everything.study
11.307

China Urban Design Studio

0-21-0 units · Graduate

Design studio that includes architects, urban designers, and city planners working in teams on a contemporary development project of importance in China, particularly in transitional, deindustrializing cities. Students analyze conditions, explore alternatives, and synthesize architecture, city design, and implementation plans. Lectures and brief study tours expose students to history and contemporary issues of urbanism in China. Offered every other spring at MIT in parallel with urban design studio at Tsinghua University, Beijing, involving students and faculty from both schools. Field visit to China will occur in January prior to studio. Limited to 10.

Summer 2008 · Beijing Urban Design Studio

Topics

  • Tour Shanghai: Jin Mao tower and Pudong waterfront; Yuyuan garden and market; Xintiendi project; evening on Bund waterfront
  • Travel to Suzhou; visit Suzhou gardens
  • Shanghai planning institute; French Concession historic district
  • Begin studio, visit site
  • Work
  • Site clues presentation
  • Tour in Beijing: Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven
  • Leave for Shanxi province
  • Visit Wutai; Jinci temple; travel to Pingyao walled city
  • Visit Pingyao; return to Beijing in evening
  • Visit Great Wall

Readings

  • Clayre, Alasdair. “Remembering.” In Heart of the Dragon . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1985, pp. 1-32. ISBN: 9780395353363.
    Listed reading
  • Wright, A. F. “The Ancient Chinese City as a Cosmo-Magical Symbol.” In The City in Late Imperial China . Edited by G. W. Skinner. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1977, pp. 411-451. ISBN: 9780804708920.
    Listed reading
  • Tang, Wenfang, and William Parish. “The Urban Social World.” Chapter 2 in Chinese Urban Life Under Reform: The Changing Social Contract . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 17-48. ISBN: 9780521770859.
    Listed reading
  • Liangyong, Wu. “A Brief History of Ancient Chinese City Planning.” Kasseler Schriften Zur Geographie und Planung 38 (1986): 3-12, 50-86, and 92-130.
    Listed reading
  • Golany, Gideon. “Distinct Chinese Philosophy of the Environment.” Chapter 2 in Urban Design Ethics in Ancient China . Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001, pp. 43-81. ISBN: 9780773474093.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Chinese Urban Design Evolution.” Chapter 3 in Urban Design Ethics in Ancient China . Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001, pp. 81-109. ISBN: 9780773474093.
    Listed reading
  • Liu, Ying, and Adenrele Awotona. “Chinese Vernacular Dwellings: A Popular Approach to Housing Supply.” In Housing Provision and Bottom-Up Approaches: Family Case Studies from Africa, Asia and South America . Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 1998. ISBN: 9781840143034.
    Listed reading
  • Tsu, Frances Ya-sing. Landscape Design in Chinese Gardens . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1987, pp. 3-11 and 151-191. ISBN: 9780070653399.
    Listed reading
  • Rowe, Peter G. “Housing Density, Type, and Urban Life in Contemporary China.” Harvard Design Magazine 8 (Summer 1999): 40-45.
    Listed reading
  • Wang, Yaping, and Alan Murie. “The Process of Commercialization of Urban Housing in China.” Urban Studies 33, no. 6 (1996): 971-989.
    Listed reading
  • Lubow, Arthur. “The China Syndrome.” New York Times Magazine , May 21, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • Olds, Kris. “Globalizing Shanghai: the Global Intelligence Corps and the Building of Pudong.” Cities 12, no. 3 (1995): 109-123.
    Listed reading
  • Gamble, Jos. “Introduction.” In Shanghai in Transition: Changing Perspectives and Social Contours of a Chinese Metropolis . New York, NY: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, pp. 1-13. ISBN: 9780700715718.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “The Walls Within: Shanghai Inside Out.” Chapter 3 in Shanghai in Transition: Changing Perspectives and Social Contours of a Chinese Metropolis . New York, NY: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, pp. 110-138. ISBN: 9780700715718.
    Listed reading
  • Yager, Greg, and Scott Kilbourn. “Lessons from Shanghai Xintiandi: China’s Retail Success Story.” Urban Land Asia (December 2004): 34-37.
    Listed reading
  • Brown-Gillette, Jane. “Eye of the Dragon.” Landscape Architecture 88, no. 1 (1988): 52-80.
    Listed reading
  • Marme, Michael. “Heaven in a Very Small Space.” Chapter 1 in Suzhou: Where the Goods of All the Provinces Converge . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005, pp. 19-39. ISBN: 9780804731126.
    Listed reading
  • Liangyong, Wu. “The City of Beijing in Historical Perspective.” Chapter 1 in Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing: A Project in the Ju’er Hutong Neighbourhood . Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press, 2000, pp. 3-15. ISBN: 9780774807272.
    Listed reading
  • Zhang, Yan, and Ke Fang. “Politics of Housing Redevelopment in China: The Rise and Fall of the Ju’er Hutong Project in Inner-city Beijing.” Journal of Housing and Built Environment 18 (2003): 75-87.
    Listed reading
  • Zhu, Zixuan. “New Exploration into the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Old Cities.” Building in China 2, no. 4 (1989): 18-26.
    Listed reading
  • Zhang, Jie. “Informal Construction in Beijing’s Old Neighborhoods.” Cities 14, no. 2 (1997): 85-94.
    Listed reading
  • Williams, Katie, and Carol Dair. “A Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Brownfield Developments.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 50, no. 1 (2007): 23-40.
    Listed reading
  • Tiesdell, Steven, and David Adams. “Design Matters: Major House Builders and the Design Challenge of Brownfield Development Contexts.” Journal of Urban Design 9, no. 1 (2004): 23-45.
    Listed reading
  • Nolan, Peter, and Godfrey Yeung. “Large Firms and Catch-up in a Transitional Economy: The Case of Shougang Group in China.” Economics of Planning 34 (2001): 159-178.
    Listed reading
  • McGuire, Penny. “Ruhr Revival.” The Architectural Review 202 (1997): 72-76.
    Listed reading
Summer 2006 · Beijing Urban Design Studio

Topics

  • Begin Studio: Meet Chinese Students
  • Attend China Planning Conference
  • Opening of 20 th Anniversary Beijing Studio Exhibition
  • Tour in Beijing: Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven
  • Work (cont.)
  • Presentation and Review
  • Lecture: Transit Oriented Development, Zhang Ming
  • Lecture: History of Beijing and Region, Wu Liangyong
  • Lecture: Transport and City Design, Chris Zegras
  • Lecture: Olympics Planning and Design, Huang Yan
  • Leave for Shanxi Province
  • Tour Shanxi: Yungang Grottoes, Huayan Temple, Hanging Monastery
  • Visit Wutai
  • Visit Pingyao
  • Show and Tell Session 3
  • Lecture: Principles of Chinese Gardens, Juan Du
  • Lecture: Jan Wampler
  • Visit Great Wall
  • Final Presentation
  • Preparation for Final
  • Preparation for Final (cont.)

Readings

  • Clayre, Alasdair. The Heart of the Dragon . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1985. ISBN: 039535336X.
    Listed reading
  • Wright, A. F. “The Cosmology of the Chinese City.” In The City in Late Imperial China . Edited by G. W. Skinner. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1977, pp. 411-451. ISBN: 0804708924.
    Listed reading
  • Tang, Wenfang, and William L. Parish. Chinese Urban Life under Reform: The Changing Social Contract . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 17-48. ISBN: 0521778654.
    Listed reading
  • Wu, Liangyong. “A Brief History of Ancient Chinese City Planning.” Kasseler Schriften Zur Geographie und Planung 38 (1986): 3-12, 50-86, and 92-130.
    Listed reading
  • Golany, Gideon S. Urban Design Ethics in Ancient China . Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001, pp. 43-109. ISBN: 0773474099.
    Listed reading
  • Liu, Ying, and Adenrele Awotona. Housing Provision and Bottom-up Approaches: Family Case Studies from Africa, Asia, and South America . Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 1999, pp. 223-312. ISBN: 1840143037.
    Listed reading
  • Tsu, Frances Ya-sing. Landscape Design In Chinese Gardens . New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill Book Company, 1987, pp. 3-11 and 151-191. ISBN: 0070653399.
    Listed reading
  • Rowe, Peter G. “Housing Density, Type, and Urban Life in Contemporary China.” Harvard Design Magazine 8 (Summer 1999): 40-45.
    Listed reading
  • Wang, Yaping, and Alan Murie. “The Process of Commercialization of Urban Housing in China.” Urban Studies 33, no. 6 (1996): 971-989.
    Listed reading
  • Lubow, Arthur. “The China Syndrome.” New York Times Magazine , May 21, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • Olds, Kris. “Globalizing Shanghai: the Global Intelligence Corps and the Building of Pudong.” Cities 12, no. 3 (1995): 109-123.
    Listed reading
  • Gamble, Jos. Shanghai in Transition . New York, NY: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. ISBN: 0700715711.
    Listed reading
  • Yager, Greg, and Scott Kilbourn. “Lessons from Shanghai Xintiandi: China’s Retail Success Story.” Urban Land Asia , December 2004, 34-37.
    Listed reading
  • Brown-Gillette, Jane. “Eye of the Dragon.” Landscape Architecture 88, no. 1 (1988): 52-80.
    Listed reading
  • Marme, Michael. Suzhou: Where the Goods of All the Provinces Converge . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005, pp. 19-39. ISBN: 0804731128.
    Listed reading
  • Liangyong, Wu. “The City of Beijing in Historic Perspective.” In Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing: A Project in the Ju’er Hutong Neighborhood . Vancouver, CA: UBC Press, 1999, pp. 3-15. ISBN: 077480727X.
    Listed reading
  • Zhang, Yan, and Ke Fang. “Politics of Housing Redevelopment in China: The Rise and Fall of the Ju’er Hutong Project in Inner-city Beijing.” Journal of Housing and Built Environment 18 (2003): 75-87.
    Listed reading
  • Zhu, Zixuan. “New Exploration into the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Old Cities.” Building in China 2, no. 4 (1989): 18-26.
    Listed reading
  • Zhang, Jie. “Informal Construction in Beijing’s Old Neighborhoods.” Cities 14, no. 2 (1997): 85-94.
    Listed reading

Prerequisites & course information

Same subject as 4.173[J] Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 0-21-0 units

Sources