Learning Chinese: Walter A. Taylor, an American Architect in China (1923-27)

Abstract

The American architect Walter A. Taylor, who was an Episcopal missionary in China from 1923 to 1927, intended to 'desig[n] churches and other buildings that were Chinese and belonged to China'. 2 Taylor found himself at a crossroads, between Christian architecture in his home country, the USA, which was experiencing a time of transition, and the birth of the Chinese Republic and its strong rejection of Western hegemony. This article investigates how Taylor tried to undertake his task, where he found inspiration and what this indigenized architecture looked like. I argue that, although his work aimed at participating in the shift towards indigenization, it bore the signs of Chinese culture as seen through the eyes of a Westerner and imperialism.