Good Essay On Chinese Building Structures

In addition to its pronounced artistic originality, Chinese architecture is different from European and other oriental architectures due to its traditions. All major structural and decorative techniques developed in ancient times and persisted through centuries with little change. Chinese architecture has apprehended many foreign influences, but the sustainability of Chinese culture is expressed in the fact that all innovations are reinterpreted in the framework of tradition and borrowed elements do not appear as such, but are perceived as native Chinese ones.
The principles of Chinese architecture were finally formed in the III century. In the fifth century, when the north and south of China were reunited, there was created a single style of architecture and its main structural forms that have survived with little change till the end of the XIX century. In architecture there was a tendency to subtle forms. In the following centuries decorative style developed and even began to prevail over the constructiveness which initially used to determine the shape of the buildings.
In the VI-VIII centuries, the main types of buildings were formed. First and foremost, it was a rectangular structure on a ground platform lined with stone slabs; this type of building was the foundation of the Chinese architecture. There were also high-rise buildings, gate towers and a variety of gazebos and galleries. Brought from India along with Buddhism, pagodas were built on the same principles as traditional Chinese towers. Initially, they were low and square, but with the development of technology there began to appear multi-faceted and multi-tiered pagodas.
The location and height of the building was entirely determined by its function and social status of the owner. The height of the residential houses of ordinary citizens could not exceed one floor. For these reason, a specific volume-spatial composition of the Chinese city makes the scenery very picturesque. It is made even more picturesque by magnifying roof color scheme: the roof of imperial buildings was painted in gold color, the roofs of temples and officials’ homes were green (sometimes blue), and the roofs of towers were covered with gray tiles, sometimes with green edges.
Artistic originality of Chinese architecture is formed because of the curved silhouette of high Chinese roofs. In China, it was believed that demons and evil spirits avoid curved lines as they can only move in a straight line. In general, curviness of the roofs has less to do with the decorative aspect than with the structural features of Chinese architecture. The roof was very high and massive, thus only the curved shape of the roof could reduce the weight by almost a third and give the whole construction is lightweight and sleek silhouette.