Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Architectural Form as a Product of Systems Reinterpreting the Pagoda Across Cultural Contexts

Yuzhang XuUniversity College London*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between architectural form and systems of production through a comparative study of the Porcelain Pagoda of Nanjing and the Great Pagoda of Kew. Although the structures of two pagodas are often understood as the same type through their similar appearance to multi-tiered pagodas, the study argues that such similarity does not necessarily mean direct imitation. The paper proposes that architectural form is fundamentally shaped by the material, institutional, and technical conditions it produced. By analyzing the two pagodas in terms of construction systems, material strategies, production processes, and architectural details, the result of the paper shows they emerge from different modes of production and architectural traditions. The Great Pagoda of Kew should not be understood as a simplified copy of the Porcelain Pagoda of Nanjing, but as a translation reconstructed through the constraints and logics of 18th-century British architectural practice. In this sense, the transformation of architecture does not mainly lie in the reference of style, but in a process of adaptation within specific construction and production systems. The paper argues that architectural form cannot be fully understood as a transferable visual image. Rather, it should be regarded as a product of a specific context, where local techniques, materials, and institutional frameworks play an important role in shaping form. This view shifts the analysis of cross-cultural architecture away from cultural comparative criticism and towards an understanding of architectural production.

Keywords: The Porcelain Pagoda of Nanjing; The Great Pagoda of Kew; Architectural Production
Published: May 18, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.BJ33516
Volume: CHR Vol.108
pp. 231-246
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