[Shaolu Yu]

The article mentioned the environmental impacts of wood construction in Japan. The consumption of wood in architecture in Japan lead to de-forestration and re-forestration. Compared to the concrete and steels which dominate the modern architecture and urbanization, which seems to generate more envioronmental issues, including de-forestration, air pollution, energy consumption (to cool/heat the indoor temp), don't woods seem to be more environmentally friendly? 

[Shaolu Yu]

Right now, the building I am teaching at in Memphis, TN, is part of Trail of Tears. Having been travelling to Oklohoma and New Mexico, seeing how indegious people's struggles and generations of pain and healing, I see colonialism not subjective but material. It is material in de-indigenization in South America, it is material in Nanjing which is still healing from the Nanjing massacre, it is material in my city which was colonized first by Germans then Japanese, it is material in the westernization and homogeneity of urban landscapes in many modern Asian cities at the cost of history, locality, and distinctiveness.  

[Shaolu Yu]

Hello, everyone:

I teach Urban Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. One of the courses is Asian urbanization through cinema, which leads me to this course. I hope to learn more about Asia from urban design and architectural perspective.

I was born and raised in China, then moved to Connecticut to study geography. After graduation, I moved to Memphis for my job. I have been in the US for 10 years, Memphis 5 years.

 

 

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