[Nia Gipson]

I was struck by how nature was used and incorporated into the living structures in this week's lectures. Both Zen and Fenu Shui both have an appreciation, respect for, and accommodation for the natural world. The Zen home is oriented toward natural views that can be framed by the walls of the structure so that looking at nature is as if you are looking at a painting. The movable walls allow for the unification of outdoor space and living space. In the Chinese tradition of Fen Shui, the walls of the courtyard house symbolically mimic the safety of a mountainous alcove where the wall of the compound protects the family. The courtyard becomes a natural space within the compound where the family could gather. While there was a little discussion in A View from the Zen Shoin, by professor Bharne, about how these traditional views and relationships to nature have been impacted by the development of large cityscapes, I am still curious about how are these traditions adapting to urban living.

[Nia Gipson]

Amy, Thank you so much for sharing about this! I did not know that there were some countries trying to give personhood to natural objects! I will have to do more research on this for sure, this is 100% something that I want to include in my environmental science class!   

[Nia Gipson]

 I found this weeks topic really interesting in particular, the tension between the preservation of Japanese indigenous building proceses and pratices, and enviornmental sustainablity. We often consider indegnious wisdom and building pratices to be climate sensitive and thus more sustainable. In yesterday's conversation there was mention of the Pueblo people of the American southwest, as well as Mongolian Yurt building, and I am sure that everyone can think of other examples as well. Indeed, I have used examples of Shinto/Zen pratices in my class as an alternative perspective on nature as inspiration of being more sustainable as well in my environmental science class. What was new for me this week was the realization was just how unsustainable building with wood actually is with the constant rebuilding of large wooden structures. While, it seems like wood was a natural choice as a building material given how abundant it is, and how flexible a wooden structure is during a seismic event, and yet, it is still an unsustainable process.

[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.

[Nia Gipson]

Hello All, 

My name is Nia and I teach high school STEAM/Engineering/Environmental Science. Our school has several international students from East Asia and I want to incorporate more narratives from that region into my teaching and broaden my own understanding of that region. I do have an architecture unit where students design and build models of their own sustainable designs, so it would be great for me to incorporate other design perspectives into my teaching. My father is also an architect, so I enjoy learning about his profession and having new conversations topics to dicuss. I am very excited to be taking this course! I hope to learn a lot!

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