Tiananmen Square: A Case Study for Fine Arts and Landscape Architecture

1 Course Unit

This course takes as its subject the systems of representation and design that have historically and presently operate in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. There have been several incarnations of Tiananmen Square since its original form in 1651. During Imperial times and through the period of foreign legations, the square was once surrounded by walls and gates, creating a city within a city. With the advent of the Republic of China established on January 1, 1912, much of the enclosures were removed, opening up for public use previously restricted imperial areas. After the Communist Revolution in 1949, planning was afoot to enlarge the square. With its enlargement completed in 1958, the square expanded its footprint by four-fold, making it one of the largest public squares in the world. The enlarged and remodeled square coincided with the completion of the massive Monument to the People's Heroes. In 1976, a large mausoleum containing the preserved body of Mao Zedong was built near the site of the former Gate of China, further increasing the size of the square. In the 1990s, the building of the National Grand Theatre and expansion of the National Museum on grounds contiguous to the square necessitated further alterations to both the Eastern and Western skirts of the square. In recent years, there have been a widening debate regarding the transformation of the concrete heavy and by and large featureless square into a green space. Today, Tiananmen Square holds sacrosanct status to the Communist revolution of 1949, designed more for military parades and massive public rallies than public space repose. In a city that has few green spaces, such a verdant transformation in the heart of the Chinese capital would signal a radical symbolic deviation to China's development-first guiding principles. The square fronts Tiananmen Gate and the Forbidden City and is situated at the intersection of the historical east-west and north- south axes. Chang'An Avenue, important for military processions, separates the square from Tiananmen Gate and is considered the most important thoroughfare in the Capital and the path of the east west number one subway line. The entirety of the Tiananmen Square area is marked by ideology and political prominence, often confusingly. Tiananmen Tower, functions as a conflation of monumental facade with political embodiment. This course will focus on imagined interventions through public art and landscape design within Tiananmen Square and its contiguous areas. It is a studio practice course with a significant seminar component that will include lectures and readings relating to issues of public space and urban design in contemporary China. The course will also study the development of contemporary art in China. The tragic events of Tiananmen Square in 1989 represented a turning point in terms of a generation of Western exiled Chinese artists and curators including Hou Hanru, Chen Zhen, Xu Min, Huang Yong Ping and Yan Pei Ming among many others. The class will study the strategies deployed by these so- called First Generation of Chinese artists. Making use of their double identity as traditionally taught Chinese artist residing in the West, their art offered a pointed critique of both China and the West. The course will include a trip to Beijing. Spring 1 Course Unit