Critical spatial practices: A trans-scalar study of chinese Hutongs and american alleyways

Gregory Marinic; Rebekah Radtke; Gregory Luhan

doi:10.7454/IN.V4I1.79

Critical spatial practices: A trans-scalar study of chinese Hutongs and american alleyways

Gregory Marinic, Rebekah Radtke, Gregory Luhan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Across time and cultures, the built environment has been fundamentally shaped by forces of occupancy, obsolescence, and change. In an era of increasing political uncertainty and ecological decline, contemporary design practices must respond with critical actions that envision more collaborative and sustainable futures. The concept of critical spatial practice, introduced by architectural historian Jane Rendell, builds on Walter Benjamin and the late 20th century theories of Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau to propose multi-disciplinary design practices that more effectively address contemporary spatial complexities. These theoretical frameworks operate through trans-scalar means to resituate the built environment as a nexus of flows, atmospheres, and narratives (Rendell, 2010). Assuming an analogous relationship to the contemporary city, critical spatial practices traverse space and time to engage issues of migration, informality, globalisation, heterotopia, and ecology. This essay documents an interdisciplinary academic design studio that employed critical spatial practices to study correspondences between Chinese and American cities. Here, the notions of urban and interior are relational. Urbanism and interior spaces are viewed as intertwined aspects in the historical development of Beijing hutongs and Cincinnati alleyways. These hybrid exterior-interior civic spaces create sheltered public worlds and socio-spatial conditions that nurture people and culture.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	27-42
Number of pages	16
Journal	Interiority
Volume	4
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.7454/IN.V4I1.79
State	Published - 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors and leaders of this studio acknowledge that it was made possible through generous grant funding and the remarkable efforts of many collaborators. We express great appreciation to our primary collaborator, colleague, and friend—Jeffrey Johnson—for facilitating critical contacts in Beijing. The authors recognise the pivotal financial support of the University of Kentucky College of Design and Confucius Institute. The authors are thankful for the generosity and hospitality of their Beijing-based collaborators, including Zaha Hadid Architects, Urbanus Architects, Steven Holl Architects, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), Li Chang, People’s Architecture, Vector Architects, Buro Olin Sheeran, and MAD. The authors appreciate the insights of our visiting review critics Amy Campos of the California College of the Arts, and Deborah Schneiderman and Karin Tehve of the Pratt Institute. The authors express their gratitude to Mark Bethel, Nerea Feliz Arrizabalaga, Li Han, Wang Hui, Jeffrey Johnson, and Sandra McKee of New York-based Yoshihara McKee Architects, who shared their expertise and provided open-to-the-public lectures surrounding critical design practices in Asia.

Funding Information:
The authors and leaders of this studio acknowledge that it was made possible through generous grant funding and the remarkable efforts of many collaborators. We express great appreciation to our primary collaborator, colleague, and friend-Jeffrey Johnson-for facilitating critical contacts in Beijing. The authors recognise the pivotal financial support of the University of Kentucky College of Design and Confucius Institute. The authors are thankful for the generosity and hospitality of their Beijing-based collaborators, including Zaha Hadid Architects, Urbanus Architects, Steven Holl Architects, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), Li Chang, People’s Architecture, Vector Architects, Buro Olin Sheeran, and MAD. The authors appreciate the insights of our visiting review critics Amy Campos of the California College of the Arts, and Deborah Schneiderman and Karin Tehve of the Pratt Institute. The authors express their gratitude to Mark Bethel, Nerea Feliz Arrizabalaga, Li Han, Wang Hui, Jeffrey Johnson, and Sandra McKee of New Yorkbased Yoshihara McKee Architects, who shared their expertise and provided open-to-the-public lectures surrounding critical design practices in Asia.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Alleyways
Critical spatial practices
Design
Hutongs
Preservation1

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Architecture
Cultural Studies
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

Access to Document

10.7454/IN.V4I1.79

Cite this

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title = "Critical spatial practices: A trans-scalar study of chinese Hutongs and american alleyways",

abstract = "Across time and cultures, the built environment has been fundamentally shaped by forces of occupancy, obsolescence, and change. In an era of increasing political uncertainty and ecological decline, contemporary design practices must respond with critical actions that envision more collaborative and sustainable futures. The concept of critical spatial practice, introduced by architectural historian Jane Rendell, builds on Walter Benjamin and the late 20th century theories of Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau to propose multi-disciplinary design practices that more effectively address contemporary spatial complexities. These theoretical frameworks operate through trans-scalar means to resituate the built environment as a nexus of flows, atmospheres, and narratives (Rendell, 2010). Assuming an analogous relationship to the contemporary city, critical spatial practices traverse space and time to engage issues of migration, informality, globalisation, heterotopia, and ecology. This essay documents an interdisciplinary academic design studio that employed critical spatial practices to study correspondences between Chinese and American cities. Here, the notions of urban and interior are relational. Urbanism and interior spaces are viewed as intertwined aspects in the historical development of Beijing hutongs and Cincinnati alleyways. These hybrid exterior-interior civic spaces create sheltered public worlds and socio-spatial conditions that nurture people and culture.",

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author = "Gregory Marinic and Rebekah Radtke and Gregory Luhan",

note = "Funding Information: The authors and leaders of this studio acknowledge that it was made possible through generous grant funding and the remarkable efforts of many collaborators. We express great appreciation to our primary collaborator, colleague, and friend—Jeffrey Johnson—for facilitating critical contacts in Beijing. The authors recognise the pivotal financial support of the University of Kentucky College of Design and Confucius Institute. The authors are thankful for the generosity and hospitality of their Beijing-based collaborators, including Zaha Hadid Architects, Urbanus Architects, Steven Holl Architects, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), Li Chang, People{\textquoteright}s Architecture, Vector Architects, Buro Olin Sheeran, and MAD. The authors appreciate the insights of our visiting review critics Amy Campos of the California College of the Arts, and Deborah Schneiderman and Karin Tehve of the Pratt Institute. The authors express their gratitude to Mark Bethel, Nerea Feliz Arrizabalaga, Li Han, Wang Hui, Jeffrey Johnson, and Sandra McKee of New York-based Yoshihara McKee Architects, who shared their expertise and provided open-to-the-public lectures surrounding critical design practices in Asia. Funding Information: The authors and leaders of this studio acknowledge that it was made possible through generous grant funding and the remarkable efforts of many collaborators. We express great appreciation to our primary collaborator, colleague, and friend-Jeffrey Johnson-for facilitating critical contacts in Beijing. The authors recognise the pivotal financial support of the University of Kentucky College of Design and Confucius Institute. The authors are thankful for the generosity and hospitality of their Beijing-based collaborators, including Zaha Hadid Architects, Urbanus Architects, Steven Holl Architects, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), Li Chang, People{\textquoteright}s Architecture, Vector Architects, Buro Olin Sheeran, and MAD. The authors appreciate the insights of our visiting review critics Amy Campos of the California College of the Arts, and Deborah Schneiderman and Karin Tehve of the Pratt Institute. The authors express their gratitude to Mark Bethel, Nerea Feliz Arrizabalaga, Li Han, Wang Hui, Jeffrey Johnson, and Sandra McKee of New Yorkbased Yoshihara McKee Architects, who shared their expertise and provided open-to-the-public lectures surrounding critical design practices in Asia. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia. All rights reserved.",

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Critical spatial practices: A trans-scalar study of chinese Hutongs and american alleyways

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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