Category: Research Blog
Architectural Acupunctures in Songyang County, Lishui City, China (Part II)
URT’s Zhouyan Wu visited Pingtian to have a concrete understanding of architectural acupuncture’s effect on #ruralrevitalization. Key factors of success include professional planning and design, a tripartite cooperation mode and a brand-oriented business model. Nevertheless, to be sustainable, Pingtian’s development needs to increase community vitality and agricultural production.
News: Giappomania Goes International!
Almost one year after its first Italian edition by Rizzoli, Giappomania journey continues! Thanks to our readers, the book – written by URT’s Marco Reggiani and illustrated by Sabrina Ferrero – was sold out and republished in spring 2019. At the same time, Giappomania started to attract international attention and, this April, the book was translated and published in Spanish by Lunwerg Editores. Titled Japomania, this new edition is available in bookstores, online, and as an eBook in Spain and across Latin America.
Additionally, two more translations are planned for the autumn. In September, the book will be published in German by Prestel Verlag under the title Japan. Der illustrierte Guide. One month later, the French edition of the book, Japorama, will be published by Casterman. Hopefully, many new readers will have a chance to embark on our colourful journey through Japan and discover the charm of the Land of the Rising Sun!
Zhang Village Revitalization Proposal
URT’s Zhouyan Wu and her colleagues from architectural firm #GAWA proposed a #revitalization plan for Zhang Village in Yiwu, #China. Their #design features a new community center at the heart of the village and a sequence of public spaces.
The new community center includes two ancestral halls and a new multifunctional hall in a variation layout of the traditional Chinese courtyard building. The scheme focuses on creating a solemn and cohesive space to accommodate ritual and festival activities and meet up-to-date needs.
News: City Futures IV Conference
Between June 20 and 22, 2019, the City Futures IV Conference was held at the UCD Dublin O’Brien Centre for Science in Dublin, Ireland. Jointly organized by #EURA and #UAA, the theme of the conference was ‘Creating Just and Sustainable Cities’ with a special focus on issues of inclusion, smart specialization and diversification, environmental challenges, democracy, smart and cultural cities.
URT’s Zdenka Havlova and Marco Reggiani joined with a paper titled ‘Hijacking Culture for Corporate Gains: The Forfeiture of Diversity in Corporatized and Commercialized Urban Space of Shibuya, #Tokyo’. Presented within the Cultural Cities track, the paper investigates ways corporations hijack and manufacture #culture, and how this ‘fabrication’ affects the diversity of the urban realm of #Shibuya.
News: Marco Joins New Project in Glasgow
It has been a time of shaking things up for URT. After coming back from Los Angeles, we said goodbye to Japan: parting was not easy, and each of us set for a different destination. However, we are excited about the goals ahead and the new streams of research we will be able to engage with. In Marco’s case, he started to work as a Postdoc Research Associate at his new academic home, the University of Strathclyde in #Glasgow, #Scotland. Read more in our most recent news by Marco Reggiani
News: Urban Affairs Association Conference 2019
In April, URT members again attended the Annual Conference of the Urban Affairs Association, this time in Los Angeles, California.
Book Review: The Architecture of Neoliberalism by Douglas Spencer
Published in 2016, Douglas Spencer’s The Architecture of Neoliberalism offers an empowering perspective to a profession that seems to have lost much of its purpose in the run towards the market. Read more about it in the new book review by Marco Reggiani
Finding Vitality in Ziyang Ancient Street
Ziyang Ancient Street, the most prosperous street in the history of Taizhou City, China, was in disrepair. Through restoration and conservation of its vernacular buildings, the street has gained renewed vigor. By Zhouyan Wu #streetedge #streetscape #urbanrenewal #vernacular #urbanresearchtable
Architectural Acupunctures in Songyang County, Lishui City, China (Part I)
Our essay, Adaptive Reuse of Peri-Urban Villages: Rural Revitalization in Xiananshan Village, Zhejiang, introduced the practice of adaptive reusing the entire old village in Lishui City, China. Do similar stories […]
URT at Great Asian Streets Symposium 2018 in Singapore
GASS 2018 URT’s Zdenka Havlova presented her paper at the Great Asian Streets Symposium 2018, held at the National University of Singapore (NUS) between December 14 and 16, 2018. The […]
Urban Redesign Studio 2018 Winter: URT Member Joined as Teaching Assistant
URT’s Siqi Li joined, as a teaching assistant, the Urban Redesign Studio 2018 Winter at the University of Tokyo. In view of the characteristics of disaster-prone areas in Japan, the […]
Ongoing Project – Investigating Relationships Between Shinkansen and Depopulating Regions : The Case of Aomori Prefecture
URT’s Marco Reggiani and Dr. Fernando Ortiz-Moya (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies) are investigating the effects of Shinkansen (Japanese high-speed train) in Aomori Region, northern Japan. The current focus is […]
URT Member Joins Introduction to Research Methods Seminar at Tokyo University and Gives Two Lectures
Fall semester 2018, the Department of Architecture, University of Tokyo, offered a seminar titled Introduction to Research Methods. Topics included theory and practice of architecture, computational design, or urbanism and […]
Urban Pendant: Public Space Defined by Light
2nd Prize Winner of 11th JIA Architecture Lighting Design CompetitionTheme: Pendant Jury: Nishizawa Ryue, Kazuyo Sejima, Kuroki Masao, Kaoru Mende, Akari Lisa Ishii Authors: Siqi Li, Xiaoting Chen (MVRDV) All […]
Mapping the City Via Moving Images: A Brief Review and Discussions about the ‘Documentary’ Approach
Mapping is a powerful and productive instrument for construing and comprehending the world. Conventional approaches to mapping project data from a top-down view to unfold the city’s structure or spatial […]
The Issue of Multilevel Pedestrian Urbanism
Public space is entangled with the contemporary spatial, social, cultural, political, and economic challenges cities are facing. It is one of the critical concepts to tackle to ensure sustainable, just, […]
The Problem of “Spontaneity” in Qilou Verandah Space
Qilou (also known as the “shophouse”) is one of the unique vernacular architectural types in Southeast Asia and East Asia areas, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. In Qilou, […]
Exploring for a New Method for Mapping: Street Edges as In-Between Space
According to pedestrians‘ perspective, the street edge is the portion of the street interface that determines the attractiveness of the city at the eye level. Gehl defines the city’s edge […]
Giappomania, Marco Reggiani’s New Book
Apart from research and education, URT members are also engaged with various initiatives to reach the general public. Recently, Marco Reggiani published an illustrated book for Rizzoli. Titled Giappomania, it […]
Urban Plugin: A Public Space Making and Sharing System
1st Prize Winner of Urban Public Space Design Competition 2017Theme: SHARING THE IN-BETWEENSJury: Takayuki Kishii, Ryue Nishizawa, Seiichi Saito, Junji TanigawaAuthor: Siqi Li, Xiaoting Chen (MVRDV) Although everything in China […]
Asian Deans’ Forum: Rising Stars in Academia Women in Engineering Workshop
At the beginning of October, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was a venue for the first ever Asian Deans’ Forum: Rising Stars in Academia Women in […]
URT Members Published a New Paper on Public Life in Tokyo!
URT members published a new paper in UA 城市建筑 Urbanism and Architecture journal (ISSN 1673-0232 CN 23-1528/TU), 2018(6), pages 108-118. The paper is titled Public Space for Sedentary Activities in […]
Adaptive Reuse of Peri-Urban Villages: Rural Revitalization in Xiananshan Village, Zhejiang
Similarly to Japan, an awful lot of villages in China are facing severe problems of depopulation and decline. To tackle this problem, national and local governments, third-party organizations, and villagers […]
URT Member at EBRA 2018 in Wuhan, China
URT member Siqi Li attended EBRA 2018 (13th International Symposium for Environment-Behavior Studies), November 3-4, 2018, in Wuhan, China. The theme of the 13th International Symposium for Environment-Behavior Studies was Differences […]
URT Members Published a New Paper on Public Space in Shinjuku, Tokyo!
URT members published a new paper in UA 城市建筑 Urbanism and Architecture journal (ISSN 1673-0232CN 23-1528/TU), 2018(4), pages 26-34. The paper is titled The Metamorphosis of Contemporary Public Space: The […]
URT Members at Urban Affairs Association Conference 2018 in Toronto
URT members Zdenka Havlova and Marco Reggiani presented at the 48th Annual Conference of the Urban Affairs Association, April 4-7, 2018, in Toronto, Canada, along with Dr. Kaon Ko and […]
Investigating Place in the Age of Mobility: A Short Introduction
A few decades already passed since the recognition of the effects of globalization on the identity of territories. On the one hand, economics and politics rearrange cities and regions into […]
Today We Launch Our Website
Today we launch our website, Urban Research Table. Back in the summer of 2016, we founded Urban Research Table (URT) while pursuing our doctoral studies in different labs at the […]