The conversion of old industrial spaces is something that is becoming a growing trend in large cities across the globe, and China is no exception. China Lofts brings together houses from within culture-rich China that exemplify the wonderfully practical conversion of current uses, and the immense creativity that emerges from these confines. Find refreshing ideas and unique cuttural expressions within these pages, as well as enigmatic photography and insightful text.
With text covering the history of the phenomenon and giving a description of the architecture and decoration, as well as the lifestyle they offer, this is a collection of panoramic photographs of selected lofts from New York to Milan, London, Peking and Paris.
Landed China gives you the key facts and local insights you need to buy a home in China. In Landed China, you’ll learn: How property is bought and sold in China.Where to find financing, legal advice and other essential services.How to recognize and manage China-specific risks.Where to find property listings (even if you can’t read Chinese).Where not to buy.How demographic, economic and social trends are reshaping China’s real estate markets.How non-Chinese people have successfully bought property in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Lofts, by definition, are former commercial spaces that have been converted for residential use and living/work environments. But lofts, by design, are vast silent expanses, soaring arches, stalwart steel girders, massive beams, and all the powerful drama of a curtain-time stage set. Lofts are a designer's dream. The importance of urban loft design for the architectural and design world is highlighted in this collection of the finest, most dramatic of these transformed spaces. Lofts: New Designs for Urban Living takes you on an intimate tour of residential lofts in the major cities of the world including New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, London, Toronto, Paris, and Tokyo. Projects include work from cutting-edge designers: Roto, Fred Fisher, Peter Anders, Neil Frankel, Briggs/Iacucci, Peter Tow, Kar Ho, Moneo/Brock, Belmont Freeman, Lotek, Brayton & Hughes and more. Complete with informative text, Lofts features full-color photographs, plans, and a valuable resource guide for anyone who has every dreamed of converting a commercial building into a residential loft.
Recognising that creativity is a major driving force in the post-industrial economy, the Chinese government has recently established a range of "creative clusters" – industrial parks devoted to media industries, and arts districts – in order to promote the development of the creative industries. This book examines these new creative clusters, outlining their nature and purpose, and assessing their effectiveness. Drawing on case studies of a range of cluster models, and comparing them with international examples, the book demonstrates that creativity, both in China and internationally, is in fact a process of fitting new ideas to existing patterns, models and formats. It shows how large and exceptionally impressive creative clusters have been successfully established, but raises the important questions of whether profit or culture is the driving force, and of whether the bringing together of independent-minded, creative people, entrepreneurial businessmen, preferential policies and foreign investment may in time lead to unintended changes in social and political attitudes in China, including a weakening of state bureaucratic power. An important contribution to the existing literature on the subject, this book will be of great interest to scholars of urban studies, cultural geography, cultural economics and Asian studies.
Creativity, whether lauded as the oil of the 21st century, touted as a driver of international policy, or mobilised by activities, has been very much part of the zeitgeist of the last few decades. Offering the first accessible, but conceptually sophisticated account of the critical geographies of creativity, this title provides an entry point to the diverse ways in which creativity is conceptualized as a practice, promise, force, concept and rhetoric. It proffers these critical geographies as the means to engage with the relations and tensions between a range of forms of arts and cultural production, the cultural economy and vernacular, mundane and everyday creative practices. Exploring a series of sites, Creativity examines theoretical and conceptual questions around the social, economic, cultural, political and pedagogic imperatives of the geographies of creativity, using these geographies as a lens to cohere broader interdisciplinary debates. Central concepts, cutting-edge research and methodological debates are made accessible with the use of inset boxes that present key ideas, case studies and research. The text draws together interdisciplinary perspectives on creativity, enabling scholars and students within and without Geography to understand and engage with the critical geographies of creativity, their breadth and potential. The volume will prove essential reading for undergraduate and post-graduate students of creativity, cultural geography, the creative economy, cultural industries and heritage.
'Urban Spaces 5' offers an illustrated tour of a diversity of projects. John Morris Dixon explains the chief design challenges and the solutions developed by the outstanding firms profiled in this volume.
What exactly is a primary source? How does it compare to other types of sources? Emerging readers need to know the difference. Readers will also be introcuced to the concept of plagiarism, how to choose sources for their writing and reports, checking source dates and accuracy, and more. Straightforward, neutral text and vivid photographs provide readers with the tools they need to learn about types of sources, including primary sources, how sources connect to media literacy, and understanding ownership of work.
The Urban Land Institute has again cooperated with Visual Reference Publications to co-sponsor this third volume titled Urban Spaces No. 3, which showcases more than 140 outstanding urban/mixed use design projects by leading architects, landscape architects, urban designers and planners. This 320 page volume with over 500 beautifully reproduced full-colour images is an invaluable reference for urban planners, public officials, building committees, and professionals who are responsible for the planning, design, and construction of urban developments of all kinds.
