Abstract

The formation of the modern architectural profession in China was the product of political and social change in the twentieth century—the falling of China’s imperial system and the rising of Western models in the beginning half, the implementation of Soviet model and the nationalization of the architectural profession in the middle of this century, and the revival American model and the semi-privatization of the profession toward the end. In the 1950s, China’s architectural profession underwent a significant transformation under political and ideological changes. Within a few years, the American Beaux-Arts model was entirely replaced by the model borrowed from the Soviet Union. This article examines the significant historical change of China’s architectural profession in the 1950s with a particular focus on the relationship between the state and the profession. This article aims to explain why this significant transformation occurred, with considerations of social, political, and economic contexts, and to demonstrate a pattern of how architecture as a profession interacts with political powers.