Chinese Imperial City Planning

Chinese Imperial City Planning PDF

Author: Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1999-04-01

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780824821968

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Chinese Imperial City Planning is the first synthesis of what is known from textual and archaeological evidence about every Chinese imperial capital, from earliest times to the present. It explains the fundamental architectural principles and visual characteristics of imperial planning in China and shows how these features are related to the Chinese idea of rulership. The volume also reconstructs the 3,500-year-old history of imperial planning using sources such as resident descriptions, travel accounts, official Chinese court records, and the most recent archaeological and scholarly studies. The extensive documentation provides students with a standard source of reference from which to embark on further research on Chinese urban planning.

Introduction to the Urban History of China

Introduction to the Urban History of China PDF

Author: Chonglan Fu

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-07-25

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 9811382077

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This book explores China’s urban development, examining the history and culture of Chinese cities and providing a cultural background to the rapid urban development of contemporary China. It offers a new perspective on Chinese urban history, showcasing the traditional culture which underpins the emergence of the modern city and highlighting how traditional Chinese philosophical thought is reflected in the culture of urban planning and architecture in China, notably examining such issues as ‘the integration of man and nature’, yin and yang, bagua, and the Wu Xing.

An Urban History of China

An Urban History of China PDF

Author: Chonglan Fu

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-07-25

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 9811382115

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This book considers urban development in China, highlighting links between China’s history and civilization and the rapid evolution of its urban forms. It explores the early days of urban dwelling in China, progressing to an analysis of residential environments in the industrial age. It also examines China’s modern and postmodern architecture, considered as derivative or lacking spiritual meaning or personality, and showcases how China's traditional culture underpins the emergence of China’s modern cities. Focusing on the notion of “courtyard spirit” in China, it offers a study of the urban public squares central to Chinese society, and examines the disruption of the traditional Square model and the rise and growth of new architectural models.

Remaking Chinese Urban Form

Remaking Chinese Urban Form PDF

Author: Duanfang Lu

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-09-27

Total Pages: 379

ISBN-13: 1134326378

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In this pioneering study of contemporary Chinese urban form, Duanfang Lu provides an analysis of how Chinese society constructed itself through the making and remaking of its built environment. She shows that as China’s quest for modernity created a perpetual scarcity as both a social reality and a national imagination, the realization of planning ideals was postponed. The work unit – the socialist enterprise or institute – gradually developed from workplace to social institution which integrated work, housing and social services. The Chinese city achieved a unique geography made up in large part of self-contained work units. Remaking Chinese Urban Form provides an important reference for academics and students conducting research on China. It will be a key source for courses on Asia in architecture, urban planning, geography, sociology and anthropology, at both the graduate and undergraduate level. The insightful yet accessible introduction to urban China will also be of interest to architects, urban designers and planners – as well as general audience who wish to learn about contemporary Chinese society.

Chinese Urbanism: Urban Form And Life In The Tang-song Dynasties

Chinese Urbanism: Urban Form And Life In The Tang-song Dynasties PDF

Author: Jing Xie

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9811204837

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Since the 1990s, the urban landscape of China has witnessed revolutionary changes that are unrivalled in any country of the world throughout history. Rapid urbanization, facilitated by the modern planning mechanism for growth, provides a feast for property developers. Yet, associated urban problems such as housing affordability, traffic congestion, energy consumption, and environmental deterioration are aggravated. This book takes a historic approach to investigate the planning philosophy, urban form and life of the past. Through a detailed study of urban development from early times through the imperial period with a focus on the Tang-Song dynasties, this book attempts to articulate the good qualities of urban landscapes from the past that still have instructive value for modern practices. The focus on the Tang-Song period is not only because China was the most advanced civilization of its time, but also because it underwent a similar process of 'urbanization', evident by tremendous economic growth, a dramatic rise of urban population, and an extended building boom. Through evaluating the streets, city layout, public places, urban communities, houses and gardens, and using interdisciplinary research in urban planning, urban design, architecture, history, and cultural studies, this book asserts that the past is quintessentially important. The past not only truthfully records the course of social and cultural formation of urban community and its associated physical fabric, but also regulates the directions we may take in the future.

The Urban Code of China

The Urban Code of China PDF

Author: Dieter Hassenpflug

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2012-12-13

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 3034612060

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Die Gestalt der chinesischen Stadt entschlüsseln Es geht in diesem urbanistischen Fachbuch nicht primär um bekannte Städte wie Peking, Shanghai oder Shenzhen, sondern um jene Formen, Strukturen, Zeichen und Botschaften, die das Chinesische der chinesischen Stadt ausmachen. Erst die Dekodierung der Sinität der chinesischen Stadt eröffnet die Möglichkeit, die Vielfalt der empirischen Eindrücke richtig zu gewichten und sinnvoll einzuordnen. So liefert dieses Buch auch einen Schlüssel zum Verständnis der aktuellen Hyperurbanisierung und der Vielzahl westlicher Städtebauprojekte in China.

The Imperial Capitals of China

The Imperial Capitals of China PDF

Author: Arthur Cotterell

Publisher: Abrams

Published: 2008-05-29

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1468306057

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This history of China’s imperial capital cities reveals “a picaresque chronicle of dynastic succession and court intrigue” across millennia (Publishers Weekly). Throughout the long history of Imperial China, emperors designed their capital cities in ways that reveal the heart of their dynasty. The ley lines of these cities reveal religious preoccupations, while the design of important buildings tells us much about the cultural influences of the period. The Shang Emperor of the third century B.C. made obsessive—and ultimately fatal—attempts to engage the Immortals with cosmologically pleasing urban planning. Meanwhile, the Tang capital at Chang'an betrays the striking creativity and cultural receptiveness that earmark the era as a literary and artistic golden age. And the Forbidden City of fifteenth century Beijing still stands as testament to Ming dynasty architectural virtuosity. Arthur Cotterell provides an inside view of the rich array of characters, political and ideological tensions, and technological genius that defined the imperial cities of China, as each in turn is uncovered, explored, and celebrated. The oldest continuous civilization in existence today stands to become the most influential.

Chinese Spatial Strategies

Chinese Spatial Strategies PDF

Author: Jianfei Zhu

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9780415318839

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How do the Chinese design a space? What are the similarities and differences between spaces designed for palaces and cities? How were the extension of the Great Wall, the reopening of the Grand Canal and the building of Beijing interrelated? By closely examining the buildings of Imperial Beijing (1420-1911) this book seeks to answer these questions by exploring whether there is a generic approach to spatial disposition in the Chinese tradition. Chinese Spatial Strategiesconsiders spatial design on many levels and in different aspects including: *The geo-political design of a map of Asia *The layout of the city as a representation of imperial ideology *The city as a social realm of interrelations between the central authority and local urban society *The Forbidden City as an apparatus of power *A comparison between European visual compositions and the aesthetic composition of Beijing. Drawing upon recent work in social theory, the author provides a spatial and political analysis of the Forbidden City and a realistic account of Imperial Beijing. This book challenges the convention of formal description of Chinese cities and will appeal to all those with an interest in Chinese buildings and architecture.

Building in China

Building in China PDF

Author: Jeffrey W Cody

Publisher: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

Published: 2021-01-15

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9882378749

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Building in China is about striking an architectural balance between the pull of monumental tradition and the push of technological novelty. Centering on the dynamic period of post-imperial and pre-Communist China, the book focuses on the building and city planning initiatives of Henry Murphy, a little-known American architect who initially ventured to China in 1914 to design a campus for the Yale-in-China programme, but who then found himself captivated by a professional and cultural challenge that lasted two decades: how to preserve China's rich architectural traditions while also designing new buildings using up-to-date Western technologies. Murphy's buildings were compromises — " wine in old bottles" as he once called them — and the book uses those "tles" as lenses through which to understand not only Murphy's quest to find a middle ground for his architecture in China, but also to gaze at a tumultuous society facing an uncertain future. Murphy's buildings were more than vessels for either aesthetic visions or technical expertise; inadvertently they became political emblems, as Chinese rulers such as Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen's son called on Murphy for city planning advice to complement their hopes for urban reconstruction. There are few serious studies of Western architects in the twentieth century who practiced in non-Western contexts, and those scant studies that have been published concentrate largely on British, French or Dutch examples in colonial settings. Hence, the book makes significant contributions to the fields of both American and Chinese architectural history.