Revising Articles Written on the Land—Commencement Speech at 2022 Graduation Ceremony of the College of Architecture and Landscape, Peking University

Abstract

This article is the author’s commencement speech at 2022 Graduation Ceremony of the College of Architecture and Landscape, Peking University. Away from the cities, the author observed, experienced, and recorded the changes in vernacular landscapes: pesticide abuse and cutoff and channelized rivers have resulted in soil hardened, loaches, eels, frogs, and other creatures disappeared, and rivers and water sources seriously polluted; while demolishing the vernacular cultural heritage of the ancient town, the reconstructed one is built with a large number of ornamental, ancient-looking structures, and stereotyped symbols, mirroring the shallow understanding of aesthetic, historical, and cultural identities. Metaphorically, the author is so ashamed of these „articles written on the land” and encourages the graduates to revise them in the future with their knowledge of ecology and aesthetics.

Keywords

Landscape Education / Vernacular Landscape / Indigenous Cultural Heritage / Biodiversity / River Reconstruction / Landscape Aesthetics

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2022 Higher Education Press