork and textile designs. The next step for humans to create a meaning in landscape is to shape it. An example would be the burial places of Buddha's relics. It started as a mound of earth and then transformed into a more permanent and monumental space called a stupa. Over time stupas became more and more complex in architectural practice. Most being the jump in vertical height as well as attaching a banner to the chattri, in doing so would draw more attention to the vertical points. Another adjustment was that a Buddha was place sometimes in the front, or on top of the stupa.

    The Great wall was commissioned by the emperor Qin Shi Huangdi he was the founder of the Qin dynasty. In the third century he commissioned the wall and built around 3,000 miles of the wall, the entire length of the wall is around 3,000-4,000 miles long. It worked as a huge defensive factor throughout the mountains. The wall was initially made out of rammed earth and rubble but over the years turned into brick and stone. Not only a way to defend but it is also a way of transportation with a road on top as well as a place to have watchtowers. The Tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi is also a wonder of China, the find of his tomb was one of the most powerful finds in Chinese Archeology. The tomb is filled with 6,000 life-sized terra-cotta warriors, as well as dogs and horses. 

    Cambodia also had many great works of urbanism, architecture, and sculptures in this time. Most believe it was due to their political stability, central authority, and financial resources. The Angkor period is when most temples were built and was considered to start in the reign of Jayavarman the second in 802 C.E. The cities built in the Khmer Empire were rectilinear and large in scale. The central temple complexes relate to the stupa but also Mount Mehru, which was believed to be the mythical home of the Hindu gods. The moat of Angkor Wat is 623 feet and faces west with additional entrances at the north, east, and south sides. They are rectilinear with a dominate structure in the center of the design. The main structure consists of five vertical towers that are in a quincunx layout, ascending heights with the tallest in the center of the design. Most structures in this time in Cambodia were made of perishing materials which is why many of them do not exist to today. 

    The Chinese courtyard house consists of the secular building type, or the earliest form of houses standing. These homes focused on symmetry, axiality, and rectilinearity. The courtyard homes were dominant architectural factors in China the interior was separated from the street life, and in more elaborate courtyard homes privacy was increased. Hundreds of iterations of the pagoda for leant distinctive profiles to the practice of Buddhism and in the region. 

    The Chinese have the Great Wall, but they also had many materials good for furniture. There are many categories of furniture: hard wood furniture, lacquered furniture, soft wood furniture, and furniture made from other materials such as porcelain. Initially like other Asians the Chinese would sit on the floor, ground, or low platform There were three major developments: the first was a framework for furniture and the panel that it was built upon, so there became a structural system, the second is that furniture became an important aspect for the layout of interiors, and third, chair mode or sitting elevated became the normal in culture. The chair became a huge aspect in Chinese culture because of function, comfort, and status. The yoke-back chair received its name because of its distinctive curved top rail, with upturned ends that extend beyond the vertical supports. Another chair I found interesting was the curved back chair, this is a chair that I see in lots of common day designs. It's very versatile, that's one thing about these wooden chairs is that most almost never go out of style, most common people have wooden chairs in their homes. Platforms were also a huge part of the Chinese culture of furniture as well as couches, beds, and tables. Once one development was made with going from mats to chairs then everything began to shift. 

ONE STEP FURTHER

I want to talk about Wang Shu, he creates modern architecture following ancient typologies and tendencies. Following the ancient Chinese designs and techniques that would have been used. One of my favorite designs by Wang Shu is the Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art. I feel this captures the common design of courtyard homes. It gives the feel of a communal space and something that connects the outside to the privacy of the inside.   

EXTRA LINKS 

The First Emperor’s Army | China's Megatomb Revealed (youtube.com)

Courtyard House design, Traditional Chinese Architecture facing inward, with buildings arranged (youtube.com)

What makes the Great Wall of China so extraordinary - Megan Campisi and Pen-Pen Chen (youtube.com)