Architecture

Thinking About City

城惑：自在的圖景

Jiang Difei (Author)

Yang Seong-hee (Translator)

2013. 7. 1. 424 pages 120×200 mm Softcover 9788970596921 KRW 18,000

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Experience the City!

Immerse Yourself in the City!

Question the City!

Critique the City!

Transcend the City!

Place Your Hope in the City!

Thinking About City is a comprehensive exploration of urban life, diagnosing the challenges of modern cities and envisioning the direction future cities should take. Through a multidisciplinary lens—spanning philosophy, sociology, literature, history, ecology, and physics—it seeks to answer fundamental questions: What is a city? and What kind of space should it be?

Zhang Difei, the author, is an architect with extensive field experience in urban planning and a professor at Peking University. Shifting his focus from architectural creation to urban innovation, he advocates for an integrated approach where city, architecture, and environment form a harmonious whole. He asserts that a vibrant city is a good city, representing the future of urban development.

Criticizing the excessive materialism, functionalism, and visual emphasis in Chinese urban planning, this book addresses the chaos brought about by China’s unprecedented rapid urbanization. It offers valuable insights not only as a key to addressing China’s urban issues but also as a reference for tackling similar challenges in South Korea and other rapidly developing urban contexts.

Jiang Difei

An architect who graduated from the Graduate School of Architecture at Tsinghua University (清華大學) and earned a Ph.D. in Urban Design from Tongji University(同济大学) and a Ph.D. in Geography from Peking University(北京大学). Currently, he serves as the Dean of the School of Architecture and Art at Central South University and as a professor at Peking University. He is the Vice President of the Hunan Provincial Architectural Society and the Hunan Provincial Architectural Artists Association, as well as a director of the Architectural Society of China and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects. Additionally, he is the editor-in-chief of the architectural magazine 《Chinese and Foreign Architecture (中外建筑)》.

Yang Seong-hee

Yang Seonghee graduated from Ewha Womans University’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature and studied at Beijing Normal University. She is currently working as a professional translator. The books she has translated include: Learning to Love, Reading the City, Living the World, Learning Flexibility from Lao Tzu, Don’t Make Enemies Even if They Are Not on Your Side, The Art of Choosing at a Decisive Moment, Chaegeundam 1, 2, Mencius’s Management, Wasin Consulting 1, 5, Qinghai-Tibet Railway Travel, The Rise of Great Powers, Seven Great Migration That Shook History, Eight Scenes of Great Conquests That Determined History, etc.

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