Happy Lunar New Year from the USC US-China Institute!
Medieval Architecture in China through Modern Technology: Region, Style, and Patterns of Change
Tracy Miller will give a talk on architecture at the University of Pennsylvania
Where
![](https://china.usc.edu/sites/default/files/styles/event_node_featured/public/events/featured-image/Architecture-pic_0.jpg?itok=n_beamCO)
Tracy Miller, Vanderbilt
Today an open China that embraces foreign tourism and study has allowed for an unprecedented awareness of and access to the monumental timber-frame buildings of traditional China. Dozens of buildings dated between the years 900-1200 CE are extant, and a vast array of difference in architectural detail and building technique has increasing come to light--differences which demand our attention. Using GIS technology to document Chinese temple architecture from this period, I have worked to map architectural features of more than 100 buildings across the PRC to examine the distribution of these elements geographically.
As a form of public art, the decision to retain local stylistic traditions or respond to trans-local trends reveals self-conscious choice. This paper examines the ways in local styles were retained even when confronted with new architectures expressing trans-local tendencies in building practice and explores reasons why these choices may have been made during a dynamic period of divided rule in China.
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