I had this video playing in my sidebar for a while, but I’ve decided to start embedding videos directly into my posts so that they are easier to view and so that I can add more dynamic content.
Ai Weiwei, a contemporary Chinese artist, was widely reported to “literally” destroy
The article continues: “The urn is valuable only because the arbiters of taste and the art market have determined that this is so. In recording the act of its destruction, the meaning and value of the urn is transformed and co–opted into a contemporary, editioned art work that subverts and disrupts the prevailing value system to which it previously belonged.”
I am only highly suspicious of this kind of act towards their ends – whatever they are – because it rings so alarmingly similar to the rationale to destroy ancient architecture in 1950s’ Beijing (back to my topic of course). “When they decided to dismantle and demolish the city’s menlous (gate/ entrance towers) and pailous (ceremonial archways) in the 1950s, the government would gather the public in front of these structures to ‘denounce them for their evils’” (Fang, Ke. Contemporary Redevelopment in the Inner City of
The predecessors of Chinese architecture scholars in
Luo, Zhewen. Luo Zhewen lishi wenhua mingcheng yu gujianzhu baohu wenji/ 罗哲文历史文化名城与古建筑保护文集 [Essays on Preservation of Historic Cities and Ancient Architecture]
Fang, Ke. Contemporary Redevelopment in the Inner City of Beijing: Survey, Analysis and Investigation, Beijing: Zhongguo jianzhu gongye chubanshe, 2000.
Wu, Liangyong. Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing: a Project in the Ju’er Hutong Neighborhood, Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999.
Wang, Jun. Cheng Ji/城记 [Tale of the City], Beijing: Shenghuo dushu xinzhi sanlian shudian, 2003. Continue Reading »
What follows is far from being a completed bibliography, content- or style-wise. But I’m getting increasingly anxious to share whatever I have gathered so far with everyone. Please forgive me for (especially) the sloppy style; I found most of these titles online, and they come in all sort of styles. As for the content, I can not even imagine how many more significant works out there that’s not yet in these lists, but I’ll do my best to update them as frequently as I can. Please leave notes/make suggestions about my omissions or any other aspects of these lists. I appreciate any help you can offer; and many thanks in advance!
In his preservation work on the city of Suzhou, Professor Ruan sets out by providing a historic contextualization of the city, by examining its current economic, political, and social status, and the character of the city as determined by its historic and cultural significance in relation to its architectural heritage. In this case, the canal network, particularly the canals, bridges, walkways and residences are crucial.
The first significant step that Ruan took in his preservation effort was to divide the city into fifty-four neighborhoods roughly according to the physical location and administrative authority of the locality; he sets up a comprehensive computer database for them; he then studies each neighborhood and approaches them differently according to their specific character. His conservation plan includes everything from a guiding working principle, to a reconfiguration of the use of land, to strict guidelines for the height of new developments within the city, and improvement of such elements as infrastructure.
The city of Suzhou has a history stretching back more than 2,500 years, serving as the capital city of the Wu Kingdom as early as the Spring and Autumn Period (722- 481 B.C.E.) in 514 B.C.E. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of
This series of posts are taken from a paper I wrote earlier this year about the practical aspect of historic preservation of Chinese vernacular architecture. It takes the city of
Ruan Yisan (b. 1934) is former Professor of Urban Planning & Design with the
The city of
