Searching for economic and cosmopolitan roots: historical imaginaries and “Hankou merchant Port nostalgia” in the central Chinese city of Wuhan 武汉

Image: Statue image of two port workers moving cargo boxes, taken by the authors, May 2013; Port Culture Square, Hankou, Wuhan. Abstract In the last few years, discussions of historic urban place-marketing and urban place branding have emerged within the field of Chinese urban studies. Specifically, writers have often discussed how coalitions of the state,

The role of history, nostalgia and heritage in the construction and indigenisation of state led political and economic identities in contemporary China

IMAGE: Image of one of the billboards at the Great Tang All Day Mall – Qujiang district, Xi’an. Abstract Over the years interlocutors have pointed to the role of elites in the selective utilisation of history, memory, nostalgia and heritage within modern China; particularly, scholars have pointed to the role of Confucianism, humiliation history and

The Case of North Lake (Beihu) Ecological New Town in Jining, Shandong, China: Discourses of Class, Taste, Luxury Consumption and ‘Conduct’

IMAGE: A series of high-end luxury apartments as part of the new North Lake (Beihu) area (Photo taken by authors in April 2019) Abstract In recent years, a great deal of work has emerged on eco-cities in China. Specifically, writers have discussed the role of the entrepreneurial state in the construction of eco-cities and have

The Context Debate: An Archaeology

Abstract Context is a crucial concept in architecture in spite of the frequent ambiguity around its use. Although the consideration of context is intrinsic to the process of architectural design, in contemporary theory, little attention is paid to it. By way of contrast, in the 1950s, various architects, theorists, and teachers cultivated several perspectives on

On the Paradoxical Nature of Frampton’s Critical Regionalism

Figure-ground plans of Le Corbusier’s project for Saint Die on the left and Parma on the right. Source: Rowe, Colin and Fred Koetter, Collage City. Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press, 1978, 62–63. Abstract The seeds of postmodern architecture were sown in the early 1950s and 1960s when architects, theoreticians and teachers developed new design

Reclaming Context: Between Autonomy and Engagement.

Robert Venturi M.F.A. Thesis Drawing “A Chapel for the Episcopal Academy” Spring 1950. Case Studies from Rome. The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Abstract Understanding of context in the field of architecture has been in a state of flux over the last century, affected by

Αυτοστέγαση, τώρα! Η αθέατη πλευρά της αμερικανικής βοήθειας στην Ελλάδα /Self-Sheltering, Now! The Invisible Side of the American Aid to Greece

Abstract The book presents the unexplored history of US housing-aid sent to Greece as part of the Truman Doctrine and, later, of the Marshall Plan. It examines US reports and other official documents as well as the role of multiple actors, including two prominent postwar figures: the influential US housing expert Jacob Crane and the

Urban Design Plans for Downtown San Francisco: A Paradigm Shift?

Abstract This paper provides a holistic understanding of the urban design plans for downtown San Francisco, in particular, of their pioneering roles in urban design history. There is a critical discourse analysis of two urban design plans – the Urban Design Plan 1972 and the Downtown Plan 1985. A Kuhnian framework of ‘paradigm’ is applied

Global Shanghai Remade: The Rise of Pudong New Area

Abstract This book unpacks the development of Pudong, Shanghai from its earliest planning into a global city centre through multiple perspectives. In doing so, it explores the role of key decision-makers and actors, the strategic planning process, the approaches to urban development, and some of the iconic projects that define the rise of Pudong, Shanghai,