基泰工程司(上):从“开拓”到趋于“稳定”的阶段(津、京时期)

KWAN, CHU AND YANG: THE EARLY YEARS

成立较早，发展规模大 “基泰工程司”是中国近代建筑执业形态中发展规模最大的一家建筑公司（1949年前共有50多人先后在”基泰工程司”工作过），且成立较早（同期成立的有上海东南建筑公司1921年成立、上海华海公司建筑部1922年成立），由关颂声于1920年在天津创办。1924年朱彬与关颂声的二妹结婚，当时他正在天津政府部门工作，因”姻亲“关系便”加入”基泰工程司”，成为第二合伙人，任建筑工程师，配有股权。

Founded in 1921 by Kwan Sungsheng, Kwan, Chu and Yang Architects & Engineers of Tianjin was one of the largest and most important modern Chinese architectural firms, successfully competing with foreign firms for prominant commissions. Their early designs, such as the multi-story art deco Sun Company Headquarters(1936) in Shanghai examplified the ongoing localization of western architecture and civil engineering by Chinese practitioners. These designs became known in China as 'international style'. In fact, Kwan, Chu and Yang not only designed architypal modernist projects, but also trained young architects and civil engineers. Before 1949, Kwan, Chu and Yang hired over fifty architects and trained many of China's second generation of architects, including Zhang Bo.Kwan graduated from MIT and then Harvard before being influenced by Bauhaus. His partners Chu Pin and Yang Tingbao were graduates of the University of Pennsylvania. In this esay, Huang Yuanzhao examines the firm's early work, which begins with the marriage of Kwan's sister to Chu Pin and brought Chu into Kwan's firm as a full partner.