As we all know, Tsinghua was a preparatory school for studying in the United States at the beginning of its establishment. At that time, the two-story "Tsinghua School" was the tallest building in Tsinghua campus. 19 13 The headmaster of Yichun Ren Qinghua School put forward the idea of gradually turning Tsinghua into an independent university. Therefore, the school set up the "Engineering Department" in 19 14 to carry out large-scale campus construction.
From 19 16 to 1920, the construction of "four famous buildings" in Tsinghua history, such as library, gymnasium, science museum and auditorium, has become an important achievement of this construction.
These buildings were designed and supervised by American architect Murphy and Zhuang Jun, known as "the first architect in China". Most of these four buildings are red bricks and blue tiles, copper doors and steel windows, carved beams and columns, magnificent arches and other elements of European classical architecture are included, and the interior decoration is as European as possible. Even many building materials and internal equipment are imported.
Together with Tsinghua School and Tongfang Department, they constitute the main buildings of Tsinghua's early campus, laying a European architectural style for the construction of the central campus and laying a material foundation for the school to develop into an independent university. Now they have been listed as national key protected cultural relics. They have also become temples in the hearts of generations of Tsinghua people.
There are two floors in the library, the total area of the first phase is more than 2 100 square meters, and the ground is paved with cork, granite and glass. It is said that young Qian Weichang decided to apply for Tsinghua after listening to the transparent glass floor in the library described by his cousin. Early Tsinghua students called soaking in the library "mining". Mr. Jiang Yang said: "I have studied in many schools, and Tsinghua University is my favorite;" I love libraries in Tsinghua. "
The auditorium has a Roman-style dome main body, an open long-span structure and a white marble Onek-style porch, which is the most artistic style of ancient Rome and ancient Greece in the Italian Renaissance. The auditorium and the lawn in front of it have long assumed important functions such as opening and graduation ceremonies, large-scale gatherings, reports and speeches.
Nowadays, the plaque of "People's Cultural Renaissance" hanging in the auditorium has been hung here since its completion, and it has to be repainted every time the auditorium is renovated. Today, it is still the main place for many student activities and film screenings.
The Science Museum is a three-story building with a total area of about 3,550 square meters. It has a dark red brick wall and a gray slope top, and the old English words "SCIENCE BVILDING" and "SCIENCE" are engraved above the gate. The facilities of the Science Museum are quite advanced. From 1926 to 1929, the physics department established the Tsinghua Institute of Science, and from 1999, the new science building was completed, which was used by the physics department as the department library and is still a physics teaching building.
By A.D. 193 1 year, there were about 3,000 kinds of instruments in all laboratories in the museum, worth more than 60,000 yuan, which was one of the most advanced physics teaching buildings in China at that time. There used to be many famous physicists and mathematicians teaching here, and many masters of mathematics and physics emerged, which deserves to be called the cradle of modern science in China.
19 19, the gymnasium was completed. Its original name was "Roosevelt Memorial Hall". The colonnade outside the stadium is inlaid with the head and monument of American President theodore roosevelt, but its traces are now untraceable. There are advanced gymnasiums, indoor basketball courts, handball courts and an 80-yard suspended runway in the gymnasium, which was the best gymnasium in China and even the Far East at that time.