ARCH5105 Course Introduction

Arch 5105 Design of Chinese Cities

1.      Course Information

Instructor: Wang, Weijen

Email: wwang@arch.hku.hk

Office: K412

Phone: 25481274

Number of Credits: 3

11.  Course Description:

The course consists two major parts:

1.      Studies on issues relating to the design of historical and contemporary Chinese Cities; and

2.      A research project on issues of Chinese cities, particularly the formation and transformation of specific urban patterns and public spaces.

Introduction: The Design of Chiness Cities

Traditional Chinese Cities

The Imperial Chinese Cities I

A. Introduction: Urban Form and Urban Process

1 Features and Components of Chinese Imperial City

 pattern/structure: well, gate, moat;  axis; city / Imperial city / palace city
 monuments: alters, towers, temples, palace, gate
 fabric/district: road of cardinal system, rectangular blocks, market
 siting: mountain / river, necropolis,  transportation, defense
 landscape: park, garden, lake, mount
 size

The Imperial Chinese Cities I

B. Changan and Luoyang of Han and Tang

1 Han 漢, Wei Jin 魏晉, Northern & Southern Dynasties 南北朝

  Changan of Western Han 西漢長安
  Luoyang of Eastern Han 東漢洛陽
  Ye of Wei 魏鄴城
  Luoyang of Northern Wei 北魏洛陽城

The Imperial Chinese Cities I

C.  Bianliang, Lin’an and Suzhou of Song 

 1.  Song 宋 Imperial Cities


 Kaifeng 開封 (Bianjing 汴京)

 Hand-scroll painting: Qing Ming Shang He Tu 清明上河圖
 Site and the Grand Canal
 Road, water way and pier
 Palace city: 大內, Artificial Mountain 艮岳
 Transformation of the Li-fang, Xiang 廂 and Fang 坊, fire safety system
 Street life and the commercial activity
 Public space and cultural activity
 Population density and urban sprawl

North Song Bianliang  北宋汴梁

The Imperial Chinese Cities II

D. Beijing and Nanjing in Yuan, Ming, Qing

1 Beijing 北京

  a.   Before Beijing: the nomadic people and their capital 

  

   

The Imperial Chinese Cities II

E. Cities, Towns and Villages

1 Cities and Towns 府、州、廳、縣城、鎮

  a Urbanization: population, central places and market towns

  b Basic elements

 Inner City 子城 (府治、衙門、王城)
 Outer City 羅城
 City Wall and moat: 廓城/護城河
 Drum & Bell tower 鐘鼓樓
 Confucius temple 文廟; military temple 武廟; city god temple 城煌廟
 Street patterns
 Warehouse

Cities and hierarchy of local systems
中國城鎮分佈圖

The Chinese Colonial Cities - Hand Out

The Chinese Colonial City

1.         Theory of colonial cities

a.         Modern colonial activity

b.         Colonialism, dependency and globalization

c.         Power and space

d.         Post-colonialism and the culture identity

e.         Colonial urban form as the representation of:

·            Power structure of the dominant

·            Mode of production of the new structure

·            Colonizer’s culture and ideology

·            Appropriation of local culture

The Chinese Colonial Cities

The Chinese Colonial Cities

 1.  Theory of Colonial Cities

a.   Modern colonial activity
b.   Colonialism, dependency and globalization
c.   Power and space
d.   Post-colonialism and the culture identity
e.   Colonial urban form as the representation of:
        - Power structure of the dominant
        - Mode of production of the new structure
        - Colonizer’s culture and ideology
        - Appropriation of local culture

Issues of the Traditional Chinese Cities

1. Public Open Spaces: Is there plaza in Chinese public space?

a. Agora and the Wang Cheng  王城
b. The Imperial way and qianbulang 千步廊
c. Market place
d. Residential neighborhood
e. shi-jing 市井 and street life
f. Activity node: Pier, bridge, gate, theatre, intersection,   building foreground
g. Tian’an Men Square and the city square after 1949

Sienna and Nara

Mapping Twin Cities: Hong Kong/Shenzhen