Chinese Architecture: A History (2019) by Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt is the recipient of the 2021 Alice Davis Hitchcock Award given by The Society of Architectural Historians. Established in 1949, the Hitchcock Award is given annually in recognition of the “most distinguished work of scholarship in the history of architecture published by a North American scholar.” The Society of Architectural Historian’s Award announcement lauds Chinese Architecture’s “exceptional chronological and geographical range” and notes “this outstanding contribution gives scholars in the Anglophone world a benchmark introduction to the built environment of a country and a civilization that is still unfamiliar to many western readers and researchers.” This marks PUP’s first Hitchcock Award since 1980, when the recognition was given to Richard Krautheimer’s Rome: Portrait of a City.
About the Book
Throughout history, China has maintained one of the world’s richest built civilizations. The nation’s architectural achievements range from its earliest walled cities and the First Emperor’s vision of city and empire, to bridges, pagodas, and the twentieth-century constructions of the Socialist state. In this beautifully illustrated book, Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt presents the first fully comprehensive survey of Chinese architecture in any language. With rich political and historical context, Steinhardt covers forty centuries of architecture, from the genesis of Chinese building through to the twenty-first century and the challenges of urban expansion and globalism.
About the Author
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt is professor of East Asian art and curator of Chinese art at the University of Pennsylvania. She has written, edited, or translated ten books, including China’s Early Mosques and Traditional Chinese Architecture: Twelve Essays (Princeton).