Yang Yanbao

Education and early career

Born in Nanyang in China's Henan Province, Yang entered the Beijing Qinghua Academy in 1915 to study architecture. The academy was a leading Chinese architecture school and was later renamed Tsinghua University. After graduating In 1921, he went to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States to further pursue his studies. During his graduate study, He had won four bronze and one gold medal in national college student design competitions. He obtained his master's degree in 1924 then worked in Philadelphia, PA. Yang participated in the design of the Museum of Cleveland. In 1926, he travelled around Europe to study European architecture.

Career as an Architect

Major projects directed by Yang involved Nanjing Central Stadium, the Tsinghua University Library Addition, Heping Hotel, Dongbei University campus amongst others. He also took part in the design of People‘s Grand Hall, Beijing Train Station and the Chairman Mao Memorial. He presided, participated, or directed over 100 projects in China, mainly in Nanjing and Beijing.

Republic of China era (1912–49)

In 1927, he returned to China and joined Jitai Architecture and Engineering as a design supervisor. He worked there until 1948. In 1931, Yang designed an addition to Tsinghua University Library, which was originally designed by the American architect, Henry Murphy. The library was used as a wartime hospital during the Sino-Japanese War. In 1982, a second addition was designed by a professor Guan Zhaoye of Tsinghua University.

After the fourth National Athletic Games in Hangzhou in 1930, Republican President Chiang Kai-shek announced that a central stadium would be built in the capital Nanjing for the National Athletic Games in the future. In 1931, Yang Yanbao and his team won the competition for Nanjing Central Statium and construction was completed in the same year.

In 1932, Yang took part in the Historical Building Renovation Project in Beijing, where he worked closely with local craftsmen in Beijing.

People's Republic of China 1949-1982

In the early 1950s, Chinese architecture witnessed the growth of the "Large Roof Style Movement" (大屋顶运动; Dà wūdǐng yùndòng), which supporters claimed to align with Chinese tradition and to be expressive of the Chinese spirit. However, the leading critic of this movement, Liang Sicheng, ridiculed the style as: "Wearing the Western suit with a Manchurian hat."

Yang was indifferent to the fad and said: "I'm not against the Large Roof Style, but it's a waste of money. We designers shouldn't be slaves to fads and fashions." In 1952, he designed the Heping Hotel in Beijing, which was built to hold the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference. The Heping Hotel was then the first high-rise in Beijing at one story taller than Beijing Hotel. When it was built, the Heping Hotel's austere and modernistic look drew much controversy although it would later be seen as an exemplary work of public building design.

Educational career

In 1940, Yang became a professor in the architecture department of Central University. In 1949, Central University was renamed National Nanjing University, and he became the chair of its architecture department. In 1952, the architecture department and other engineering departments at Nanjing's Southwestern University were reestablished as the Nanjing Institute of Technology, which in 1988 would be renamed Nanjing University. Yang subsequently remained as architecture department chair at the newly established university.

Political career

He served as vice president of the Chinese Architects Association four times, and president once. The Chinese Architects Association became affiliated with the International Union of Architects (IUA). Yang served as the vice president of the IUA between 1957–63. From 1979 to 1982, he served as the vice governor of Jiangsu Province.

Publications

Yang authored Comprehensive Hospital Architecture Design, Yang Yanbao Design Work, Yang Yanbao Watercolor, Yang Yanbao Drawing. He also wrote articles about urban planning and landscape design.