Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

In this interdisciplinary narrative, the never-ending "completion" of China's most important street offers a broad view of the relationship between art and ideology in modern China. Chang'an Avenue, named after China's ancient capital (whose name means "Eternal Peace"), is supremely symbolic. Running east-west through the centuries-old heart of Beijing, it intersects the powerful north-south axis that links the traditional centers of political and spiritual legitimacy (the imperial Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven). Among its best-known features are Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People, as well as numerous other monuments and prominent political, cultural, financial, and travel-related institutions. Drawing on Chang'an Avenue's historic ties and modern transformations, this study explores the deep structure of the Chinese modernization project, providing both a big picture of Beijing's urban texture alteration and details in the design process of individual buildings.



Political winds shift, architectural styles change, and technological innovations influence waves of demolition and reconstruction in this analysis of Chang'an Avenue's metamorphosis. During collective design processes, architects, urban planners, and politicians argue about form, function, and theory, and about Chinese vs. Western and traditional vs. modern style. Every decision is fraught with political significance, from the 1950s debate over whether Tiananmen Square should be open or partially closed; to the 1970s discussion of the proper location, scale, and design of the Mao Memorial/Mausoleum; to the more recent controversy over whether the egg-shaped National Theater, designed by the French architect Paul Andreu, is an affront to Chinese national pride.



Art History Publication Initiative. For more information, visit http://arthistorypi.org/books/chang-an

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Acknowledgments(p. ix)
• A Note on Language(p. xiii)
• Introduction(p. 3)
• Chapter 1 The History of Chang'an Avenue in an Urban Context(p. 13)
• Chapter 2 National versus Modern: The 1950s(p. 55)
• Chapter 3 Collective Creation: The 1964 Chang'an Avenue Planning(p. 103)
• Chapter 4 Modernization in a Postmodern World: The 1970s and 1980s(p. 144)
• Chapter 5 Collage without Planning: Toward the New Millennium(p. 178)
• Chapter 6 Chang'an Avenue and the Axes of Beijing(p. 241)
• Conclusion: Chang'an Avenue in a Global Context(p. 277)
• Notes(p. 286)
• Glossary(p. 315)
• Bibliography(p. 327)
• Index(p. 341)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Running east-west, passing through Tian'anmen Square, Chang'an Avenue in Beijing has received attention from various political authorities throughout the 20th century. This history of its development, with a focus on the post-1949 period, offers, in the first and last chapters, important information about the overall development of areas, public buildings, and relationships between ancient and new architecture. The second to fifth chapters are devoted to a historical study of the development of an architectural discourse in the PRC, and to the presentation of a few significant architectural achievements, which are well illustrated, mostly with photographs by Yu (Oakland Univ., Rochester, MI). This book's great merit is its demonstration of how foreign models and such ideas as modernity or tradition were appropriated differently in China, according to changes in the goals set by the government for architecture. The book highlights radical changes in China's economy and politics that have created new opportunities, new practices, and new debates in architecture. It will be of great interest to students of Chinese contemporary culture and architecture, and valuable as supplementary reading for courses in the global history of architecture. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. X. Wu The College of William & Mary

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Shuishan Yu is associate professor of art history at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.