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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Geographical and architectural imaginations

The coexistence of domestic eclecticism and overseas assembly halls, factories, stadiums, schools, and hospitals,
modernism in the work of individual architects reflected not for the benefit of the Chinese officials and professionals,
the complex interactions between aesthetic expression but to improve the working conditions of locals.
and socio-political, economic, and cultural dynamics. Despite the deficiency of scholarship and knowledge
Architectural historian Zou (2001) remarked that the about tropical regions at the levels of both top policymaking
ideological context of foreign-aid practice, which was more and techno-scientific understanding in the Mao era, the
relaxed than that of Socialist Realism in domestic projects, Chinese-designed modernist architecture demonstrated
enabled architects to experiment with abstract formal refined expressions of climatic response and cultural
languages that would have been otherwise impossible. identity. In the 21 century, Chinese professionals have
st
However, a more nuanced reading of China’s architectural accumulated vast knowledge about the tropics, although
aid reveals that such a complex and interdependent process sometimes incomplete or misleading. Yet, they still struggle
was closely tied to knowledge exchange, socioeconomic to construct local identity and esthetic articulation. As
condition, and subjective imagination. Marri (2022) recently remarked, the Chinese-backed
To some extent, Chen’s and Wang’s modernist buildings and infrastructure in the context of the Belt and
architectural imaginations in Guinea and Sudan were Road Initiative, present a kind of “eclectic and pragmatic”
remarkable, but not created in isolation from broad character. This observation becomes even more meaningful
intellectual context. In the 1950s, Cantonese architects such when we compare the “eclectic and pragmatic” expressions
as Xia Changshi and others had already begun exploring in the regions of Pakistan and Djibouti in the 2010s with
the design practice of building ventilation, shading, and the pure modernist forms created in the 1960s and 1970s
daylighting for the subtropical climate of Guangzhou. in Africa. Perhaps, one would say that the historical
Their series of design works were published in the widely- significances, values, and implications of the two China-
circulated Jianzhu xuebao based in Beijing. For instance, aided assembly buildings lie in the fact that architects and
Xia (1958) published an article in Jianzhu xuebao, which technocrats employed the guideline of appropriateness to
for the first time systematically introduced his approaches construct a sense of place that was appropriate to local
to climate-responsive design. Although Xia’s creative contexts.
exploration of concrete brise-soleil and roof ventilation
solutions had limited influence on peers in Beijing and 6. Conclusion
Shanghai, it nevertheless provided inspiration to fellow In this article, the ways in which Chinese architects
architects who practiced architectural aid in Southeast and technocrats conceptualized and articulated their
Asia and Africa, helping them to better understand the geographical and architectural imaginations in Africa
particularity of tropical and sub-tropical conditions. through building two site-specific assembly buildings
Internationally, during the 1950 and 1960s, many in Guinea and Sudan are investigated. This knowledge
European and Soviet architects practiced architecture in production was shaped by various factors, including
Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa, creating a form geopolitical power competition during the Cold War,
of tropical modernism characterized by the utilization of institutional arrangement within the China-aid program,
passive technology strategies, such as cross-ventilation, collective intervention of design institutes, individual
sun-shading, and insulation to enhance indoor bodily onsite visits and surveys, scholarly publications, and
comfort (Le Roux, 2003; Jackson & Holland, 2014; Stanek, knowledge dissemination. Understanding the geography
2015). The earlier history of tropical architecture was of the tropics was a necessary prerequisite for the
deeply entangled with medical and racial discourses, application and discovery of architectural knowledge, as
biopolitics, and the political economy of colonialism transnational practices required architects to deal with
(Chang, 2016). In contrast, China-aided buildings in complex requirements of climate, culture, function, and
tropical areas during the Mao period were designed with logistics. In response to these requirements, Chinese
less emphasis on political and racial domination but architects employed their architectural imagination to
more with economic rationality and political solidarity, deal with climate, culture, context, function, materiality,
displaying a preoccupation with techno-scientific expertise and representation, ultimately striving to achieve the goal
and political and economic engagement. Drawing on of geographical imagination — the realization of social
the tropical experience of international counterparts, change and the facilitation of spatial justice through
Chen, Wang, and their colleagues challenged the colonial architecture in specific contexts.
discourse of tropical modernism in their own unique way. Through the design of the two huitang buildings,
They aimed to achieve bodily comfort in the China-built Chinese architects and technocrats envisioned alternative

Volume 5 Issue 1 (2023) 16 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.200