The Taxonomy of Chinese Traditional Revival Interior Design Jun Ding

International Association of Societies of Manchester School of Art Design Research Conference 2019 Manchester Metropolitan University DESIGN REVOLUTIONS 02-05 September 2019 The Taxonomy of Chinese Traditional Revival Interior Design Jun Ding*a, b; Weimin Guoa a School of Design at Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China b Suzhou Art and Design Technology Institute, Suzhou, China * [email protected] The traditional revival phenomenon has appeared in Chinese interior design throughout its history. Although academics have discussed it widely, the main research focus is usually on describing style changes. However, such descriptions cannot reveal the nontemporal relationship between the different styles or the design logic beneath them. With this background, this study aims to explore how and why the traditional revival phenomenon continuously appears in Chinese interior design history through categorising and subdividing the style based on a literature review, sample collection, classification, and site visit. The research found that reiteration, as a design logic, traverses different times and moves from foreign duplication to self-duplication, although various factors have played roles at different times, such as political definition in the 1950s, cultural influence in the 1980s and commercial considerations since the 1990s. Duplication was used as a method to search for national identity while responding to overseas influences. Keywords: interior design, taxonomy, traditional revival, reiteration 1 Introduction The exploration of national traditions in interior design has frequently occurred in modern Chinese design history because the development of contemporary Chinese culture always seems to swing between tradition and modernity as well as between national identity and international influences (Yang, 2006). According to Paul Ricoeur (as cited in Frampton, 1983), there is a paradox between universal civilisation and world cultures; thus, the challenge for third world countries is to modernise under the influence of developed countries while preserving their traditions. This paradox keeps affecting the modern Chinese interior design landscape, which makes the traditional revival, together with the recapturing of the regional culture, an eternal topic. Even though relevant design practices emerged in China as early as the 1930s, this paper focuses on discussing Chinese traditional revival interior design since the1950s while keeping in mind that interior decoration, which gradually developed into interior design, formally separated itself from architecture design in China in the 1950s. Although traditional revival interior design is one of the most widely discussed topics in China, the leading academics, as shown in Table 1, is prone to focus on style analysis, which leads to only a description of the phenomenon. The disadvantage of style analysis is Copyright © 2019. Copyright of this paper is the property of the author(s). Permission is granted to reproduce copies of the works for purposes relevant to the IASDR conference, provided that the author(s), source and copyright notice are included on each copy. For other uses, please contact the author(s). its focus on the artist's personality and their design works' artistic features, which leads to a focus on grand designs because they are seen as having more artistic value (Fallan, 2010). Thus, interiors, as temporary arrangements for people's daily life trajectories, are ignored by the taxonomy of styles which dominate the history of art and architecture (Hollis, 2010). However, generally speaking, style analysis can be used as a starting point to explore the design logic beneath each style, as it showcases a coherent design appearance for understanding the perplexing design phenomenon. In order to overcome these disadvantages of style analysis, this paper is not going to discuss aesthetic value, the stories of famous designers or the relationship between form and function. Instead, the research is going to explore the design approach, the underlying design logic and the relationship between different subdivisions of the style. Theoretically, the subdivisions of the traditional revival style exist due to the reiteration phenomenon. As Kubler (1962) pointed out, the design of continuous duplication exists, as it traverses time and space forming a continuity. This paper aims to explore the reiteration variations of Chinese traditional revival style; it starts from classifying the style's subdivisions and their design approaches and then analyses the underlying similarities and the design logic behind them. Table 1 Literature review on Chinese traditional revival interior design. Authors Research Research Topic Conclusion Methods Zhang（ Historical The development of From 1977 to 1999, the combination of 2004） research Chinese interior design in traditional culture and modern form was the the 20th century primary concern of Chinese interior designers. Yang Style The development of designers take different approaches at analysis modern Chinese interior different times, such as the eclecticism in （2006） design style the 1930s; the inheritance and adoption of national forms in the 1950s; new national patterns and regional exploration in the 1980s. Huo Style Chinese interior design This development was mainly reflected in analysis history style changes. (2017) Dong（2 Style Interior design art This development reflected the gradual 010） analysis development in the 30 dominance of aesthetic values. years following the opening up policy 2 Research design The research begins with a literature review of books and dissertations concerning Chinese interior design history to search for clues about the traditional revival style. These books include 'Chinese Interior Design History' (Huo & Huo, 2003), 'The Style of Interior Design and its Development' (Zhang, 1999), 'Chinese Modern Interior Design Style Evolution' (Yang, 2006). The dissertations are from Zhang Qingping, Dongchi and Zhu Zhongcui. Almost all of them are style-focused research, which acted as a starting point to get a general view of the revival style. 2 The review then continues by exploring design magazines to collect design samples mainly from 'The Journal of Architecture', 'Decoration', 'Interior Design and Construction' and 'Interior Design'. These magazines, except the last one, have a continuous publishing history on interior design and have influenced the industry to a large extent due to their high status in China. 'The Journal of Architecture', founded in 1954, was the first professional architectural magazine published in China; it has recorded China's architecture and interior design development. 'Decoration', founded in 1958 by Central Academy of Arts and Crafts which set up China's first interior decoration department, was the only academic publication of arts and crafts in China at that time. 'Interior Design and construction', founded in 1986 and later chosen as the journal for the Chinese Interior Decoration Association, has an enduring and wide-spread influence in the Chinese interior design industry (Zeng, 2002). Among all the periodicals, the journal most specialises in reporting and promoting China's interior design development. It assisted the setup of traditional revival conferences in the 1980s and 1990s and published articles about the conferences for coverage and discussion. 'Interior Design', founded in 1986, was one of the earliest magazines focusing on interior design. It documented the Chinese interior design industry until 2013, when it was renamed the 'Journal of Western Living Environment' and shifted its focus to architecture. Additionally, some major design competitions are examined for references, such as the interior design competitions sponsored by the New Zealand Wool Bureau (1995–2001), the Chinese Interior Design Competition, the National Art Exhibition, and the Asia-Pacific Interior Design Awards. Next, after the sample collection, the research creates a taxonomy of traditional revival interior design. The taxonomy starts by sorting out three main branches of traditions derived from international, national and regional factors, which are based on the previously collected samples. It then subdivides the variations of the traditions according to the similarities and differences between the observed variables. The sorting of categories seeks to minimise intragroup differences while maximising intergroup differences. As shown in Figure 1, the features that distinguish one tradition from another and the hierarchy behind the classification are the core issues. Moreover, to compare documentation with real works, researchers select typical samples from each division to take site surveys when categorisations and their sub-divisions begin to take shape, as interior spaces bring spatial experiences which are far more complex than two-dimensional images could reflect. 3 Results and Analysis 3.1 Classification of traditional revival interior design 3.1.1 Style classification People generally use style as a starting point to understand form features. Walker (1989) argued that style, which, results from a visual representation of artistic creation, emphasises and expresses form. Therefore, some scholars refer to style as visual ideology. This paper is not limited to defining a style; it mainly analyses the style's particular characteristics based on the classification. The traditional revival, as one of the significant styles in modern Chinese interior design history, is a relatively broad field. It appears

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