Changing identities of architects in China and the UK from the 1950s to the 1990s

As transnational societal and professional imperatives continue to transform the professional identities of architects worldwide, architects in many localities have been unable to comprehend, much less align with, the multi-cultural norms that serve increasingly as terms of reference for navigating their practice. However, a diversified understanding of professional identity has yet to come forward. Post-war transitions from the 1950s constituted dramatic ideological changes that redefined the profession in both China and the UK, but in different ways. The globalizing trends of the 1990s then greatly impacted the identity of architects in both countries, accelerating the profession’s transformation. To elucidate these processes, this paper investigates transitions in architects’ professional statuses, through decline and revival, from the 1950s to the 1990s in the two countries. The historical reflection of this period provides a well-rounded understanding of the multiple faces in the professional identity of architects in each context. By applying Wenger’s three essential modes of belonging to a community of practice to a comparative analysis, this paper enriches the framework in exploring architects’ identity struggles considering the complex relationships between local and global, private and public, the real and the imagined, and the modern and the antimodern in different societies.