The Newsletter 63 Spring 2013

Everyday human experience of space in the Chinese city

Jasper Nijveldt

Enclosure – with the wall as its most prominent architectural element – represented for centuries a key human experience of space in Chinese cities, but is today regarded as a relic from the past. Yet enclosing walls provide a structure for one’s position in space, time and society and a tangible spatial reference for everyday life. Walls were therefore crucial elements in the development of cities. This worked on every scale, from country and city, to house and bedroom. The Wall, my masters’ graduation project, presents a contemporary interpretation of this in an urban-architectural design, for the city of Chengdu in Western China.

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