[Kimberly de Berzunza]

I thoroughly enjoyed this course. Dr. Bharne is interesting and engaging, real and relatable.  Every topic brought something new to my understanding, while connecting with things I did know or had experienced.  Even though there is much I would not teach to my 7th grade Medieval History class, there is much I can use, both directly and indirectly.  For example, I can engage my students visually by comparing different styles of pagodas and temples, and discuss the Shinto focus on nature by comparing the shape of  trees with the vertical, cantilevered style of Japanese pagodas.  This can add to our discussion of connections and overlap of Shinto and Buddhist traditions in Japan.  From there we can look at the use of wood in Japanese buildings, and its connection with nature, as compared to the use of brick and stone in other parts of east Asia.

 

Other aspects of the course add to what I already teach as well.  I always teach my students about Japanese gardens as they relate to Zen Buddhism and to Shinto traditions, and we usually visit our local Japanese garden in San Diego.  But now I will have some added depth to share in terms of the fluidity of indoor and outdoor space, seeing the outdoors as a picture, the lack of diagonal lines in buildings and the frontal view.  I can better help students understand the concept of wabi-sabi and the importance of gardens of rocks and sand to disassociate the mind and just “be,” and analyze the use of horizontal lines to divide planes as one would in art.  In an ideal world I could have students actually paint or draw with that in mind.

 

I plan to teach a mini-unit with the following lessons:

1. How do living spaces reflect the environment and needs of people who build them? 

2. How did merchants and missionaries influence the architecture of South-east Asia? 

3. How did merchants and missionaries influence the visual arts across Asia? (Focus on painting and sculpture)

4. To what extent was East Asian architecture influenced by its geography, and to what extent was it influenced by travelers? and

5. How do the art and architecture of a culture reflect their values?

 

I look forward to integrating these lessons into my curriculum, and to seeing the ideas my classmates have for their classes.

 

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

I finally saw "Parasite" last night and WOW, was it impactful to me.  Having just finished the course on Asian Design, but also having taken "The Two Koreas" in the summer, I was watching with both the lens of life in South Korea and the lens of living spaces and the gap between rich/poor and how societies address (or don't) the issue.  It blew my mind how some people live literally underground, though as my husband pointed out, people near us live under bridges, so...  I also found the family relationships to be interesting- the poor family really cooperates to try to improve their collective situation in a way we don't typically see in western films, although this might happen more in real life.  The rich family seems less cooperative but seems pretty normal to me for how I think rich people live... not having too much experience with that, LOL!

I teach Middle School, so I don't think I'd show this movie due to the violence, although I have shown rated R movies in the past with parent permission- movies like "Glory" that have a lot of war violence- but I don't think this would be appropriate. However, if I taught high school I could manage it.  My son saw Pulp Fiction and the Godfather and a whole bunch of very violent rated R films in his high school film classes, so it's definitely do-able.

Anyway, I really appreciate the creativity of this film and the way it mixes humor, drama, suspense, and just pure shock. I literally sat with my mouth gaping long enough that my daughter asked what was wrong with me.  

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Hi Mike- I took the Koreas course also. Did you teach these lessons? If so, how did they go? I really like how you organized and integrated the content in a way that would be relevant to your students. Hope you are well!

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

I love how you've adapted the information from the Asian Design course to your kindergarten class!  This is great work.  Good luck!

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Hi Deborah! I was just browsing the lesson plans as I took the course on Asian Design, and saw your post from the summer Koreas course. I don't teach high school, but I love your lesson plans! I especially like the basic graphic organizer you are providing. I hope everything is going well for your in this crazy year.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Hi Betsy, if you teach elementary there are some nice books on river restorations. "A River Ran Wild" by Lynne Cherry comes to mind.  This could be a cool project, even community action- writing letters to local politicians and/or speaking at City Council meetings... 

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

I am so sorry also. I don't know how you help people who aren't ready to be helped, but I do know it's so important to have compassion and understand that while some people make a choice, it's often just in the moment or influenced by so many other factors. I try to teach my children to never judge homeless people (or anyone else, actually) because we never know what their real situation is.  Is it Atticus Finch who said "You never really know a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes"?

But I think Dr. Bharne had an interesting point on this also, that some people just need a home, while others need really a lot of a very different kind of help, and this is very true.  I've had students who are technically homeless but sleeping in a home with people they are related to, others in shelters, and sometimes in cars.  Everyone's situation is so different, and if cities are ever to be able to help them, we all have to understand the issues from the start.  But first there has to be the will to listen and the will to make change.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

This is a really interesting idea also related to Economics. I don't teach Econ per se, but if I did it would interesting to connect these ideas.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

I'm not really sure what to think about this article or chapter on Hong Kong. I can't figure out whether they are doing a good job of addressing housing and land-use issues or not. I have to wonder how safe the building is when it's done so quickly and to vertically. On the other hand, it has to be built.

I was particularly surprised by the statistics of nearly 50% of the population living in some kind of government subsidized housing, and I wonder what happened to land values and costs when Hong Kong was returned to China. I know it is very expensive there; I wonder how salaries compare to housing costs and what the standard of living is like for different social strata. How safe is the fill on which it is built?

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

I really enjoyed this lecture!  

First, it reminded me of some ideas I'd had for teaching, based on how living spaces reflect the environment and needs of the people who build them, looking particularly at the indigenous buildings- the Minka, the yurt, the round apartment buildings in China that I can't remember the name for...  and then also the influence and adaptations of architectural styles we saw in previous weeks, such as the slope of the roof or the use of color.

Second, the revitalization of the Cheonggyecheon River is so very impressive.  I really hope Los Angeles can follow their example, and I hope San Diego's plans for our river come to fruition over the years to come.  We have done terrible damage to our cities by building on/over our rivers, and created a mess that I hope it's not too late to remedy. I am always astounded at how the Earth is able to heal when these revitalization projects are done.  Likewise, the rooftop parks- why don't we have rooftop parks and gardens everywhere? They've been around for decades I think, but seem to be still very rare. I assume they are expensive to create and maintain, but I have to imagine the costs are offset in other ways.  There are examples of these around the US, but they are pretty rare still. I hope they become more popular in coming years.

Third, I thought the discussion of Chinatowns was really interesting and something I'd not thought much about. As I looked at the building in the slide with its "typical LA plaster" I then recognized it as actually a Spanish colonial style building with the "Chinese-esque" roof and details added, but I would not have noticed it before. And the discussion of "you would never see this in China" struck me as the same as a discussion of American Chinese food or fortune cookies or comparing a book to a movie rather then just enjoying them independently for what they are. Just because a shushirrito isn't authentic Japanese food, doesn't mean it isn't delicious!

And fourth, I just put Tokyo Disneyland on my list of things to do whenever I finally make it to Tokyo!

Thank you for a great class.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Both Dr. Bharne's lecture and Hou's article got me thinking about these unregulated markets and temporary spaces for activities, like dancing and karaoke.  Although I enjoy the intense energy of cities, I don't spend a lot of time in those kinds of places, so I don't tend to think about them much, and I haven't been to most of those mentioned. I did visit Snake Alley in Taipei in 1990 when people did do shots of snake blood after the snake was slit open in front of them...  (there were also animals in small stacked cages, including puppies and monkeys, and I found it disturbing.)  I also had the opportunity in 1990 to see markets in Beijing, and at that time wondered how legal they were and how they were allowed to operate under the umbrella of communism and before the growth of private economic activity more common there now. But it also made me think of the vendors at the Tijuana border crossing, and the slums built on the Tijuana hillsides out of corrugated metal and castoff plywood, or the "fire breathers" in Mexico City intersections.

One point I find striking about this topic is this apparently murky legality/illegality of the activities. Live dancing and music was banned in the Tokyo park, so they moved beyond the park. Benches were removed but people didn't stop their activities. Homeless men sleep on pieces of neat cardboard and pick them up in the morning, and apparently everyone turns a blind eye? I am reminded of the African street vendors I saw on the streets of Athens in 2011 and how they would quick roll up their blanket with purses pinned to it and walk to another street when they saw the cops coming, and then we'd see them selling two blocks away a few minutes later. I am also reminded of seeing the police in San Diego rousing the homeless people sleeping on the streets near my son's high school when I used to drive him there a few years back. They later installed pointy rocks there to discourage sleeping, but again, it only moved the "problem" somewhere else. In east Asia it's not like they don't know where the people went, but rather that they allow this "illegal" activity to continue. Why? Because it brings in money. Money to the city, and probably money into the pockets of individual officials, I'm going to hazard a guess. Also, because it's hard to control, and it's maybe not hurting people that much. Although you could make an argument that it has a harmful environmental impact (unregulated waste? unhygienic practices?,) you could also make the argument that a temporary stand is preferable to permanent constructions that in the long term are more harmful to a space and use more resources.

A couple of quotes stood out to me from the article: "They bring to light the ability of ordinary citizens to shape and reshape the cities in which they live and work," and "individual and collective agency..." (Hou, 212-13)  I really found compelling this idea of individual and collective agency in shaping our living spaces to meet our needs, when maybe the slow pace of government planning either misses the mark or can't keep up with the pace of change. And this made me think of how very quickly this past year, in response to the pandemic, businesses looked for ways to resume business outdoors- we blocked off streets to put tables outside of restaurants, hair and nail salons started doing their business outside on the sidewalks, food trucks have become even more popular and now set up in parking lots like a street fair. This was all allowed and encouraged, because it met a need for both business owners and consumers. When we want to, we can find solutions. I think the big lesson here was alluded to at the beginning of Dr. Bharne's lecture, regarding the creativity and resilience of people, particularly those who are on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder, and I find this to be inspiring and worth supporting.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

I really enjoyed the discussion- everyone brought up really interesting and provocative points. Thank you all for pushing our collective thinking about Western/Eastern influences and how these interact. You have given me much to ponder!

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

As noted in my earlier reply to Thomas, I have pretty mixed feelings about this topic.  On the one hand, I find both visual culture clash and cultural mixing to be interesting.  As a teacher of World History, we have moved in recent years toward a much greater focus on cross-cultural contact and exchange throughout history- of ideas, religions, architecture, art, technology, food, disease, DNA... (OK, I don't dwell on DNA with middle schoolers, but I do mention it in terms of the huge percentage of people in Asia who have some remnants of DNA from Alexander the Great and/or Genghis Khan...)  We talk a LOT about influence of one culture on another, be it through conquest, colonization, trade, or a combination of the above.  I am especially fascinated by some Indian art I learned about last year commissioned by I think Akbar to depict Hindu and Christian stories.  I was equally intrigued by churches in Spain that had also been synogogues, but were built in an Islamic style, or Greek statues and columns on Samos that looked very Egyptian.  It is interesting.

But interesting doesn't mean it was fair or equal or not imperialistic.  I wonder about this long fascination with western styles in Europe. Wallach said he was not so interested in the cultural implications, but I am.  He also mentioned that the tradition of architectural preservation as being particularly European (or Western, I suppose) and that in Asia the tradition has been basically that tearing down something old to build something better, is always better.  The history teacher in me cringes, but the practical part of me agrees.  But what also strikes me about this is, does that imply that European/Western architecture continues to be considered better?  And if that is the case, why?  Is it more durable?  Safer?  More conducive to our rhythms of modern life?  Or do people just prefer it because it's what is familiar- like Neo-Classical styles or European Renaissance or Impressionist art?

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

This is very cool! I have not seen this movie.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Thomas, I had a similar reaction. Like I get it, and I appreciate and enjoy the fusion of cultures and the mixing of ideas, the give-and-take of styles and materials, but I still have sense that it IS, in fact, mostly one-way... or at least it's not an equal exchange.  I wrote in my notes "Imposition of government in exchange for taking of art, cultures, etc... both negative."  It still looks to me like colonists arrive, take the materials from the land they are stealing, and use them to build in their own style for their own comfort and enjoyment, without an appreciation for the traditions of the land where they've chosen to live.  It's a bit different where leaders invite western architects to come design their new building, because then they are indicating they want it (though I still question how much is genuine and how much is the sense given them by the West that it's somehow superior,) but where no choice was given, it is uncomfortable to me.

I do, however, feel that the mixture of cultures and traditions is or can be a positive consequence of colonialism. I am generally interested in things that seem out of place or odd, so European-style buildings in non-European places are fascinating to me, but kind of in the same way I find Las Vegas both fascinating and repulsive with its giant wasteful hotels and fountains in the middle of the desert...

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