Design as Communication: An Architectural History of Christian Universities in China

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Yinrui Xie

Design as Communication

An Architectural History of Christian Universities in China

Yinrui Xie

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Hardback

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English

Routledge
29 October 2025

Theory of architecture; History of architecture; Religion: general; Christianity; Civil engineering, surveying & building

Series: Routledge Research in Architecture

This book explores the architectural history of Christian universities in China, revealing how quasi‑colonial power interaction and cross‑cultural communication of meaning were channelled through religious and educational architecture in modern China.

The Christian universities in China witnessed an experimental representation of Chinese architectural identity, as the country – subject to an informal version of colonialism – struggled to become a modern nation‑state and to rethink its identity. This book offers new knowledge to the prospering postcolonial studies of the architectural history of Asian countries, deepening our understanding of the scope and content of the nuanced colonial encounters between the East and the West, and the relationship between architecture and power. Borrowing ideas from architectural semiotics, this book explores how architectural meaning has been interpreted and sometimes modified by its audience(s), whose voice has been largely ignored in traditional architectural historical studies. It provides a unique scope to further understand the communicative function of architecture, throwing light upon the broader socio‑cultural dialogue between China and the Western world in the twentieth century.

Design as Communication will be an enriching reference for those interested in the architectural dialogue between China and the West, architecture and postcolonialism and the localisation of Christianity in the world.

By: Yinrui Xie
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 550g
ISBN: 9781032901893
ISBN 10: 1032901896
Series: Routledge Research in Architecture
Pages: 198
Publication Date: 29 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Yinrui Xie is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom. He completed his PhD in Architecture at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Tsinghua University, Beijing. His research concerns the architectural dialogue between China and the West in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the architectural history of modern China and the settlements of the overseas Chinese. He has published in prestigious journals, including Architectural History, The Journal of Architecture, arq: Architectural Research Quarterly and Planning Perspectives. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). He is also a reviewer for The Journal of Architecture, Planning Perspectives, arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, Fabrications, Engineering History and Heritage and the Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering.