China's Macro-Planning Policies: Architectural Catalyst or Constraint?

China is undergoing one of the most intense and rapid processes of urbanisation in the world today. It also has one of the most centralised planning systems, which is driven by a Soviet-style, five-year plan. Edward Denison looks at the relationship between China's highly systematised planning process and the high-density, standardised form that urban development typically takes. Amidst this formal context, he locates a ‘whisper’ of change afoot for architects.     

Brasília: Life Beyond Utopia

Brasília is renowned the world over for its realisation of a visionary Modernist plan, designed by Brazilian architect and planner Lúcio Costa (1902–98). The reality of the city's design and its development, as explained by architect, author and academic researcher Thomas Deckker , is, however, much more complex. Contrary to public perception, Brasília falls a long way short of being ‘a unified city’, though it is one that has prospered with a growing population and stronger economy than other Brazilian cities.     

Inventing the Rural: A Brief History of Modern Architecture in the Countryside

The rural has long occupied a valuable, if under-theorised position in modern architectural history. Here, Cole Roskam , Assistant Professor of Architectural History at the University of Hong Kong, highlights key moments in this history and, in doing so, illuminates a central paradox at the heart of architecture's various turns to the countryside; namely, can architects maintain the physical and social integrity of the rural when they are themselves a fundamental vector of its changing character?     

当代城市设计视角下勒·柯布西耶“光辉城市”的交通组织评述

每一次产业革命都给城市的组织 形式和人们的出行方式带来深远的影响，面 对两次工业革命所带来的巨变，勒·柯布西 耶（Le Corbusier）通过积极探索，提出“光 辉城市（Ville Radieuse）”的解决方案以应 对机器时代的变革。虽然该理论一直备受争 议，但其对世界城市理论和实践的影响却不 容小觑。交通作为组织和建构“光辉城市” 实体形式和运行结构的基础，是“光辉城 市”最重要的组成部分。以此为研究对象，从 步行交通、机动交通、公共交通、立体交通 几个方面对其核心理念进行系统分析。并在 当代语境下，从创新性、前瞻性和包容性三 个方面评述了光辉城市交通组织对当代城市 设计的积极影响，从理想化、简单化、机动 化三个方面评述了光辉城市交通组织的时代 局限性。今天，工业4.0时代已经来临，希望 在进一步丰富“光辉城市”及其交通组织研 究成果的同时，促进和推动对当下和未来城 市设计及交通组织的积极思考。     

Cities on the Edge of Chaos

Is the mass-customised city no more than a smokescreen, a re-evocation of Modernist positivism and its problem-solving ideology? Colin Fournier , Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL), and Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), questions the premise of this issue and asks if the variation required for a city's survival ‘at the edge of chaos’ lies beyond mass customisation.