Introduction:
University campuses started to be built since the late 19th century in China, strongly influenced by the Beaux-Arts planning style, characterized by monumental buildings with strong axis and enclosed open space. Such open spaces become representive spaces in the uiniversities, and building elevations facing to the space create the scenery of universities by forming a continuous panorama. Meanwhile, campus constructions in each stage are greatly influenced by the distinctive cultural and social background in China. For example, in the foundation phase of Chinese universities, the collision and blend between Chinese and Western culture were experienced. However, nowadays with the rapid growth of student numbers and the rethink of the university tradition, new time issues are raised. Under such historical background, this study aims to clarify the characteristics of scenery formed by the elevation and arragement of buildings surrounding open spaces in universities in China.
Methods:
Open spaces faced by main buildings and enclosed by buildings or urban roads on at least two sides are extracted as "campus open spaces (COS)" from 54 campuses built before 1949, and elevations facing to COS are extracted as scenery forming elements. Based on such definitions, 54 groups of buildings, 183 main buildings and 996 building elevations are found.
Firstly, by dividing the construction year of buildings into four phases according to the Chinese historical background, phases of buildings and building distribution in COS were examined as a brief overview.
Secondly, in order to discuss the characteristics of building appearances, style and color of buildings were examined and compared in each campus.
Thirdly, in order to discuss how tbuildings and open spaces are integrated, and how main buildings are emphasized, arrangement and volume comparison of buildings were examined.
Fourthly, based on the results above, 12 scenery patterns categorized by the combination of comparison of building style and color, and the arrangement of buildings were discussed. Characteristics of each pattern, distribution of cases, relations and inclination of patterns were examined.
Results:
1) By the campus construction over the years, not only buildings but also main buildings facing the COS were built in various phases.
2) Most buildings built in Phase I are in traditional Chinese/Western styles with corresponding materials in specific colors, and such stylish characteristics continued to be utilized in buildings built afterwards. In the comparison of building stlye and color, cases that are "partly similar" or "similar in majority" are similar only in color, and cases "almost similar" are in the same style and color.
3) A multi-center arrangement can be observed in many campuses, where multiple axes formed by different main buildings have integrated different groups of buildings. Main buildings built after Phase II became in larger scale, emphasized by the standing-out volume.
4) Harmony of building appearance and integration of building arrangement are both considered in the formation of campus scenery in about half of the cases. However, because of the overlying constructions in different phases, some campuses have maintained either harmonious appearance or integrated arrangement. Some even developed in a disorder way and buildings reflect different features of the time.
Conclusions:
This study has clarified that the characteristics of scenery formed by buildings surrounding open spaces in universities in China are related to the similarities of elevation appearance and the order of building arrangement. Under the Chinese cultural and social background, campus sceneries formed by these buildings reflect both the tradition of each university and trends of the time so that they contain various characteristics.
