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Research Theme: History & Theory & Conservation

Includes historical/theoretical analysis, conservation, land reuse and adaptation

Eero Saarinen, Eduardo Catalano and the Influence of Matthew Nowicki: A Challenge to Form and Function

Sprague, Tyler. (2010). Eero Saarinen, Eduardo Catalano and the Influence of Matthew Nowicki: A Challenge to Form and Function. Nexus Network Journal, 12(2), 249 – 258.

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Abstract

Matthew Nowicki befriended Eero Saarinen at the Cranbrook Academy and was succeeded as Chair of the School of Design at North Carolina College of Design by Eduardo Catalano. Nowicki's influence is evident in subsequent work of these two architects. Themes of function, structure and humanism resonated differently in each. All three of these interconnected individuals were engaged in the same intellectual milieu, each manifesting his own architecture in a unique yet contextual way. Taken as a whole, their endeavors stand as evidence of the shifting understanding of what modern architecture was about.

Keywords

Eero Saarinen; Eduardo Catalano; Matthew Nowicki; Modern Architecture; Hyperbolic Paraboloids; Saddle Shapes

Ancient and Current Resilience in the Chengdu Plain: Agropolitan Development Re-‘Revisited’

Abramson, Daniel B. (2020). Ancient and Current Resilience in the Chengdu Plain: Agropolitan Development Re-‘Revisited’. Urban Studies (sage Publications, Ltd.), 57(7), 1372 – 1397.

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Abstract

The Dujiangyan irrigation system, China's largest, is one of the world's most important examples of sustainable agropolitan development, maintained by a relatively decentralised system of governance that minimises bureaucratic oversight and depends on significant local autonomy at many scales down to the household. At its historic core in the Chengdu Plain, the system has supported over 2000 years of near-continuously stable urban culture, as well as some of the world's highest sustained long-term per-hectare productivity and diversity of grain and other crops, especially considering its high population density, forest cover, general biodiversity and flood management success. During the past decade, rapid urban expansion has turned the Chengdu Plain from a net grain exporter into a grain importer, and has radically transformed its productive functioning and distinctive scattered settlement pattern, reorganising much of the landscape into larger, corporately-managed farms, and more concentrated and infrastructure-intensive settlements of non-farming as well as farming households. Community-scale case studies of spatial-morphological and household socio-economic variants on the regional trend help to articulate what is at stake. Neither market-driven 'laissez-faire' rural development nor local state-driven spatial settlement consolidation and corporatisation of production seem to correlate well with important factors of resilience: landscape heterogeneity; crop diversity and food production; permaculture; and flexibility in household independence and choice of livelihood. Management of the irrigation system should be linked to community-based agricultural landscape preservation and productive dwelling, as sources of adaptive capacity crucial to the social-ecological resilience of the city-region, the nation and perhaps all humanity.

Keywords

Urbanization; Economies Of Agglomeration; Agricultural Ecology; Sustainability; Urban Planning; Land Use; China; Agglomeration/urbanisation; Agroecosystems; Environment/sustainability; History/heritage/memory; Redevelopment/regeneration; Cultivated Land; Countryside; Expansion; State; Rise; Modernization; Conservation; Integration; Earthquake; Agglomeration; Urbanisation; Environment; History; Heritage; Memory; Redevelopment; Regeneration; Population Density; Production; Farming; Agriculture; Decentralization; Autonomy; Food Production; Households; Landscape; Resilience; Rural Development; Food; Farms; Regional Development; Productivity; Economic Development; Case Studies; Agricultural Production; Biodiversity; Sustainable Development; Governance; Preservation; Crops; Flood Management; Irrigation; Permaculture; Radicalism; Socioeconomic Factors; Grain; Flexibility; Heterogeneity; Variants; Urban Areas; Irrigation Systems; Rural Communities; Bureaucracy; Landscape Preservation; Agricultural Land; Flood Control; Density; Infrastructure; Urban Sprawl; Livelihood; Farm Management; Rural Areas; Urban Farming; Settlement Patterns; Agribusiness; Market Economies

Transitional Property Rights and Local Developmental History in China

Abramson, Daniel. (2011). Transitional Property Rights and Local Developmental History in China. Urban Studies (sage Publications, Ltd.), 48(3), 553 – 568.

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Abstract

Among the societies that are moving from a centrally planned economy with weak property rights towards a market-oriented economy with stronger and more privatised property rights, China is undergoing an especially rapid and extensive urbanisation that obscures the diversity and relevance of local pre-Reform property arrangements. Official discourse emphasises the formalisation, clarification and, to some extent, the privatisation of property rights in the name of overall societal development and gradual integration with the global economy. In local informal, popular practice and discourse, however, the invocation of property rights reflects the continuing political relevance of both revolutionary and traditional notions of rights to urban space that challenge a unitary, linear view of the development process.

Keywords

Property Rights; History Of Economic Development; Central Economic Planning; Privatization; Urbanization; History; Social Policy; China

Preservation and Tourism in Tunisia: On the Colonial Past in the Neocolonial Present

Coslett, Daniel E. (2020). Preservation and Tourism in Tunisia: On the Colonial Past in the Neocolonial Present. Journal Of North African Studies, 25(5), 727 – 752.

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Abstract

Historic built environments of the modern colonial era survive in cityscapes of former colonies the world over, often featuring largely in the projected urban identities of cities in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Tunisia is no exception. The complex relationships between extant architectures of colonialism and current users, designers, and preservationists there are shifting within the context of contemporary globalization. Though ties between Europe, France, and Tunisia are less overt than they once were-now taking the form of international development loans, professional and educational exchanges, tourism programmes, popular culture and the media-they are nonetheless significant in their sustained influence. This article explores the nature and products of neocolonialism in postcolonial heritage management and tourism practices, using several case studies from Tunis including curated medina walking tours, the renovation of the Avenue Bourguiba, and expansion of the renowned Bardo Museum. Rather than dismissing contemporary preservation and tourism management practices, the article invites further debate regarding the influence of foreign actors, conservation approaches, and potential alternatives for the future of heritage management in a rapidly changing Tunisia.

Keywords

Heritage Tourism; Tourism; Tourism Management; Foreign Loans; Educational Exchanges; Stone Age; Food Tourism; Tunisia; Tunis (tunisia); Heritage Management; Historic Preservation; Neocolonialism; Tunis

College of Built Environments’ unique Inspire Fund aims to foster research momentum in underfunded pursuits college-wide. And it’s working.

Launching the Inspire Fund: An early step for CBE’s Office of Research “For a small college, CBE has a broad range of research paradigms, from history and arts, to social science and engineering.” — Carrie Sturts Dossick, Associate Dean of Research Upon taking on the role of Associate Dean of Research, Carrie Sturts Dossick, professor in the Department of Construction Management, undertook listening sessions to learn about the research needs of faculty, staff and students across the College of Built…

Ann Marie Borys publishes book on American Unitarian churches

Ann Marie Borys, Associate Professor in Architecture recently published a book titled American Unitarian Churches: Architecture of a Democratic Religion. The Unitarian religious tradition was a product of the same eighteenth-century democratic ideals that fueled the American Revolution and informed the founding of the United States. Its liberal humanistic principles influenced institutions such as Harvard University and philosophical movements like Transcendentalism. Yet, its role in the history of American architecture is little known and studied. In American Unitarian Churches, Ann Marie…

Ken Tadashi Oshima named a Society of Architectural Historians Fellow

Ken Tadashi Oshima is Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he teaches trans-national architectural history, theory and design. He has also been a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and UCLA, and has taught at Columbia University and the University of British Columbia. He earned an AB degree, magna cum laude, in East Asian studies and visual and environmental studies from Harvard College, an MArch degree from University of California,…

Jerry Watson

My current Ph.D. research is investigating the history of transportation in the U.S. national parks. My research will explore from a historical and ecological perspective how to protect and preserve the park’s natural resources, while accommodating the public’s ability to visit the parks without causing irreparable harm. I believe a new strategy is required to address the critical transportation issues in these parks. I would like to formulate, develop, and evaluate a strategic model that explores alternatives to traditional modes of transport within national parks. There are three basic components of my research: conflict resolution, environmental ethics, and the ecological effects of roads (road ecology).

The main impetus for my decision to apply to the PhD program in the Built Environment, at the University of Washington is the opportunity to work in a program that offers me a unique opportunity to investigate the complicated problem of human-environment relationships. This will allow me to realize my belief that environments can be manipulated and planned to enhance the quality of people’s lives. I believe that significant impacts on the development of sustainable responses to environmental challenges can best be achieved through education and research.