When reading the Chinese city, which this book sets out to do, it is not the well-known cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'an that are in the focus of attention, but rather the essentially Chinese of the Chinese city, those characteristics or attributes that are more or less shared by all Chinese cities.The spotlight is on their spatial grammar, their syntax, in short: their code. Only by deciphering their common traits a view to the underlying structure of Chinese cities is opened, and we can begin to reasonably evaluate and classify the diversity of impressions. Deciphering the code of the Chinese city alsoenables the author to 'read' new Chinese towns designed by Western architects. Thus, readers are provided with valuable insight on China's booming urbanization and urban development. INDICE: Contents. Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1 How to read a city? 2 Transformations of empty urban space. Pajamas and clotheslines. Open and publicurban places. Rocks and plants. 3 Swinging lines and dancing dots. 4 Closed urban space. Closed neighborhoods. Introverted neighborhood courtyards. Roof and light sculptures. Branding compound lifestyles. Orient meets Occident -- hybrid urban quarters. 5 Open urban space. Linear centrality or the magic of the Golden Corridor. Open neighborhood spaces. Integrated perimeter block strips. Neighborhood pedestrian streets. Neighborhood and community centers. The sutlers of urban growth. Mediapolis. Postmodern eclecticism in urban planning and design. 6 Urban fictions. Shanghai's new satellite cities. A piece of 'good oldGermany': Anting New Town. European travesties of the Chinese city. Taiwushi New Town (Thames Town). Luodian New Town (the Nordic city). Holland Village inShenyang: an urban parody. View from the Eiffel Tower towards Angkor Wat. 7 The compact city. Great street -- vertical block. Shenzhen's urban villages. The big city. River jumping. Hyper-growth. 8 The Chinese city as a semiotic system. Summary. Annotations. Bibliography. Illustration credits.
- ISBN: 978-3-0346-0572-4
- Editorial: Birkhaüser
- Encuadernacion: Rústica
- Fecha Publicación: 05/07/2010
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés