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Peter
Rowe
Professor Department of Urban Planning and Design |
Publications
Building Barcelona: A Second Renaixença
The fate of modern Barcelona has been and continues to be defined by a particular grasp on external events, a sense of Catalan nationalism, and by the ebbs and flows of an industrious and pragmatic-minded populace. As a provincial capital, the city has been engaged, sometimes disastrously, in the debate between the two Spains: progressive vs. backward, modern vs. traditional, secular vs. catholic, and liberal vs. authoritarian.1 It has also sought, on several occasions, to escape the geography of this debate by reaching beyond Spain and appearing to be more international. Along the way, during the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Catalanism, rooted in a reaction to eighteenth-century French hegemony and the later Peninsular War, became defined by a capitalist middle class on one side, and, secondarily, by socialism and to a lesser extent, anarchism, on another. More recently, since the Civil War and the demise of Francoism, this sentiment has been content to operate within Spain, especially among the socialists, although at times not without a strong hankering towards a kind of federalist autonomy. Leaders among Spaniards in industrialization and other facets of modernization, those in Barcelona pride themselves on being independent, hard working, commonsensical, although somewhat sentimental, and possessive of an instinct for propitious business outcomes. In short, they have — according to local parlance — seny. Outward cultural manifestations of this admixture of social and political ingredients have been episodic and sometimes spasmodic. A combination of bourgeoise affluence, Catalan pride and gamesmanship gave rise to the outpourings of rebirth — renaixença — beginning around the 1830s, the general impetus of which gained in force and was transformed and continued through the later Modernisme and Noucentisme movements, well into the early twentieth century, although not without broader reactions, disputations and international orientations. Then followed periods of occlusion and dominance by larger Spanish interests, followed by an occasional outburst of local initiative and imagination, until the contemporary period, around the 1980s, which offered a ‘second wind,’ so to speak — a second renaixença — although again not without moments of collective exhaustion and casting about for fresh and revitalizing ideas. At stake, through most of this history, was the city fabric itself, the palpable and symbolic framework that orchestrates most Barcelonian’s lives. For, unlike many other cities, Barcelona seems to have chosen architecture and urbanism as its most conspicuous, long-lasting and crowning glory. Within this historical framework, the following narrative is largely about the past twenty-five years of physical development in Barcelona as a city and, now, as a broader metropolitan region. Essentially it chronicles urban and architectural events, as well as some of the motivations that lay behind them — the building of Barcelona in a continuing period of democratic governance, during which the city has effectively shaken off the often debilitating yoke of Franco’s dictatorship. Progress in this direction, however, did not occur all at once, nor with complete force and again not without interruption. Nevertheless, from an overall perspective, re-possession and re-making of the city first proceeded gradually, then more confidently and, of late, almost over confidently, at least for some. Moreover, during specific moments of urban-architectural profusion, developments shared certain important similarities with those of prior episodes of resurgence, particularly those during the last half of the nineteenth through to the early twentieth centuries, despite the passage of time and notably different socio-political circumstances. Among these were: the creation of particular pretexts to experiment with grand collective projects and visions of the city, aimed, at least in large part, at international audiences; an unusual alignment and intertwining of local political will and architectural talent — often young — capable of producing and promoting innovative symbols of national or regional progress; periods of intellectual rehearsal followed by civic action, during intervals between repression and self-determination; and a marked capacity, among the city’s leadership, for inculcating a sense of collective urgency, opportunity, and even crisis, to take on new projects, under both the guise and reality that Barcelona might be falling behind or not receiving its due, especially from Madrid and only slightly less so from elsewhere in Spain and in nearby Europe. Self consciously and not, a unique cultural modus operandi became established during the earlier days of modernization in Barcelona and, when sufficient freedom of operation was allowed, it later became a powerful means for pushing city building forward, especially during the latter part of the twentieth century.
East Asia Modern: Shaping the Contemporary City East Asia today is a hotbed of urban expansion. Cities such as Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai are expanding at a prodigious rate, an ongoing process of modernization that is bringing rapid and widespread change to this part of the globe. Peter Rowe's East Asia Modern is a timely comparative study of urban development in the region, examining the process by which new construction has taken place in recent years. The author, well known in the field of East Asian architecture and urbanism, focuses on how the modernizing process might most usefully be understood, especially with regard to city building approaches, methods and projects. He explains what modernization has meant for the general cultural diffusion of largely Western ideas, how East Asian urban regions have developed their own distinct kind of modernity and what lessons can be learned from the contemporary East Asian experience. This book also provides a historical assessment of the region, showing how cities have developed over the last century and setting into context their individual paths towards modernization. East Asia Modern challenges many of the common conceptions and misconceptions about life in contemporary East Asia and provides a readable critical assessment of the cities of the region, while also pointing to possible ways forward for the future.
Shanghai: Architecture and Urbanism for Modern China
An architectural view of one of the world's most dynamic and
exciting cities. Shanghai's explosive development since the early
1990s has provided students and fans of architecture with myriad
examples of superlatives: from the world's tallest buildings to
its longest bridges. As timely as it is comprehensive, this collection
of essays confronts the broader concerns of Shanghai's role as
a harbinger of China's future and a global testing ground. The
essays cover the socio-political, cultural, and historic aspects
of the city as well as offer more pointed topical analyses of
urban design, preservation, and the developments of the city's
waterfronts. Throughout the book, color photographs and illustrations
examine thirty ongoing and completed projects. The resulting overview
presents a vibrant city of tension and contradiction, one that
both mirrors and drives China's struggle to break free from economic
constraints while adhering to its political ideals.
Architectural
Encounters with Essence and Form in Modern China
This book is about the episodes around which traditional and modernist attitudes towards architecture in China have been shaped, co-mingled and reshaped, since the opening of the Treaty Ports in the 1840s. The text opens and is sustained by snatches of discussion overheard in a design studio, somewhere in Beijing, during the course of a day, about a project under construction. As the three young designers struggle with their deliberations, arguments ensue and issues are raised, which are then taken up, expanded and elaborated upon in the segments which follow. Central to the discussion are the concepts of ti and yong, or ‘essence’ and ‘form,’ two Chinese characters that are used to define the proper arrangement of what should be considered modern and what should be thought of as essentially Chinese, during various episodes of architectural debate and production. First spoken of in terms of ‘Chinese learning for essential principles, and Western learning for practical functions,’ during the Self-Strenghtening Movement of the nineteenth century, the alignment of the ti and yong has gone through various transformations, including ‘socialist content,’ or essence, and ‘cultural form,’ to an almost complete reversal, in contemporary times, of ‘modern content’ ameliorated through ‘Chinese form.’ In all, there are eight parts to this story. The first concerns cultural developments in China in response to the forced opening to the west in the mid-nineteenth century, and the moments that followed, in efforts to reform the Qing dynasty and to define the successive cultural outlooks of the Nationalist and Community regimes. The second is about the architecture, which began with foreign influences and the return of the first generation of overseas-trained Chinese architects. The third concerns four rather distinct architectural orientations towards tradition and modernity, or ti and yong, that occurred primarily during the formative decades of the 1920s and 30s in China, when modernism was first introduced. The fourth is about the controversy over the use of ‘big roofs’ and other sinifying aspects of Chinese architecture, which took place in the 1950s, culminating in the tenth-anniversary projects of the Communist government in 1959. The fifth takes place during the hard economic times of the ‘Great Leap Forward’ and the ‘Cultural Revolution,’ when architecture was almost abandoned, as building became more and more reduced in scope. The sixth deals with the beginning of reform and the opening up to the outside world in the late 1970s and 80s, a period of cultural revival, experimentation and ‘catch-up’ with the Western world that was brought temporarily to a halt in Tianamen Square in 1989. The seventh concerns the present period of the socialist market economy, when China embarked upon freewheeling architectural production, at times in a seemingly indiscriminate manner, before coming to grips with matters of architectural expression more systematically and knowingly. Finally, the eighth segment offers commentary on what appears to have occurred in architecture during the still incomplete process of modernization in China, and a prognosis for the future. Throughout, the book is well illustrated and accompanied by first-hand accounts of the buildings described, as well as incorporating basic historical narrative, in order to help better situate readers at various important moments along the way. A profile of major modern Chinese architects and educational institutions is also provided, as an appendix, along with an extensive glossary of terms and proper names, in an effort to interpolate between English and Chinese.
Modern Urban Housing in China: 1840-2000,
Modern Urban Housing in China: 1840-2000 is an examination of the development of urban housing in China over the past 160 years. From China's modernization after the Opium Wars to the latest trends adopted after the market reforms of the 1980s, this book offers a broad overview of the developments in building construction and design. Extensively illustrated and written by a team of Chinese and Western experts, it is addressed to anyone interested in the modernization and architecture of China. Urban housing in China is one of the most important components of China's modernization, industrialization, and urbanization. The period from 1840 to 2000 saw great changes in Chinese policy and society and is discussed in three stages: the modernization of China's semi-deudal, semi-colonial society, the rise of publicly owned housing under socialism in the People's Republic of China, and the rapid growth of a new market economy under Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s. When examining changes in urban housing types, the authors take into account not only conventional architectural history, but also underlying political economic, social, technological, and cultural forces. The result is a complete picture of the history of modern urban housing in China based on extensive literature and numerous field studies.
L'Asia
e il Moderno (Asia Modern)
The central theme of Asia Modern concerns the need to expand standard western cultural definitions of modernity in order to account adequately for the modernization and urbanization which is occurring so rapidly in many parts of Asia. Narrowing its geographical focus, examples drawn on in the book concentrate primarily on Chinese or Chinese-dominated cities and urban areas such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian and Suzhou, with some occasional references to Seoul, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur. Drawing on extensive research and field observation, the scope of the book is confined largely to urban settlement and other aspects of the built environment. Topics included are various styles of urban management, the overall morphology of urban-regional development and urban planning, as well as matters of urban-architectural expression and the search for local yet contemporary architectural identities.
Projecting Beirut,
Projecting Beirut: Episodes in the Construction and Reconstruction of a Modern City deals with two specific periods in urban development in modern Beirut. The first coincides with the government intervention of the late 1950s to the late 1960s, and the second episode is about the increasing private-sector involvement in planning and reconstruction after the civil war, dating from the early 1990s. Beirut is a fascinating example of modern city building, and the authors' insights into its urban redevelopment apply to other places as well. Pressing contemporary issues, such as the resolution and celebration of social pluralism and multiculturalism, as well as historic preservation, conservation, and the integration of historic archaeological sites into contemporary urban life are also brought into focus. In Beirut and elsewhere, it is a matter of building upon what is already there, of acknowledging and preserving the past while progressing into the future, and of deciding what constitutes an appropriate urban-architectural heritage. This informative book is divided into six parts which deal with Beirut's urban history and archaeology, modern architecture, and planning, together with the socio-economic framework for reconstruction and the social and political backdrop to which urban projects must respond. A final section summarizes the important issues to be confronted in the present reconstruction of Beirut and its future as a flourishing Mediterranean city. The volume is illustrated throughout with original archival material, including photographs and drawings.
Acknowledgments Introduction: Projecting Beirut Section One Section Two Section Three Section Four Section Five Section Six Biographical Notes on the Authors Civic Realism,
Rowe begins with an example of a civic place that has stood the test of time — Siena's Piazza del Campo. To be a citizen of Siena is to participate in the life of the Campo. The Campo was and is real, with a realism that encompasses everyday life, occasional events, solemn occasions, and extraordinary celebrations. It is this sense of the word "real" that, together with "civic," forms the design practice called "civic realism." Topics covered in the book include the role of the state and civil society in the constriction of civic spaces, aesthetic and architectural dimensions of realism, individual and collective uses of urban space. And how civic places constitute as well as represent the civic aspect of our lives. The examples, mostly from the modern period, include recent public spaces in Barcelona, several of the Grand Projects in Paris, neorealist projects in postwar Rome, contemporary transformations of the Manhattan grid, and Plecnik's water axis in prewar Ljubljana.
Modernity
and Housing
Starting from the question of how the design of modern housing can be successful, Peter Rowe explores the social, cultural, and expressive history of housing at two crucial moments: the first large-scale developments along modernist lines in the 1920s, and the widespread reconsideration of modernist principles in the 1970s. Although the inquiry is conducted along historical and theoretical lines, it proposes to uncover practical principles that may guide the design of modern housing, each principle responding to a contemporary architectural paradox posed by modern conditions. Six detailed case studies form the illustrative centerpiece of the book. Modernity and Housing embraces three more or less parallel themes concerning modernity: the rise of technocracy and the attendant tendency of modern space to become universal while the experience of time is confined to the present; the problem of representation for a culture in which subject-centered reason has replaced metaphysical foundations; and social practices that give rise to urban concentrations and the production of mass housing on an unprecedented scale. Within these themes, the modern experience of space and time philosophically grounds discussion of local and traditional versus universal and novel building practices; the perspective of subject-centered reason grounds the exploration of the use of abstract forms and the concomitant problem of providing for an expressive architectural language; and the unprecedented quantities of housing production raise the thorny issue of widely defining a normative building program that allows for local particularity. The case studies cover Sunnyside Gardens, New York; Romerstadt, Frankfurt-am-Main; Kiefhoek, Rotterdam; the Byker Redevelopment, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; Villa Victoria, Boston; and the Malagueira Quarter, Evora, Portugal. An appendix contains an annotated and statistical summary of all major housing projects described in the text, with notes that include the date, size, place, architect, client, housing type, relative densities, and other items of interest.
Making
a Middle Landscape
The directions Rowe pursues are threefold: what has actually been built since 1920, as simple arrangements of land, buildings, and infrastructure have been transformed into complete multi-use centers; the mythic themes, metaphors, and attitudes driving the production of important cultural artifacts like the home and the workplace; and the definition of design principles for this new landscape. Rowe looks first at how suburban expansion has altered the land, at the new spatio-cultural mosaic that has emerged and taken the place of the traditional city. He then examines four cultural artifacts-the house and its garden; the retail realm of roadside franchises and commercial strips, shopping villages and malls; the modern workplace of office parks and corporate estates; and the roadway that has become an essential link to all of these. Running throughout, he notes, is a story of technical planning and mass production where, paradoxically, rational excesses are often cloaked in romantic imagery. He concludes by proposing, and illustrating with numerous examples, a symbolic construct of "modern pastoralism" that juxtaposes the idea arcadian simplicity and value against the modern technical temperament.
PART ONE Sub-Urbs in Rure 1. Territorial Transformations
A Tale of Two Towns From Suburb to Urban Metropolis
Wasteful Fragmentation or Pure Democracy? Private Commodity or Public Good? Monotonous Conformity or Individual Comfort? Placelessness or Place? A Metropolitan Spatial Synthesis
3. Houses in Gardens
Spatial Trends and Variations Form, Figure, and Future Function
Spatial, Formal, and Functional Trends Future Variations
Design Themes and Trends Society and the Corporate Image
Subdivision Street Forms Spatial Developments and Variations
The Modern Technical Orientation Modern Pastoralism Historicism and Utopianism Critical Reality Symbolic Function Paradise and Pandemonium
Poetic Design Poetic Expression Poetic Operations Making a Middle Landscape Design
Thinking
Design, according to Peter Rowe, is the fundamental means of inquiry by which architects and planners realize and give shape to ideas of buildings and public spaces; yet little sustained attention has been paid to the form of this intellectual activity. His book, Design Thinking, provides a general portrait of designing that characterizes its inherent qualities and sets it apart from other forms of inquiry. It treats multiple and often dissimilar theoretical positions-whether they prescribe forms that are deemed right for "good" architecture and urban design or simply provide procedures for solving problems-as particular manifestations of an underlying structure of inquiry common to all designing. The book proceeds from detailed observations of designers in action to an examination of the broad frameworks that appear to shape design theory and inform design thinking. Rowe seeks to define the intellectual activity of designing both as rational inquiry, governed by guiding principles and constraints, and as a matter of the conviction and impulse by which design principles are invented and applied. Dozens of illustrations and a number of actual case studies support Rowe's thesis. Among the topics the book takes up are the salient features of design problems; procedural aspects of design, including varieties of heuristic reasoning; normative positions that shape design thinking; problems of substantiating design doctrines; and problems associated with meaningful interpretation from either a naturalistic or a self-referential view of architecture.
Broad environmental concerns have prompted the development of national
policy and governmental responsibilities for responding to these
issues. Amid a pluralism of goals and aspirations, the public sector
is attempting to solve problems associated with the consumption
of scarce natural resources, the generation of environmental impacts,
and the constant need for improved environmental quality. This book
is written to assist government and community leaders with environmental
management from a local perspective. An interdisciplinary approach
to problem solving, it combines elements of environmental science,
economics, law, planning and political science to establish principles
for environmental decision making. It compiles information, methods
and techniques, identifying the nature of the problems facing the
policymaker and offering straightforward and practical approaches
to many of the technical tasks involved in local environmental management.
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