11/29/12

Story by Diane Carroll, 913-469-3425

Chinese architecture talk

Princeton professor to share cultural aspects of Chinese architecture 

A Princeton University professor who is an authority on art and architecture in China will speak Friday, Dec. 7, at Johnson County Community College.

Jerome Silbergeld, P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History, will appear as part of the college's Polsky Practical Personal Enrichment Series. His talk is titled, "Windows on Culture, Doorways to Understanding: Viewing China through Architecture."

Silbergeld's address, free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Hudson Auditorium of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Refreshments will be available in the Atrium at 6:30 p.m. There is no reserved seating but an RSVP is appreciated; email PolskySeries@jccc.edu.

In his presentation, Silbergeld will explain that architecture in China is considered to be more than a structure with a roof and walls. It is deeply embedded into a system of culture and belief.

Orientation, the timing of when parts are put together and the use of right numbers measuring the length of windows and doorways all shape the fate of a building's inhabitants. Architecture in China also is a highly practical system of engineering and the most modular architectural system ever devised.

Silbergeld, also director of Princeton's Tang Center for East Asian Art, teaches, publishes and curates exhibitions on topics in traditional and contemporary Chinese painting, architecture and gardens, cinema and photography. He has published more than 60 books, articles and book chapters, including the "Encyclopedia Britannica" entry on Chinese art.

The Polsky Series is underwritten by the Norman and Elaine Polsky Family Supporting Foundation within the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation in partnership with JCCC. It brings in speakers to address topics not currently offered elsewhere. This event is also supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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