Suzhou Museum of Imperial Kiln Brick

Suzhou Museum of Imperial Kiln Brick 苏州御窑金砖博物馆

Suzhou Imperial Bricks Museum, located at NO.95 West Yangchenghu Road, Xiangcheng District, covers an area of 38,875 square meters and a construction area of 15,087 square meters. It was designed by the famous architect, Liu Jiakun. As the first museum in China to display “Imperial Kiln Bricks”, it aims to protect precious cultural heritage through the construction organization, present the little-known experience and suffering of “Imperial Kiln Bricks”, and demonstrate their profound historical and cultural connotation from various perspectives. The ccentral focus of the Museum is the main hall including the Imperial Kiln Site, Visitor Center, Contemporary Art Exchange Center, Relic Kiln Site Groups, and supporting service area. The main hall is the core of the whole museum’s buildings, fully displaying the different experiences of the Imperial Bricks through three sections including “exploration”, “achievement”, and “application”. It creates a vivid reproduction of an Imperial Brick’s grueling experience of creation, going from a local raw material, to yellow clay on the banks of Yangcheng River, finally transforming into a part of the highest palaces and halls of dynasties. These relics are viewable in displays and exhibitions such as cultural relics display, reconstructions of scenes, scientific and technological simulations, interactive games, and more, delivering the illustration of an exclusively imperial material “created under the imperial edict”. Their imperial origins lend themselves to their name, “Imperial Top Brick” as they were exclusively adopted for use by royalty.

Field Trip Information

CULANTH 106 Home, House, Housing: An Anthropological Exploration of Human Dwellings: Students were shown the history of built environments and architecture in China by learning about brick making and its usage in ancient China. They were able to connect historical origins of Chinese housing to the evolution of housing today.