How has Art Deco affected Chinese architecture

王雅

Art Deco is a well-known visual arts design style that first appeared in France and became popular in America. As Hillier （1968） states “Art Deco as an assertively modern style that ran to symmetry rather than asymmetry， and to the rectilinear rather than the curvilinear； it responded to the demands to of the machine and of new material and the requirements of mass production.” With the incredibly rapid advancement of Art Deco， Chinese architectures has been influenced in many aspects. In some aspects， Chinese Art Deco architectures have the same characteristics with international architecture， but in some aspects， Chinese Art Deco architectures also have their own characteristics. This essay will first give three importance characteristics of the Art Deco in Chinese architecture. After that， it will pay attention to the spirits of the Art Deco in Chinese architecture. Finally， it will introduce the Chinese designers are pay more attention to use both tradition Chinese elements and international Art deco elements in Chinese architecture.

“In China， at least 60 buildings， of which many are Art Deco， designed by Hungarian architect László Hudec survive in downtown Shanghai.”（Year of Hudec， Retrieved 18 May 2010）. Approximately in 1920， the area of Joffre Business Circle in Shanghai appearance Chinese Art Deco and then it became more and more popular in China， especially in Shanghai. This essay will give three main characteristics of the Art Deco in Chinese architecture in Shanghai， which are same as international Art Deco architectures. The first one is the simple geometric figures. Because of the Industrial Revolution， the figures became more mechanical. The different usages of lines made the Chinese architectures looks more spectacular. The second one is the unique color. It used solid color， strong contrast color and metallic color. For example， red， pink， yellow， orange and so on. Different color reflects the different personality of Chinese architectures. The last one is the usage of new materials and technologies. With the development of the innovative industrial technology， the new materials and technologies appearance and make Chinese architectures gradually go beyond themselves.

La Samaritaine department store， by Henri Sauvage， Paris （1925-1928）

Under the influences of neo-classical and modernism， Chinese Art Deco architectures also combined classic and modern elements and made the Chinese Art Deco architectures can reflect the distinctly different artistic spirit. In my opinion， the most important spirits are comprehensive and innovative. On one hands， the Chinese Art Deco architectures retained many traditional elements， such as the Mayan totems and the Greek architectures. On the other hands， it absorbed the results of the Industrial Revolution. The Chinese Art Deco architectures also showed innovative spirits. It began to use natural lines， such as， the shapes of leaves. The different spirits made the Art Deco become the necessary style in the development of the architectures and brought influences to other art areas.

Approximately from 1920， Chinese Art Deco architectures have focus on both international Art Deco styles and traditional Chinese patterns. Generally， the overall layouts are used international Art Deco styles， and local details are used traditional Chinese patterns and elements. Such as traditional Chinese cloud pattern， dragon pattern， Chinese chess and so on. The usages of both international Art Deco styles and traditional Chinese patterns made Chinese Art Deco architectures not only stylish， but also subtle.

In conclusion， in some aspects， Chinese Art Deco architectures absorbed the influences of the Industrial Revolution and had some same characteristics with international architectures. But in some aspects， Chinese Art Deco architectures also had their own characteristics and the traditional Chinese styles. Although， in my opinion， there are many things we can do in the future. Chinese designers still need to develop traditional Chinese thinking， not only use the traditional Chinese elements in some details. As the design students， we can absorb the advantages from the Art Deco and use it in many other ways. All in all， Art Deco affected Chinese architectures， and the usage of Chinese elements make it have Chinese architectures characteristics.

基金項目：石家庄新致远文化传播有限公司（项目编号：201610075034）。

REFERENCE LIST：

[1]Hillier， B （1968）. Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. Studio Vista. p.？12. ISBN？978-0-289-27788-1.