Editing Chinese architecture (section)

=== 20th century ===
{{See also|Urbanization in China|Urban planning in China}}
During the 1930s and the 1940s, architectural debate in China occurred over adaptation of Western modernism or using traditional Chinese architectural forms with modern materials and construction.<ref name=":Zhu" />{{Rp|page=75}}

During the years 1952 to 1954, [[socialist realism]] from the Soviet Union influenced Chinese architecture.<ref name=":Zhu" />{{Rp|page=75}} Modernism and the Chinese national style were other major trends in that period.<ref name=":Zhu" />{{Rp|page=75}}

Architecture was a highly political topic in the middle of the 1950s.<ref name=":Zhu">{{Cite book |last=Zhu |first=Tao |title=Red Legacies in China: Cultural Afterlives of the Communist Revolution |date=2016 |publisher=[[Harvard University Asia Center]] |isbn=978-0-674-73718-1 |editor-last=Li |editor-first=Jie |series=Harvard Contemporary China Series |volume= |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |chapter=Building Big With No Regret: From Beijing's "Ten Great Buildings" in the 1950s to China's Megaprojects Today |doi= |jstor= |editor-last2=Zhang |editor-first2=Enhua}}</ref>{{Rp|page=65}}

During the Great Leap Forward, architectural projects were managed according to the strategy of the Three Simultaneities, a process that involved designing, preparing materials, and building at the same time.<ref name=":Zhu" />{{Rp|page=69}}

[[Rammed earth]] construction was both practically and ideologically important during the rapid construction of the [[Daqing Oil Field|Daqing oil field]] and the related development of [[Daqing]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Roskam |first=Cole |title=Material Contradictions in Mao's China |date=2022 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-75085-9 |editor-last=Altehenger |editor-first=Jennifer |location=Seattle |chapter=The Brick |editor-last2=Ho |editor-first2=Denise Y.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=55}} The "Daqing Spirit" represented deep personal commitment in pursuing national goals, self-sufficient and frugal living, and urban-rural integrated land use.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Hou |first=Li |title=Building for Oil: Daqing and the Formation of the Chinese Socialist State |date=2021 |publisher=[[Harvard University Asia Center]] |isbn=978-0-674-26022-1 |edition= |series=[[Harvard-Yenching Institute]] monograph series |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=3}} Daqing's urban-rural landscape was said to embody the ideal communist society described by [[Karl Marx]] because it eliminated (1) the gap between town and country, (2) the gap between workers and peasants, and (3) the gap between manual and mental labor.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=3}}

Drawing on the Daqing experience, China encouraged rammed earth construction in the mid-1960s.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=55}} Starting in 1964, [[Mao Zedong]] advocated for a "mass design revolution movement".<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=55}} In the context of the [[Sino-Soviet split]], Mao urged that planners should avoid the use of Soviet-style prefabricated materials and instead embrace the [[Proletariat|proletarian]] spirit of on-site construction using rammed earth.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=55}} The [[Communist Party of China|Communist Party]] promoted the use of rammed earth construction as a low-cost method which was indigenous to China and required little technical skill.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=55}}

Reinforced concrete, brick-infill, and prefabricated materials were used increasingly following the Wall Reform Movement of 1973–1976 and were promoted in publications such as ''Architectural Journal.''<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=56}}

In 2014, the city of [[Datong]] started to rebuild the Datong ancient city wall and buildings in traditional architecture, although the effort received skepticism and opposition by citizens, many later praised the mayor for bringing back traditional Chinese aesthetics.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yuan |first1=Ren |title=Back to the future: the fake relics of the 'old' Chinese city of Datong |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/15/datong-china-old-city-back-to-the-future-fake-relics |access-date=1 September 2023 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=15 October 2014}}</ref> Starting with the Northern Wei dynasty 1,600 years ago, Datong was a beautiful capital. It continued to thrive in the Liao and Jin dynasties, and later regained prominence as a major strategic centre in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ren |first=Yuan |date=2014-10-15 |title=Back to the future: the fake relics of the 'old' Chinese city of Datong |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/15/datong-china-old-city-back-to-the-future-fake-relics |access-date=2025-01-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>