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The courtyard as city : subtitle a framework for applying Alexander’s "A Pattern Language" method to China

University of British Columbia

During its long history, Chinese architecture has achieved brilliant results-developing a system of architecture that is unique, excellent and independent in a global context. However, faced with the challenges of new social and economic programs and new technologies, traditional building types and landscape architecture have been largely set aside in favor of an international style. As a result, the regard for harmony and unity, which is the essence of traditional environmental design in China, is generally lacking in contemporary Chinese architectural and landscape architecture practice. It has been an important research to consider the potential future evolution of Chinese contemporary architecture and landscape architecture based on both old and new cultural and economic traditions. This is also the motivation and aim of this thesis. In this thesis, a research and design model is proposed for a "New and Chinese" architecture and landscape architecture, which is to apply Alexander's "A Pattern Language" to Chinese community design and to begin to develop a unique Chinese pattern language for contemporary Chinese architecture and landscape architecture. Better community site planning and landscape design is urgently needed in China today. The unique Chinese patterns distilled and presented in this thesis focus on the community environment in North China, based on the archetypal residence of northern China, the Beijing courtyard house. These patterns are rich in Chinese spirit, support cultural expectations and can help to make the new Chinese living environments "alive" and "whole".

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-09-29

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/13333

Landscape Architecture

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace