Session 1 - June 7

[stubing]

Join us for the discussion session on Tuesday, 6/7 at 4pm PT:

https://usc.zoom.us/j/97179452925?pwd=SWxqSmVkWDBpWXA5K0dhamFMUkRZdz09

Meeting ID: 971 7945 2925  Passcode: 288751

Learning from East Asia: A View from the West

 

 

Required reading

• Framing the Asian City, by Vinayak Bharne

 

City Form and Planning Concepts: China, Japan, Korea

 

 

Required reading

• The Ancient Chinese City as a Cosmological Symbol, by Paul Wheatley

 

Attachments:

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[Amy Stamm]

I found Professor Bharne’s discussion about the distinction between the conceptual underpinnings of Michelangelo’s Pieta vs. Ryoanji Temple so interesting. Whereas Michelangelo sculpted stone into a realist human scene, the Japanese artist created a work that revered and preserved the form of the natural world. I’m interested in how this reverence for the natural world and natural forms sits with Paul Wheatley’s explanation of how the design of certain Asian cities was thought to create a portal from the heavens down to the earth and in some cases then to the underworld. Was the idea that “only the sacred was real” (p. 148) operating in the temple design in the same way as the city design as a whole? Rene Berthelot’s framing of the complex of ideas behind the city as “a mode of thought, which presupposes an intimate parallelism between the mathematically expressible regimes of the heavens and the biologically determined rhythms of life on earth” (p. 148) made me wonder what relationship the grid structure of the city might have to the Ryoanji Temple design in terms of replicating, revering, or relating to the natural world, and how the sacred realm was conceptualized in the temple design. I’m also curious about how the city design of many Asian cities as a way of imagining space and the relationship between the different dimensions and layers of living and breathing every day has shaped people’s emotions, relationships, movement, and sense of inner organization or relationship to other inhabitants and the world around them vs. the design and conceptual underpinnings of cities from other cultural histories (African cities? European cities?).

 

I’m also wondering how people thought about the liminal space between the delimitations of the sacred space of the city planted in the middle of the secular space of its bordering lands. Or maybe there wasn’t thought to be liminal space because the cities were walled off so definitively. In the case of Japanese cities where the membrane or wall that separated the house from the street in Japan was not impermeable or permanent, was the entire city conceptualized differently, or were there more permanent walls or delimitations around the city delineating the sacred from the profane, as in Chinese cities? I love the malleability of the paper screens, their entire façade, being open to redefine the street space and the space inside the house.

 

Professor Bharne’s distinction between urbanities and urbanisms was helpful, and his conceptual framing of ten landscapes was a helpful way of holding the overlapping forms and histories of cities in relation to each other. I’m interested in how the tenth landscape is reflective and productive of new relationships with histories of cities and new concepts of our relationship to the earth as a whole – if that’s a new, unifying identity of city inhabitants, given the universal threat of global warming, a force that overtakes regions, nation-states, continents, or other demarcating concepts of belonging and identity. How do ideas about urban sustainability define the relationship between people and reproduction (economic sustainability vs. biological or ecological sustainability), between people and other fauna and flora? And what new imaginations will form for inhabitants of Masdar, Abu Dhabi or Putrajaya, Malaysia?

 

[Taylor Bub]

Hi Amy,

I also found the connection and discussion of the Pieta and the Ryoanji Temple.   I think that so many people look at these types of art differently and might respect art like Michelangelo's Pieta more than the art created by the Japanese artist because they perceive the level of difficulty as being different.  Even though they were created at the same time.  It might be interesting to have students look into how much time, effort and understanding of nature actually goes into creating the Temples and other art more focused on nature.  

[Marcos Garrido]

Learning from East Asia lecture

I enjoyed this particular lecture because it allowed me to see Asia from a different perspective. Dr. Bharne's lecture focused on comparing and contrasting East Asian Architecture with that of the Western World. The most important point that got my attention, was urbanism. It is amazing how the concept of modern cities has changed in the past 50 years, and how some cities that didn't exist 30 years ago are now massive urban centers.

City Form and Planning Concepts

This particular lecture was pleasant to watch. I think it was interesting how this lecture talked about the importance of water, and the history of human settlements with proximity to water. I do not recall the chinese name for this particular settlement, but I found it interesting how Dr. Bharne compared these settlements to apartment complexes. 

[Taylor Bub]

In class we discussed the changing structure of cities and how cities like Los Angeles can learn from cities like Hong Kong, that are more polycentric to create a more walkable and accessable city.  I read in an article about how relying less on personal transportation and more on public transportation can have a positive effect on the socioeconomic polarization. Essentially those cities that could be considered more walkable might allow for a more even socioeconomic distribution.  I ma curious to compare this information to some of the more walkable and accessable cities in East Asia, (thinking Hong Kong, Tokyo, etc.) to see if this statement holds up.

[Nina Zhou]

This is the question I wanted to raise during our seminar today. I'm still formulating the ideas in my head, so apologies if it is not written in the clearest way.

 

I am curious how the concept of modernity is defined in the field of urban studies (and beyond), and how it connects to the idea of westernization. The two obviously have a close correlation, since many aspects of what we consider "modern life" (clothing, government systems, school systems) are the products of European and North American societies that subsequently spread around the world through colonization. Both the second lecture and the "Framing the Asian City" reading pointed to this process of westernization, urbanization, and rapid modernization as the result of colonial contact. However, the lecture and reading also seem to differentiate between westernization and newer forms of urban expression in East Asia. I would love to learn more about these definitions since it's so hard to truly separate our modern cultural and material landscapes from the West. Are there forms of non-Western urbanisms, and if so, what are some examples? When I think of the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing or Shinjuku in Tokyo, while these urban spaces are so iconic that they are undeniably "Japanese" or "Chinese," the essence of their characteristics--skyscrapers, steel beams, neon lights--seems to still emulate the West. Similarly, are the post-industrial urban models (landscape #10) an attempt to define a new form of urbanism separate from modernity, or is it an extension of western modernity with "Asian characteristics"?

 

I understand that the physical and cultural landscape of East Asia is a hybrid product of centuries of cultural exchange, and perhaps my thinking is too black and white. I'd appreciate any clarifications on these ideas, and I welcome comments from everyone in the seminar 🙂

[Nia Gipson]

I very much enjoyed this introductory week to this seminar! I thought that the lectures and reading were a great way to frame the evolution of urbanism in East Asia in a way that felt very easy to digest. The Introduction on Framing the Asian City was particularly helpful for me, and as I was reading it, one thing that caught my attention that I personally want to do more research on is the development of ecological cities like Lingang in China. When we had our discussion on Tuesday, I was happy to see that many others were thinking about environmental and sustainable cityscapes. I hope that we continue to discuss those as well. I thought that the comment that technology destroys regional identity and indigenous wisdom was particularly poignant and as a STEM teacher, is something that I would like more explicit in my class, not just the benefit of technology, but also what is lost, but I am still mulling over this in my brain.

[Amy Stamm]

Nina, I love your questions and appreciate your trying to tease out the implicit connection between concepts of modernity and understandings of what is considered Western. I have a lot of similar questions about the word "progress" associated with modernity - its deep connections to technology (the assumption that technological development automatically equals progress), and the embedded assumptions of the positivity of the ever-increasing march toward the constant interactions with technological products.

[Candace Slobodnik]

I have a question about ancient city planning.  During the lecture on Tuesday, you share that participants in this course we will begin to frame potential solutions to climate change, economic dispartities and socioeconomic polarization as we learn about urbanism from East Asian perspectives. 

Throughout human history, governments have faced challenges of alleviating economic disparities.  In 2022, in cities around the world, governments attempt different methods to adpat to growing numbers of people who face insecurities with shelter and food. 

Is there evidence of how urban planners of ancient cities attempted to exclude or to accomodate groups such as the growing homeless population in U.S. cities? 

[Candace Slobodnik]

Good Afternoon Amy,

I find the idea of creating aesthetically appealing urbanscapes in ancient cities, while preserving the traditions of collectivist cultures intriging.  Often when I think of modern cities the first images in my mind are cement and steel, with some urban parks.  If we begin to develop the perspective of microcities with unique features where neighbors bond and form traditions, while connecting to other parts of the city, we can view the sustainable possiblities for the future.  This can include markets, community green paces, places of worship and cooperative living spaces.  

[Candace Slobodnik]

I am excited about participating in this seminar and in the different ways I might connect to and share our discussions and readings with our school and district communities.  Living and working through the pandemic, many educators have gained insight into both surviving and thriving during a time of shifts in our practices and approaches that were in some ways predictable, such as becoming a 1:1 student device district, yet in many ways unforeseen, such as the trauma faced by many students and families, we serve who already faced housing and food insecurities.  In order to truly transform our public education system, educators need freedom to innovate while conforming to district curriculum mandates. 

One way that each of us might connect the topics of urbanism and architecture to professional practice as educators at any grade level or content is to infuse topics and perspectives from different cultures, such as Asian and other societies.  We can also share the resources and guide colleagues within our school and district communities to access the materials and concepts of this seminar.  I am particularly interested in the ways that we can align the comparative themes that are discussed in the introductory video that will help our students grapple with some of the obstacles we face as we adapt to recent changes in our world, including daily life, modern communities, and climate change.  As a young country, we have so much to learn about the resilience and resourcefulness of the societies of Asia, including through visual and performing art, architecture, places of worship (both natural and man-made), and political responses to external influences and interactions. 

If we use a student centered inquiry based approach within our classrooms, the questions posed on p. 2 of  the first reading, Framing the Asian City, by Vinayak Bharne may serve as a springboard for classroom discussions. How can we connect the adaptations to climate change and Western influences made by Asian societies in the past, present and future, to the dilemmas we face in our own communities?  “What are the forces shaping them? What are the forces that they in turn are shaping? What are the dilemmas and challenges that underlie them? How are they different from the West? Are Asian cities treading a different path to their future?”

 

[Candace Slobodnik]

Hi Taylor,

I connected to your post about cities becoming more walkable and pedestrian friendly.  If you have a link to the article, I would like to read it.  It is interesting that in the US our urban planning seems to be centered around parks and green spaces within cities, often as an afterthought, and also on planning for suburbs  that were automobile dependent after WWII.  Each of these concepts are also linked to racial disparities, eminent domain and gerrymandering that have developed in those same spaces.  If we begin to invite and listen to members of microcities,  then plan for changes that will benefit humans from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds,  while protecting the environment, we might create more livable city spaces. 

 

[Joanna Bourque]

I was reviewing my notes from the readings and lecture and was starting to formulate similar questions about the relationship between what we consider westernization in the recent past and the current modernization in East Asia, as westernization has become a global phenomenon. I am also still trying to figure out how to bring my thoughts together, but I initially was thinking back to how North Americans have been influenced by ancient Greek and Roman thought, philosophy, and in turn, architecture. Many of our most iconic buildings and structures are Greco-Roman examples of their enduring influence; of course, we willfully adopted these models as we had not been conquered by the Roman Empire as were other parts of the world.

This still leaves me to ponder: At one point and at what pace does the exchange and adoption of cultural information become embedded into the indigenous culture or even simply start to exist as historical markers in collective memory. And, as global westernization is occurring, developing, evolving, hybridizing, can this still be considered purely western if it undertaken willingly? Am I confusing westernization and modernization?

[Miguel Diaz]

I found the comparison on the views of light and dark from the Japanese and the Western perspectives fascinating. In the West, shadows and darkness generally invoke fear. I am not sure if this results from the influences Christianity. Junichiro Tanizaki praised shadows. I did not know that shadows were an important part of the Japanese aesthetic.

In the first video, Professor Bharne discussed the materials of choice for builders of structures. I understand that geography oftentimes plays a major role on the types of materials that can be used to build structures.

Here’s my question for professor Bharne. I'd like to know if in places like Japan, materials such as wood, paper, and rice straw were chosen to build dwellings with the knowledge that the structures would need to be rebuilt after a few decades. I know that in modern Japan, homes are often torn down after about four or five decades and new ones are built in their place.

[Vinayak Bharne]

Excellent comments and questions. I have read them all with great pleasure. We can discuss today.

Vinayak

 

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