architecture china

Softcover. Honolulu, University of HawaiinPress, 2nd pr., 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 362 pages, b&w illustrations and photos. China's Old Dwellings is the most comprehensive critical examination of China's folk architectural forms in any language. It begins by tracing the interest in Chinese vernacular buildings in the twentieth century. Early chapters detail common and distinctive spatial components, including the interior and exterior modular spaces that are axiomatic components of most Chinese dwellings as well as conventional structural components and building materials common in Chinese construction. Later chapters examine representative housing types in the three broad cultural realms--northern, southern, and western--into which China has been divided. Knapp completes his survey with an exploration of China's old dwellings in the context of the rapid economic and social changes that are destroying so

Hardcover. New York/Milano, Skira, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 224 pages, duotone photographs taken between 1904 and 1914 by a missionary working in China. In publisher's shrinkwrap. Leone Nani (1880-1935) lived in central China from 1904 to 1914. His missionary work took him to remote villages where he captured a world beyond the reach of other Westerners. Working in large format (mostly on glass plates he developed and printed himself in his mobile studio), Nani portrayed young couples, dignitaries, peasants and artisans. Equally gifted as an observer and reporter, he recorded everyday life scenes, religious ceremonies, architecture, and landscapes. 

Softcover. UK, Cambridge University Press, 1st pbk, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 352 pages. A groundbreaking study of cultural life during a turbulent and formative decade in contemporary China, this book seeks to explode several myths about the Cultural Revolution (officially 1966-1976). Through national and local examination of the full range of cultural forms (film, operas, dance, other stage arts, music, fine arts, literature, and even architecture), Clark argues against characterizing this decade as one of chaos and destruction. Rather, he finds that innovation and creativity, promotion of participation in cultural production, and a vigorous promotion of the modern were all typical of the Cultural Revolution. Using a range of previously little-used materials, Clark forces us to fundamentally reassess our understanding of the Cultural Revolution, a period which he sees as the product of innovation in conflict with the effort by political leaders to enforce a top-down modernity. Clean copy.

Hardcover. US, Tuttle Publishing, 1st, 2003-04-15, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 178 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Three scratches to fore-edge. Light shelf-wear to dust jacket. Previous owner's stamp on front end paper. Clean, tight copy.