The Impossibility Of Mapping (Urban Asia)

The Impossibility Of Mapping (Urban Asia)
Author: Ute Meta Bauer
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2020-02-12
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9811211949

Following the lifework (1960s to 2010) of visionary Singaporean architect William S. W. Lim, The Impossibility of Mapping (Urban Asia) is a compelling compilation of case studies and historical projects. This multifaceted publication takes Lim's ideas to a future Asia: a region defined by an irreducibly complex urban topography under constant flux. Looking from Singapore to Southeast Asia, and from this region to Asia more expansively (and beyond), it presents a diverse range of activities which may be productively framed through the notion of critical spatial practice.The book has three interconnected points of departure: Lim's lifework; the interdisciplinary exhibition 'Incomplete Urbanism: Attempts at Critical Spatial Practice' at NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, and the related conference, 'The Impossibility of Mapping (Urban Asia)'; and the cross-cultural and urban festival 'CITIES FOR PEOPLE, NTU CCA Ideas Fest 2016/17', held at venues around Gillman Barracks, Singapore. The multiple links are emphasised in three key ways: through editorial texts, through design concepts, and through selected projects inserted as 'intermissions' between each of the book's sections.Artists, planners, activists, architects, scholars get together in this volume to respond to Lim's critical spatial practice. Research essays, artworks, visual and textual documentation, spatio-temporal maps grapple with the diversity of Southeast Asia, offering unexpected responses to planning, building, and living cities and urban spaces, but also put forward the question, 'Who owns the city?'. This key collection offers a path into spatial questions in Asia and beyond, and serves as a teaching and research tool.

New Modes

New Modes
Author: Chris Bryant
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2019-02-07
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1119328179

New modes of practice are now emerging in architecture. Rural Studio, Exyzt, Muf, Assemble and many more have led the way by challenging conventional ideas of ‘The Architect' and reclaiming the notion of architecture as something public that should work ultimately towards the collective good. This quiet revolution is born out of a crisis in the profession and a wider vacuum in the political, environmental and economic situation. On the one hand, architecture as a profession has seen its influence diminish rapidly over the last 50 years through privatisation and the dominance of finance, while on the other hand it has also lacked collective courage and readiness to evolve. Without necessarily being aware of each other, studios around the world are now redefining the profession of architecture as something more proactive, self-aware and political. They are broadening their skill sets and becoming deeply involved in their projects, initiating them themselves, financing them and running them. Though much of this work is dealing with local issues at a relatively small scale, it is inherently ambitious with global application. Contributors include: Shumi Bose, Indy Johar, Alison Killing, Douglas Murphy, and Finn Williams Featured architects: Aterlier d’Architecture Autogérée (AAA), adamo-faiden; Baupiloten, Grupo Toma, Hector, Inteligencias Colectivas, raumlaborberlin, studioBASAR, Studio GutGut, Taller Ken, and We Made That.

The Indianized States of Southeast Asia

The Indianized States of Southeast Asia
Author: George Coedès
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 440
Release: 1975-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780824803681

Traces the story of India's expansion that is woven into the culture of Southeast Asia.