Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-133). / by Xun Chen. / M.S. / In today's China, rapid modernization is taking place at the expense of the traditional Chinese culture. One witnesses changes in many aspects of the society. Western ideology like individualism and profit-oriented consciousness are shaping in the social environment. Left behind are the moral concepts that the traditional culture once held in esteem, such as collective consciousness, mutual respect and love among people, and family values. Regarding the physical environment, western models are copied mechanically, and traditional cityscapes are fading away. The country is losing its identity. The goal of this investigation is to generate a new model for Chinese cities. The model provides culturally and socially appropriate form, which are of distinct Chinese characteristics. Assuming that the design of the physical environment exerts influence on people's behavior, though not expecting it to dramatically change the world, the author believes that this model will facilitate the carrying-on of culture through the reembodiment of the spirit of the traditional Chinese society. The first half of the thesis focuses on the re-examination of Chinese philosophy and traces its imprints in traditional cities. While an attitude of humanism brought up cities for man, the unique notion of "virtue" nurtured an environment emphasizing both family life and social participation. The indigenous idea of YinYang embodied itself in the sense of balance and unity between the whole and parts, between regularity and flexibility, and between the built environment and nature. The following chapter presents a series of snapshots captured during the author's trip back to China. Although the information gathered is not complete, due to the brevity of the stay, what has been observed and recorded does sketch out a picture which allows one to have a general understanding of the current situation of the urban environment in China. Chapter IV includes demonstrations of the new model through the redesign of the Guangzhou New City Center, a counter-proposal to the original master plan of 1993. While the existing scheme is characterized by the dominance of throughways and super-sized blocks, the new proposal aims at creating a "City for People" of which the emphasis is placed on the re-establishment of the importance of the street as well as a better definition of open spaces. Based on the findings of the author's original study of block sizes and street pattern, it proves in design the feasibility of a compromise among making more streets, buildings addressing streets and fulfilling the low coverage ratio and high FAR that the program requires. Finally, Chapter V records for reference the process of the mathematical deduction and analyses from which the appropriate range of block sizes derive and then apply to the new model.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/65052 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Chen, Xun, M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
| Contributors | Michael Dennis., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 133 p., application/pdf |
| Coverage | a-cc--- |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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