Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1991. / "The application of image-processing using the computer and Computer-Aided Design for the study of the urban environment, illustrated by the use of treatises in seventeenth-century architecture." Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

In the West architectural historiography, or writing on architectural history, can be considered as a modern practice. Its emergence accompanied with the development of modern nation states. Architecture’s reflection on its historical texts came to find particular expression in the search for the origins of architecture. The formation of oriental architectural history tended to follow this pattern. Oriental architectural historiography was initiated by a Japanese scholar, Chūta Itō. In his formulation, the origins of Japanese architecture were linked not only with Chinese and Indian architecture, but also with Classical Greek architecture. In addition, Itō’s theoretical formulation of architectural history was also followed by other Japanese scholars, and it informed those later scholars who studied Taiwanese architectural history. That is, the formulations and classification systems that Itō set out for Japanese architecture framed subsequent scholarship on the architecture of other parts of East Asia, including Taiwan. The system that Itō established has been widely regarded as being based on modern and scientific academic research. This thesis investigates Itō’s system, its significance for architectural scholarship in other parts of East, as well as its claimed scientific basis. The thesis pays particular attention to the architectural history of Taiwan in the Japanese colonial period. The thesis hypothesises that the historiographical tradition that Itō’s work established was based on an unbalanced colonial relationship of power and uneven structure of authority, It explores how authenticity in East Asian architecture was authorised, and how hidden ideologies and methodologies lie behind these historiographical practices. This is the first ambition of the thesis. The examination of Japanese construction of oriental and Taiwanese architectural history in this thesis pays particular attention to the context of Japanese colonialism. In doing so it draws on a range of contemporary postcolonial theoretical perspectives. In addition, the particular kind of oriental colonialism, as a materialised colonial medium, Japanese writing on oriental and Taiwanese architectural history provides an additional perspective on that current and recent postcolonial criticism expressed through such concepts as Edward Said’s orientalism, Homi Bhabha’s hybridity and Gayatri Spivak’s strategic essentialism. At a theoretical level, the thesis argues that since these concepts emerged from the colonial/anti-colonial operation and negotiation between the west and its colonies, a refined analysis is required for thinking through Japanese colonialism. To this end, the thesis supplements postcolonial theory with the idea of oriental orientalism as developed by Yuko Kikuchi. In so doing, the thesis aims to contribute to an enriched discussion of contemporary postcolonial criticism in general, and as it applies to East Asian in particular. The exploration of architectural history as the subject of a wider colonial operation and the revision of the core conceptual tools of postcolonial criticism in the context of Japanese colonialism in East Asian, and Taiwan, provides further possibilities for the the construction of identity in those formerly colonised subject in places such as Taiwan. A postcolonial reading of Japanese writing on architectural history shows both the limitation of postcolonial criticism, and to question the framework of architectural discourse in the discipline. This project has to be based on an inquiry into the way in which the other’s architecture has been formulated and constructed in the discipline of architecture in the light of postcolonial criticism. Without such an inquiry, we are unable to open the metaphorical ‘space’ to negotiate the self-writing of Taiwanese subjects on their own architecture and architectural history.

The cutting dates of 10 wood timbers (girders and corner rafters) of Sinmu-mun, the north gate of Kyungbok Palace in Seoul, were determined by the dendrochronological method. Tree-ring chronologies of unknown dates derived from the timbers were crossdated using the graphic comparison method against the dated master chronologies derived from living trees. The living trees for the masters used for this study were Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc. (Japanese red pine), a major timber species for Korean traditional buildings. By comparing the Sinmu-mun samples with the masters from the western Sorak Mountains in central-eastern Korea, the Sinmu-mun samples yielded the cutting dates A.D. 1868, 1869, and 1870/1871. Surprisingly, these dates are 3 to 6 year later than the known date (A.D. 1865) of the Sinmu-mun reconstruction, which was recorded in a historical document ‘Ilsungrok’, the King’s official diary. Since the time that the Sinmu-mun construction date had been questioned, another record was found in the 1872 April issue of Ilsungrok, indicating the rebuilding of Sinmu-mun in the 1870s. Both pieces of evidence, from tree-ring dates and historic records, prove that the rebuilding of Sinmu-mun started after the Fall of 1870, but not later than April 1872. The results prove that tree-ring dating is a precise dating method and it can be applied to archaeological studies on Korean structures.

This study focuses on a cultural phenomenon that is driven by the demolition of Major League Baseball stadiums, ballparks, and fields. Prompted by their inherent role in the evolution of the sport and the inadequacies of the existing historic preservation framework, this study examines how American society preserves this utilitarian form, after their demolition, through observations, data collection, and analysis. In doing so, this study exposes that Major League Baseball stadiums, ballparks, and fields are preserved through the use of nine overlapping preservation methods, which memorialize five significant features. However, though these preservation methods do not prevent Major League Baseball stadiums from being demolished, they do illustrate how our society alternatively preserves historically and culturally significant resources when the existing historic preservation framework is rendered incompatible.

This research examines the American industrial city in the early twentieth century and the role of cultural institutions in the shift to an urban-oriented society. In-depth analysis of the University of Chicago’s architecture and planning traces how urban form emerged gradually as an assimilation of different traditions. It challenges a planning literature reliant on narrowly-prescribed categories and qualifies recent cultural histories that give a more nuanced portrayal of Progressive Era urban culture but which fail to consider the built environment directly. The research’s critical questions reconsider the role of nature within the city, the definition of the urban public, and the intertwining of commerce and civic culture. Its methodology uses original analytic drawings which trace how the University expanded over time, united with consideration of previously-unexplored written and visual archives. This combination of analytic mapping and archival investigation on one institution reveals new insights into how the industrial city was shaped as a whole. The findings identify paradoxes in the University’s planning, which promoted the dynamism of the modern city while evoking the image of bucolic Oxbridge. These contradictory impulses were enhanced by the University’s location on the Midway Plaisance, a public boulevard typifying the urban/rural hybridity of Chicago’s park system. The result was an urbanised nature, or the charged proximity of urban density and pastoral green space. Disputing the perceived eclipse of the nineteenth-century Parks movement, the term ‘urbanised nature’ suggests how earlier concern for naturalistic landscape was fused with the ideals of twentieth-century Progressivism. The research also contests previous emphasis on the exclusionary cultural practices of this period, as the heterogeneous development of the University’s Collegiate Gothic campus reveals a struggle to balance commercial interests, pastoral imagery, and monumental urban display. More broadly, this research sheds new light on the contradictions that shaped the American city in the early twentieth century—an urban culture driven by the contentious relationship between industrial capitalism and civic institutions, a public realm animated by mass appeal and elite tradition, and a spatial order drawn from urban and rural models.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate ideas of empire and imperialism in the architecture, urbanism and culture of the Iberian Peninsula during the sixteenth century. At this time, the Monarchia Hispanica ruled by Philip II of Spain was Europe’s most powerful composite monarchy, with an empire that stretched from Europe to the Americas and South-East Asia. One of the ways in which the Castilian monarch displayed his power and authority was through architecture and artistic display. The way the empire saw itself, and the manner in which it wished to be seen, was thus projected in a number of buildings in Iberian cities. Therefore, the basic premise of the thesis is to consider how the idea of ‘empire’ affected the way the Castilian monarch saw himself as ‘ruler’ of a ‘global empire’. This thesis explores these ideas of empowerment through a number of case studies that reflect the way the ‘centre’ of the empire was affected by Universal Monarchy. With Madrid as the capital of this empire from 1561, the Castilian monarchy designed new spaces in the old city that were intended to echo imperial glory. Philip II regulated the building fabric in the city to conform to a universal and homogeneous imperial city model that had been implemented in the Indies in previous decades. This is precisely the focus of the first case study, with a new approach to understanding the debated decade of the 1560s in the urban history of Madrid. I propose a novel perspective on the utopian planning of Madrid, through comparison with urban legislation enforced in other domains of the empire. Philip II’s empire was ruled through the written word, with a highly specialised and sophisticated bureaucracy. This bureaucratic character was mirrored in the architectural reforms of Simancas fortress to adapt it for archival needs. The archive in Simancas is the second case study: this is a multi-layered examination of cultural and political history and how this was reflected in the spatial configuration of the new archival chambers. I identify a hitherto unknown European vernacular tradition in the architecture of the incipient sixteenth-century regal archives. The architectural expansion in the fortress contextualises the crucial role that the archives played in the expansion and cohesion of the composite monarchies under Philip II’s rule. As the supremacy of Philip as ruler of a global empire was emphasised both through the arts and propaganda during the union of 1580, the celebration of the union of Portugal with the Monarchia Hispanica is the focus of chapter three: the joyous entry of the ruler into Lisbon in 1581. I demonstrate how sections of this entry were clearly designed to evoke the imperial vision defined at Philip II’s court, while other ephemeral displays were the result of local traditions. The interaction of both realities is critical for comprehension of how the monarch wished to be seen in his new realm, and of the difficult relationships between the ruler and the ruled. This imperial dominion was also displayed architecturally in significant regal buildings, such as the Monastery of El Escorial, the most paradigmatic example of the Austriaco style created under Phillip II’s rule. The final part of this thesis examines a chamber in this building: the Hall of Battles. This chamber is ornamented with impressive frescoes representing victorious battles. I explore the themes emerging from the Hall of Battles, such as the war against heresy and infidels, the propagation of faith and the Spanish hegemony in Europe, amongst others. These themes were treated in many of the chronicles, sermons, and eulogies printed in Madrid and throughout the empire. By examining how these are narrated in the funeral chronicles, I consider how the ruler wished himself to be portrayed in his kingdom upon death. In short, all these case studies explore from diverse perspectives and locations how Spain’s imperial expansion during the sixteenth century allowed Philip to project and communicate an image of himself as the monarch of a worldwide empire through art and architecture.

No description available.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1991. / "The application of image-processing using the computer and Computer-Aided Design for the study of the urban environment, illustrated by the use of treatises in seventeenth-century architecture." Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation examines the ways in which nineteenth-century American reformers used genteel, domestic buildings to reform defiant young girls. The Connecticut Industrial School for Girls opened in 1870 as a site dedicated to both academic education and industrial training, and founders chose the family system of structures to physically represent ideas of home and love while simultaneously demonstrating authority and power. They used the campus and its built forms as teaching tools, but they also used the seemingly beneficent environment to encourage and, at times, force new identities upon girls who were in danger of becoming delinquents. Believing girls who lived in dirty, urban conditions would become immoral and even criminal, authorities removed and relocated them into newly constructed spaces in a rural area, structures that together created a community. The site was a place for girls to grow stronger through healthy food and fresh air, education and attention. But the school also forced assimilation. Inmates were offered only one path forward and were educated under duress. The girls were casualties of a larger cultural conflict occurring in America, a battle around issues of class and environment. Their futures were placed into the hands of people who wanted to create an American population more educated, more skilled, and seemingly, more civilized. To understand this complex story, this study uses chapters that overlap in time but address different methodological approaches. Chapter One looks at nineteenth-century European precedents for the school, focusing on the ways in which reformers in England, France, and Germany originated the use of the family system to save children. Chapter Two locates the child-saving movement and family system in America, documenting early efforts at helping children through purpose-built structures and evolving educational ideology. Chapter Three examines the physical reality of the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls, documenting the ways in which authorities adapted the building plans to maintain control over inmates. Chapter Four explores the daily life of the inmates, adding people and their agendas to the structures. The study concludes with an examination of the family system in relation to institutional typologies in post-Civil War America.

Cincinnati, Ohio is a city with many architecturally significant, yet decrepit, historic brewery buildings. Most of these structures are centralized in Over-the-Rhine (OTR) and the West End, two adjoining neighborhoods bordering Cincinnati’s Central Business District. Prohibition, in combination with anti-German sentiment from World War I, led to the decline of the brewery industry in Cincinnati in the beginning of the twentieth century. The decline left the formerly German concentrated OTR neighborhood vulnerable to economic instability. Within the past ten years, gentrification has threatened the southern regions of the OTR neighborhood, forcing low-income families to relocate to the West End. This has left the West End community socially and economically disconnected from OTR. The purpose of this thesis is to present an adaptive reuse proposal for the historic Rundbogenstil style Bellevue Brewing Company building, as a means to help socioeconomically regenerate and connect OTR and the West End neighborhoods.