Changing Chinese cities : the potentials of field urbanism / Renee Y. Chow.

Author
Chow, Renee Y., 1955- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, [2015]
Description
xv, 185 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Architecture Library - Stacks HT147.C6 C48 2015 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Summary note
    Until the middle of the twentieth century, Chinese urban life revolved around courtyards. Whether for housing or retail, administration or religion, everyday activities took place in a field of pavilions and walls that shaped collective ways of living. Changing Chinese Cities explores the reciprocal relations between compounds and how they inform a distinct and legible urbanism. Following thirty years of economic and political containment, cities are now showcases whose every component street, park, or building is designed to express distinctiveness. This propensity for the singular is erasing the relational fields that once distinguished each city. In China's first tier cities, the result is a cacophony of events where the extraordinary is becoming a burden to the ordinary. Using a lens of urban fields, Renee Y. Chow describes life in neighborhoods of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and its canal environs. Detailed observations from courtyard to city are unlayered to reveal the relations that build extended environments. These attributes are then relayered to integrate the emergence of forms that are rooted to a place, providing a new paradigm for urban design and master planning. Essays, mappings and case studies demonstrate how the design of fields can be made as compelling as figures.
    Notes
    First published by National University of Singapore Press.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 172-180) and index.
    Contents
    • Behind the walls: Beijing
    • Reciprocity with water: Zhujiajiao
    • Deep in the field: Shanghai
    • The rush to develop
    • Super-sizing
    • Facing south
    • Being outside
    • From figures to fields
    • Connecting
    • Collaborating
    • Being inside
    • Designing fields.
    ISBN
    • 9780824853839 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))
    • 0824853830 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))
    LCCN
    2014047932
    OCLC
    903361934
    Statement on language in description
    Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...
    Other views
    Staff view

    Supplementary Information