| Under the background of knowledge globalization and the decline of architectural
heroism, local knowledge and culture are becoming more and more important within the trend.
From universality to particularity, people should turn their focus from outside world to their
surrounding environment, customs and living habits.
The local knowledge which forms the background of architecture includes geology, local
humanities, local history, site’s topography, local law, local psychology, wind force, earthquake
force, geography and local chronicles, etc,. In the local history, there are experiences of
urban management and urban reconstruction. Meanwhile, urban space can be used as tools
of teaching and learning to figure out how is the space, how is the relationship between the
historical houses and street, how to achieve comfort of a building, how is the construction
organization and urban management operated, and how was the ownership at that time and so
on. Unfortunately, we’ve always stayed in the unconsciousness and ignorance of these spaces
that we live in for a long time, therefore we also don’t understand the relationship between them
and human history.
The establishment of local architecture needs to be explained from the following points:
firstly, from the perspective of architectural review system, “local architecture” should not only
face the professional social affairs of the construction itself, but also need a good environment
for social participation to train the basic architectural knowledge of the public, and form a more
fair architectural criticism under the condition of society that can offer a fair examination of
the work of architects without prejudice. The architectural criticism can only be fair under the
background of such public knowledge and has the significance of promoting the quality of the
architect’s work.
Secondly, from the perspective of architectural education, the most important thing
for local architecture is the educational resources of the local architecture college. They
study the local natural climate, urban environment, cultural background, local history, local
chronicles, folk culture, dialect, local cuisine, etc., thus building an architectural education
system and courses structure with locality. In the process of learning local knowledge, these
specific courses can also offer a “universal” knowledge system from specific knowledge to
abstract theory about the essence of architecture. When facing differences in different places,architectural students can still establish a set of working methods for local through their own architectural training in school. Not only that, the
students who are trained by the architecture education based on the local education will have stronger adaptability and research spirit.
Thirdly, beyond the projects, comments and education, the most important thing for local architecture is the vitality and continuity of the
academic in the society. Every local architectural institution needs to learn how to establish an academic platform for professional architects by
using social resources and social relations, and also should establish a professional architectural criticism system to maintain its ability of thinking
of society in architectural design. In order to promote the design and service quality of design institutions, local architectural associations are
suggested to organize exhibitions of works of design to show the value and process of their architectural design work, not only to offer exhibitions
and exchanges in professional fields, but also to create the possibility of dialogue with the public. Therefore, the local architecture association
should be a media organization for the professional field, and even play a more active role in publishing and communication. At the government
level, local architectural association, as a professional platform, should also be more efficient in organizing and forming think-tanks. It is more
significant for a large professional and responsible architect group to participate in the decision-making of urban construction. In terms of policymaking, the architectural society should be able to organize experts to provide effective suggestions.
Fourthly, the local architecture industry association must bear the responsibility of building a fair and healthy industry environment under
the healthy development of the industry ecology. It is the maker of profession standards, the sanction of chaos and the promoter of the healthy
industry environment. The architecture industry is more like an ecological chain, from finance to professional management, from design and
production to product supply, from management to construction, from professional service to operation service and so on. There are professionals
and professional institutions in various position of ecological chain in the construction industry. Therefore, a platform must be established to
gather these people and institutions efficiently.
In conclusion, the locality of architecture is not only reflected in the architectural form of a place, it is more likely to be an organizational
system of social affairs which established under the collection and cooperation of architecture, local architects, clients, local architecture college,
architectural criticism, public, general education, local architectural association, local government, culture, city and local villages. This system is
not closed or unchangeable. It may renew with the change of local culture. Such a system needs a close link between one affair and another. Under
the efficient organization of social affairs, it can guarantee the perfect operation of the system and assist with the universal knowledge to shape
our world today |
