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Happy Lunar New Year! Also referred to as Chinese New Year in some regions, this important celebration marks the beginning of the lunar calendar year. Traditionally, many Asian cultures follow a lunar calendar versus the solar/Gregorian calendar, which is why the Lunar New Year falls on a... View full entry
Cities with the worst exposure to coastal flooding in the coming decades are overwhelmingly located in Asia, according to a comprehensive analysis by leading climate scientists, with port cities in India and China particularly vulnerable. — CNBC
An international team of research scientists from the US OECD and UK’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, among others, has found that Asian cities are now disproportionately susceptible to flooding owing to migration patterns and a host of other environmental dangers included in... View full entry
In cities across Asia, residents and design buffs are rallying to save or document postwar buildings that officials consider too new, too ugly or too unimportant to protect from demolition. Many of the structures were municipal buildings that served as downtown hubs of civic life. The campaigns, in a sense, are an attempt to preserve the collective memories stored inside. — The New York Times
Lawrence Chua, an assistant professor at the Syracuse University School of Architecture, has been awarded a 2020-21 Getty Scholar Grant from the Getty Research Institute (GRI) to study "transregional histories of utopia and the architecture and urban culture of southeast Asia." According to the... View full entry
There is still much to uncover from the influence Soviet politics had on modern architecture. As writer Roberto Conte and photographer Stefano Perego make evident in their collaborative book, Soviet Asia, there were significant strides in soviet architecture outside of former Yugoslavia, as the... View full entry
But what is the repertoire of concepts, ideas and visions that inform the work of urban planners in the Global South — in Asia, Latin America and Africa? Are they still under the spell of their colonial and postcolonial masters? Or have they developed their own ideas and their own yardsticks, commensurate with the respective culture of their country and region? — citiscope.org
"This insight leads to the most important quality of sustainable urban planning in countries of the Global South," urban planning expert Einhard Schmidt-Kallert writes in his commentary piece on Citiscope, arguing that "Planners need to develop urban planning visions that take into consideration... View full entry
It is true that the developers of Europe’s largest regeneration project don’t appear to do ordinary. But they don’t seem to do many black people either...Speak to any property-marketing agency and they will tell you their east-Asian clients are buying a piece of England, which – for them – means blond-haired, blue-eyed Burberry models. — The Guardian
In a particularly taut and enjoyable piece for the Guardian, Oliver Wainwright investigates the questionable marketing tactics behind a starchitect-studded project in England that is catering mainly to East Asian buyers, among several other structures being sold primarily to off-shore clients. Are... View full entry
Despite recent geopolitical tensions, The Philippines is projected to have one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and one seeming indicator of that is the increasing number of tall corporate towers — some with, uh, distinctive designs — that are sprouting up throughout Metro... View full entry
Large industrial enterprises aren't typically known for conducting business inside jaw-dropping office environments. Shenzhen-based HALLUCINATE Design Office certainly defies that assumption in their Midwest Inland Port Financial Town project in China's Xi’an International Trade & Logistics... View full entry
[T]he city of Bao'an in Shenzhen is setting its sights on revamping the 30 kilometer, 12-lane G107 highway...By rethinking the notion of a highway and envisioned with a series of utopian-like renderings, [Avoid Obvious Architects + Tetra Architects & Planners] proposed “a smaller, more fluid, multi-layered thoroughfare that will be a spectacular starting point of growth for an organic smart city.” — Bustler
Here's a preview of their proposal:Find more of the project on Bustler. You can also watch the video below. View full entry
Hoping to show the world his country is doing just fine despite sanctions and outside pressure over its nuclear weapons program, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has put his soldier-builders to work on yet another major [skyscraper] project
Pyongyang’s new Pyonghattan, officially called “Ryomyong Street,” is to have the country’s tallest apartment building, at 70 stories, along with a 50-story building and a handful of smaller ones in the 30-40 story range.
— The Japan Times
“[Kim's] soldier-builders are now putting up the frames for each new floor at the reportedly breakneck-pace of 14 hours to get it all done by the end of the year.”More on Archinect:‘Pyongyang Speed:’ North Korea miraculously cranks out massive residential development for scientists in only... View full entry
Archaeologists in Cambodia have found multiple, previously undocumented medieval cities not far from the ancient temple city of Angkor Wat...Some experts believe that the recently analysed data – captured in 2015 during the most extensive airborne study ever undertaken by an archaeological project, covering 734 sq miles (1,901 sq km) – shows that the colossal, densely populated cities would have constituted the largest empire on earth at the time of its peak in the 12th century. — The Guardian
“That survey uncovered an array of discoveries, including elaborate water systems that were built hundreds of years before historians believed the technology existed. The findings are expected to challenge theories on how the Khmer empire developed, dominated the region, and declined around... View full entry
Some Pyongyang-watchers believe the changes are merely skin deep, and do not portend or reflect deeper political or economic changes. ‘There is still all this state influence. There is no free development [...] The production of the city has not yet changed. Only the shapes of the buildings have changed.’
‘There is this thing among North Koreans about developing...an architecture that is reflective of their society. So what is an architecture that reflects their society?‘
— Los Angeles Times
More on Archinect: ‘Pyongyang Speed:’ North Korea miraculously cranks out massive residential development for scientists in only one year Pyongyang's inner Wes Anderson shines through in its architecture, then and now As bicycle ownership in North Korea rises, Pyongyang introduces bike lanes View full entry
The announcement of the Asia Pacific regional winners marks the conclusion of the Holcim Awards 2014 competition. Following the winning announcements for Europe, North America, Latin America, and Africa Middle East, 13 projects from nine countries throughout the Asian content and Pacific region were announced during the awards ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia. Three top-prize winners, five Acknowledgement Prizes, and five Next Generation Prizes received a total cash prize of US$330,000. — bustler.net
Check out a preview of some the winning projects below:GOLD: Protective Wing: Bird sanctuary | Chiang Mai, ThailandMAIN AUTHOR: Jariyawadee Lekawatana - Architectkidd, Bangkok, Thailand; Singh Intrachooto - Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand; Chak Cherdsatirkul - Kaomai Lanna Resort, Chiang... View full entry
Though Ulaanbaatar’s sprawling informal ‘ger district’ lacks access to drinking water and sewerage, officials may struggle to coax residents to swap canvas for bricks and mortar — theguardian.com