Yang Tingbao

Yang Tingbao (simplified Chinese: 杨廷宝; traditional Chinese: 楊廷寶; pinyin: Yáng Tíngbǎo; 1901–1982) was a Chinese architect and architectural educator known as one of "the Four Modern Masters in Architecture" in mainland China, along with Liang Sicheng, Tung Chuin, and Liu Dunzhen.

Yang Tingbao
Born1901
Nanyang, Henan
Died1982
Nanjing
NationalityChinese
Alma materTsinghua University
University of Pennsylvania
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsBeijing Heping Hotel, Beijing Train Station, Tsinghua Library University Addition，Nanjing Central Stadium
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.

Education

Born in Nanyang, Henan, China, Yang entered Tsinghua College in 1915 to study architecture. After graduating in 1921, he went to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States to pursue graduate studies.[1]

Career as an Architect

Major projects directed by Yang involved Nanjing Central Stadium, the Tsinghua University Library Addition, Heping Hotel, Southeast University (China) campus amongst others. He also took part in the design of People's Grand Hall, Beijing Train Station and the Chairman Mao Memorial. He presided, participated, or directed over 100 projects in China, mainly in Nanjing and Beijing.[2]

Republic of China era (1912–49)

In 1927, he returned to China and joined Jitai Architecture and Engineering as a design supervisor. He worked there until 1948.[3] In 1931, Yang designed an addition to Tsinghua University Library, which was originally designed by the American architect, Henry Murphy. The library was used as a wartime hospital during the Sino-Japanese War. In 1982, a second addition was designed by a professor Guan Zhaoye of Tsinghua University.

After the fourth National Athletic Games in Hangzhou in 1930, Republican President Chiang Kai-shek announced that a central stadium would be built in the capital Nanjing for the National Athletic Games in the future. In 1931, Yang Tingbao and his team won the competition for Nanjing Central Statium and construction was completed in the same year.[4]

In 1932, Yang took part in the Historical Building Renovation Project in Beijing, where he worked closely with local craftsmen in Beijing.

People's Republic of China 1949-1982

In the early 1950s, Chinese architecture witnessed the growth of the "Large Roof Style Movement" (大屋顶运动; Dà wūdǐng yùndòng), which supporters claimed to align with Chinese tradition and to be expressive of the Chinese spirit. However, the leading critic of this movement, Liang Sicheng, ridiculed the style as: "Wearing the Western suit with a Manchurian hat."[5]

Yang was indifferent to the fad and said: "I'm not against the Large Roof Style, but it's a waste of money. We designers shouldn't be slaves to fads and fashions." In 1952, he designed the Heping Hotel in Beijing, which was built to hold the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference. The Heping Hotel was then the first high-rise in Beijing at one story taller than Beijing Hotel. When it was built, the Heping Hotel's austere and modernistic look drew much controversy although it would later be seen as an exemplary work of public building design.[6]

Educational career

In 1940, Yang became a professor in the architecture department of Central University. In 1949, Central University was renamed National Nanjing University, and he became the chair of its architecture department. In 1952, the architecture department and other engineering departments at Nanjing's Southwestern University were reestablished as the Nanjing Institute of Technology, which in 1988 would be renamed Southeast University. Yang subsequently remained as architecture department chair at the newly established university.[3]

Political career

He served as vice president of the Chinese Architects Association four times, and president once. The Chinese Architects Association became affiliated with the International Union of Architects (IUA). Yang served as the vice president of the IUA between 1957 and 1963. From 1979 to 1982, he served as the vice governor of Jiangsu Province.[7]

Publications

Yang authored Comprehensive Hospital Architecture Design, Yang Tingbao Design Work, Yang Tingbao Watercolor, Yang Tingbao Drawing. He also wrote articles about urban planning and landscape design.[2]

References
  1. 杨廷宝-中国现代建筑的创始人 [Yang Tingbao-Founder of Chinese modern architecture] (in Chinese). Tsinghua University. 20 May 2006. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  2. 近代建筑大师——杨廷宝 [Modern Architects: Yang Tingbao] (in Chinese). Landscape Architecture China. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  3. 中国近现代建筑五宗师：吕彦直、刘敦桢、童寯、梁思成、杨廷宝 [The Five Gurus of Chinese Modern Architecture: Lu Yanzhi, Liu Dunzhen, Tong Chuin, Liang Sicheng, Yang Tingbao] (in Chinese). Baidu. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  4. 民国时期远东第一体育场——南京中央体育场 [First Stadium in the Far East: Republican China's Nanjing Central Stadium] (in Chinese). Jiangsu TV. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  5. 五十年代对"大屋顶"的批判 [Criticism of the 1950s Large Roof Style Movement"] (in Chinese). Guangming Web. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  6. 杨廷宝：打造了半个南京城 [Yang Tingbao: Builder of Half Nanjing] (in Chinese). Baidu. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  7. 杨廷宝的生平简介 [Yang Tingbao Biography] (in Chinese). eeloves.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
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