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For some time, even if this is not expressed explicitly, 'Chinese architecture' and 'western architecture' are conceived and perceived as two homogeneous totalities, in opposition to one another. In consequence, the fast transformation of Chinese cities in the last three decades is often accounted for in terms of the influence of 'western architecture' upon 'Chinese architecture'. Indeed, the urban growth in this period has involved architectural expertise, products, technologies and designs from Europe and the USA. To some people, what is seen as 'new' is 'western', and hence, the transformation is a process of 'westernisation'. However, this is precisely what the thesis argues against. It argues that to use the category of the 'Chinese' and the 'Western' to explain the products of architecture and urbanism in last thirty years China is neither useful nor appropriate. This thesis concerns the issue of 'conceptual translation' of architectural discourse from Europe and the USA into the context of China, as an opposition to 'linguistic translation' which concerns literal meanings of terms. Its examination focuses on the category that the concept 'western modern' indicates in Chinese architecture, and relates its operation and construction to the importation history of European and American architecture throughout the twentieth century, as well as pedagogy of architectural training, regularisation of design principles and methods, identification of architectural profession, practice of the architects' offices, organisation of design competition, and management of the city, mode of marketing and purchase in the real estate market, state politics and cultural interpretations. The analysis reveals that while waves of importation have sustained the formation of architecture as a modem practice in China from the early twentieth century up to now, they have not arrived as symmetrical reflection of what they are in the 'original' context. A difference, in comparison to European and American architecture, can be characterised by the absence. of a coherent 'modernism' and the continuity of the modified 'Beaux-Arts' practice in Chinese architecture. Therefore, 'fne assumption of 'westernisation' is wrong in its first place, as there is no such distinction that could be made between the 'Chinese' and the 'Western'.

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The present thesis presents an extensive description and analysis of the design process for a large-scale low-energy housing development (196 houses). The research is used to question the appropriateness of the RIBA Plan ofWork for the delivery oflow-energy housing and to give a unique insight into the motivations and interrelationships ofproject team· members. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect and analyse data. Qualitative data were collected from participant observation of o)'er 40 design and construction meetings at the case-~tudy development, as well as from documents distributed at these meetings. In addition, members of the core design team were interviewed. Data from these various sources were analysed using template, documentary and quantitative content analysis. Oecision analysis was used to investigate factors that affected the environmental impact of the houses. The impact of these decisions (and of particular decision makers) is discussed. The EcoHomes Standard had the largest influence on decisions, and many were renegotiated in construction to the detriment of the houses' environmental performance. The research reveals that some project team members lacked understanding ofthe ,. cost of sustainable construction. Several parties added up to 30% to actual construction costs. The experience of designing and constructing the low-energy houses increased all project team members' knowledge, and apparently changed how many operated and thought in their professional roles. Partnering and trust were very important in the project team, and good working relationships were essential. Cost (especially affordability of the houses) and sustainability were the strongest influences on decisions cited by project team members. However, compromises on the sustainability of the houses were observed because of the cost implications of some low-energy technologies, materials and building techniques. The RIBA Plan ofWork did not hold the key to incorporating sustainability into the design process, as this was shown to be embedded in other issues, such as project team relations.

This work is an investigation of the cultural phenomenon of branding in relation to its transformational effects on the contemporary spatial – and urban – reality. Based on a cultural analysis of the brand as capitalist institution, it develops an understanding of the rationale behind the construction of large-scale architectural complexes that relate to corporate brands. The consequences of this process will be discussed regarding two examples of corporate brand-building (“Autostadt Wolfsburg”, “BMW Welt Munich”) and one case of indirectly brand-inspired city development (“Anting New Town”). Theoretically, the work relies on a poststructuralist framework, employing ideas from Deleuze and Sloterdijk. It argues that the brand can be interpreted as a “virtual” in the Deleuzian sense, and that its going-spatial can be read as a way to create new levels of virtual-actual interaction. These interactions will be interpreted as necessary for a brand to survive, but also to generate new levels of risk. This work will analyse how the effects on the urban sphere that are the outcome of corporate spatialisation effectively mean that the city enters into a mode of virtual urbanity. In this process, urban structure will be shown to force the historical into space. A notion of a hybrid history will be developed. It will be shown that brand space consists of different modes of temporality which create different colliding “strands” of history. These colliding histories are arguably part of what will be called “viral urbanism”. This viral mediatisation of space will be shown to result in a regime of “global urbanity”. This regime will be approached by integrating the arguments around virtual and actual into Sloterdijk’s concept of a world of “spheres”. The latter will be used to understand the spatiality of mediatised spaces. It will be argued that brand space can be seen as an instance of new media urbanism.

This study investigates how, if at all, sustainable architecture education is practised in the Department of Architecture at Kuwait University. The thesis begins with the development of sustainable design and a brief history of education in Kuwait. Furthermore, it includes a critical discussion of architectural education theory, the role of architecture bodies in regulating both the profession, and architecture education competencies. The thesis begins with a background of the history of education, architectural education from apprenticeship level to formal Higher Education, the initiation of architecture accrediting bodies, and how environmental concepts were introduced into the curriculum through architecture accrediting bodies. The thesis exhibits different cases of theoretical approaches of architecture education, beginning with the UK, in which the political situation is a major driving force behind environmental education, and shifting to architecture education in SAPL, America (Texas A&M University), Kuwait University and Australian Sydney University., The different case studies also contribute to the debate about whether architecture schools, due to their different educational approaches, should be more strongly linked to other fields of study such as engineering and/or sociology, biology, building services, etc. The thesis displays the actual methods used in collecting field data, a summary of data analysis results using graphs, charts, etc., with more details of raw material included in the appendix section. The thesis identifies and discusses the influences upon sustainable architecture including policy, regulations, market forces, etc. These influences are identified as part of the three drivers of sustainability; environment, economy and society. It further concludes by linking the drivers of sustainable architecture with the attainment of sustainable architecture in Kuwait by implementing policies promoting it in accordance with international environmental policies and strategies. The thesis constructs a thorough argument for a new teaching environment for sustainable architecture in Kuwait drawn from the data analysis results and architecture education theories examined within. The recommended architecture education delivered provides a diagram of curriculum recommendations, and new teaching, learning and assessment methods within the right environment. Indicators to monitor the success of the proposed approach are included. The final recommendation of the research thesis provides a constructive description of the overall study, the key findings and the implications of the research, with a suggested framework for future research into curriculum development.

This study is focused on design guidelines (DGs) for healthcare facilities development in South Africa which date to the apartheid era, the consequence of which is inadequate provision of healthcare facilities in urban areas where the poor black majority live and work. It aims to assess the role of DGs in the development and provision of healthcare facilities; and more specifically to assess the role of design guidelines for accident and emergency facilities (DGAEF) so as to make recommendations on how to improve their design and project development process. Informed and guided by philosophical and theoretical frameworks and a conceptual model of DGAEF, the empirical research was conducted between 2006 and 2007 using the following methodologies: questionnaire and interview surveys, floor plan analyses and observational studies. Owing to geographical, financial and time constraints, the study was restricted to two case study accident and emergency (A&E) facilities—Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH) in Soweto, Johannesburg and Pretoria Academic Hospital in Pretoria. The information gathered was analysed using descriptive statistics, content analysis, Space Syntax analysis, hierarchical task analysis and link analysis. A SWOT (Strength- Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis was also conducted. The main findings are that there is inadequate policy attention to DGAEF update; lack of integration of the project brief, design and construction processes; excessive timeframes for project development; quality issues; and lack of post-occupancy evaluation (POE). Thus, the findings underscore the need to develop and introduce design quality indicators (DQIs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) in the general and specific design requirements in the DGAEF used for space design and provision, functional suitability and spatial relationships. The key recommendation of this research is that, to improve access to adequate A&E facilities and achieve measurable positive outcomes in healthcare services delivery in South Africa, the DGAEF should be updated based on evidence. To this end, research-based guiding principles, based on Planetree principles, are presented—which emphasise improved project communication approaches; understanding of value systems; participatory design processes; constant use and update of information systems through technology innovation; standardisation of the overall project development process from briefing through to POE; and institutional transformation based on societal change.

The dramatic development of the urban area of Beijing in the past five decades has imposed a great pressure on the natural, social cultural and economic resources in China's capital. This is in contrast with the traditional city where the traditional courtyard house living environment and its associated life were built in harmony with the local built environment. Shaped by Taoism and Confucianism, Wangcheng (ideal imperial city) and Fenghsui theory and traditional building regulations, each traditional courtyard building exemplified an understanding of the local built context. Could, therefore a detailed study of these traditional urban courtyard living environments create a basis for a potential vernacular/traditional approach of ecological housing development? The study focuses on the area of 1't through to 1 Oth lanes of the Dongsi neighbourhood. Further, 12 different courtyard building types from the neighbourhood were chosen for a two phase case study to explore the ecological (traditional/vernacular approach) values of the traditional courtyard living environment. Firstly, place studies led to the conclusions that traditionally there were four foci of social and cultural activity in the area, these were the Dongsi archways, temples and temple fairs, hutong (lanes) and also the courtyard entrance gates. Secondly, in the urban morphology aspect, the two dimensional figure ground studies of the area have highlighted the hierarchal urban grid and voids (inner yards and courtyards) patterns. At a more detailed level, the plot pattern studies explored the flexible use of a standard 8 mu (5336sqm) plot size, and the building types have been studied through three buildings parameters: the roof type; buildings width (number of bays); and the building height. The original uses of these buildings were mixed and included religious, imperial residential, ordinary residential, commercial, leisure and so on. The mixed use neighbourhood combined with the hierarchal street pattern (with appropriate street proportion) and so on has helped to created lively, pedestrian and liveable streets. In the past the archways to the neighbourhood and main road, the front public yard of temple, the front entrance place of hutong and the courtyard entrance gate created a fluent and continuous urban spatial transition from the very public outside neighbourhood to the intensely private inside of the courtyard buildings. This hierarchy of privacy was continued in the dwellings themselves since the physical location of the buildings exactly matched the social identification of each family member and visitor. For a courtyard unit, the dwelling owner and also the religious/family worship function were always located inside the main building; then the next generation of male family members was located in the left wing buildings, females were located in the right wing buildings, and the visitors and service persons were located at the front buildings. When the residents had higher social/economic status or a large family, the courtyard unit axis could be expanded following either the north-south axis or the west-east axis. Secondary buildings and building elements such as a screen wall, decorative gate, the verandah and so on also helped to provide a smooth spatial transition inside the courtyard buildings, and these secondary buildings/buildings elements gave clear directions to each member of the family and the visitors. Structural elements are also strictly controlled in traditional courtyard housing, for example with the 11 grades doukou (modular) system, this not only provides the basic scale and proportion of buildings, but also, for example, controls building standards. This timber structure system also has great flexibility for structural extension, repair, mass production, prefabrication, potential for transformation and so on. In detailed studies of how the courtyard buildings respond to the local climate we see this structural system also at work. Five microclimate types have been identified according to the location of the courtyard and yard inside a traditional courtyard buildings group at the 1st to 1 Oth lanes of Dongsi neighbourhood in Beijing. Following the classification of the microclimate, the solar shadow index for the winter sun and the aspect ratio for the exposure to the external environment of each type of courtyard/yard was also studied and analyzed to pursue the physical characteristics of the courtyard microclimate. This was essential for the following comprehensive microclimate studies. The sunlight factor, the orientation factor, the building envelope factor, and the landscape factor from the traditional courtyards buildings in Beijing are discussed and analyzed to explore the Qi (energy) control strategies through individual buildings placement and also the buildings elements. The final part of the thesis is a study of the transformation undergone by this area as well as an examination of the shaping forces in 1st through 1 Oth lanes of Dongsi . neighbourhood, This research has applied a systematic and rational research methodology to a traditional Chinese urban neighbourhood. The courtyard living environment studies have generated a comprehensive understanding of a vernacular/traditional building style that evolved over hundreds of years and therefore may have great potential to provide ecological design implications (vernacular/traditional approach) to cope with the current housing crisis in socio-cultural, environmental and economic (architectural structural design aspect) aspects. This type of study I believe to be unique and that it contributes to an understanding of these dwellings and a way of life which is under threat of disappearing.