Dongwoo Yim

The book departs from a reflection on contemporary issues of environmental and social sustainability. With buildings and cities being one of the primary accelerators of climate change, the tightening of urban environments is one of the mechanisms by which architects and urban planners can affect change. To date, models of urban densification and compact cities have been focused on sites of urban consumption — residential, commercial, civic and social spaces. Little thought has been given to the vast productive hinterlands around the world that support cities, through the growing of food, generation of power, production of goods and disposal of waste. Working through three scales of analysis, across three cities in the Asia Pacific Region, and deploying varying design research techniques ranging from critical observation to speculative scenario modelling, the book presents a series of projects that seek to retro-fit an existing urban environment with a productive program. The purpose of this project is to describe a series of models for the folding of production into our cities, with ambition of consolidating all components of human inhabitation within a smaller overall physical and environmental footprint.

As a way to understand the contemporary project in architecture, this book provides an index of ideas, theories, projects, and definitions that string into a methodology for evaluating the contemporary language of architecture described as “contemporism” through a review of topology (form) and typology (system and elements). The contemporary project has been trying to answer the postmodern question of how to move beyond modernism through a thread of architectural styles that tried to respond to deficiencies from the modern promise and contextual changes. Yet, the question remains, should this ongoing struggle to move beyond modernism be a stylistic battle? Has the present architectural practice ever left the modernist tendencies, and is there a structure for a contemporary language in architecture? This book presents a collection of highly illustrated projects that have worked under these parameters to break away from modernism in order to present a holistic integration of topology and typology as a language for “contemporism.” The index is illustrated with individual spreads, which can be read sequentially or independently, and encourages the reader to make their own connections. It also includes interviews and contributions from Toyo Ito, Anthony Vidler, Ben van Berkel, Christian Kerez, and Greg Lynn. This book is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in architecture.

As a way to understand the contemporary project in architecture, this book provides an index of ideas, theories, projects, and definitions that string into a methodology for evaluating the contemporary language of architecture described as “contemporism” through a review of topology (form) and typology (system and elements). The contemporary project has been trying to answer the postmodern question of how to move beyond modernism through a thread of architectural styles that tried to respond to deficiencies from the modern promise and contextual changes. Yet, the question remains, should this ongoing struggle to move beyond modernism be a stylistic battle? Has the present architectural practice ever left the modernist tendencies, and is there a structure for a contemporary language in architecture? This book presents a collection of highly illustrated projects that have worked under these parameters to break away from modernism in order to present a holistic integration of topology and typology as a language for “contemporism.” The index is illustrated with individual spreads, which can be read sequentially or independently, and encourages the reader to make their own connections. It also includes interviews and contributions from Toyo Ito, Anthony Vidler, Ben van Berkel, Christian Kerez, and Greg Lynn. This book is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in architecture.

The point of entry of this compilation of the best Contemporary Chinese Architecture is the WEST BUND 2013: A BIENNIAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND CONTEMPORARY ART, held in the waterfront of Xuhui District, Shanghai from October to December 2013. Architecture in China is currently at the forefront of cultural innovation, and in the meantime, it is the inner drive of social development. The purpose of this book is to review its relationships with the international debate, as well as show the space of the Chinese architects and its social imagination. China has become a worldwide "test field" for the architecture. "China Speed" -- its collectivistic mass production and explosive development -- draws the world's attention. This publication will present and review the architectural climate and practice progress of contemporary Chinese architecture during the first decade of the new millen- nium. Through analyzing and reflecting on the best Chinese architectural production, a new cultural era will be shown in Mapping China.