Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemMapping the gap between neighbourhood character and architecture(University of Melbourne, 2009)
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ItemConstructability practices among low cost rental apartment developers in Jakarta, Indonesia(University of Melbourne, 2009)
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ItemRevising Hexi Newtown, Nanjing, China : an urban renovation activated by mix-use neighborhood(University of Melbourne, 2009)
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ItemChinese urbanisation in Java: eighteenth century to nineteenth century( 2009)The development of Chinese quarters in the harbour cities on Java’s northern coast accompanied the growth of these early cities during twelfth to fifteenth centuries. However the histories of these quarters and their role in the development of Javanese cities have received inadequate attention. This research examines the urbanisation of the Chinese quarters, particularly in the eighteenth nineteenth centuries, and the characteristics of their built form. This is achieved through a case study of the city of Surabaya, where the city government recently established a program to revitalise the banks of the Kalimas River – the location of the city’s Chinese quarter. Because of time and access limitations, this study focuses only on prayer buildings. The analysis was undertaken mainly by interpreting archival materials such as pictures, maps and family records, and through a comparison of Surabaya’s Chinese quarter and its prayer buildings to those in Semarang and Jakarta. Interviews were also conducted with Chinese community leaders and building owners. This study reveals that although local and western cultures influenced the lives of the Indonesian Chinese on Java, their cultural life was still based upon mainland Chinese culture. This study also demonstrates the uniqueness of the Chinese buildings in Surabaya compared to those in China, Semarang and Jakarta. Moreover, the buildings represent adaptations made by Chinese community in response to political changes over time. Generally though, the findings indicate that despite political and social changes as well as urban growth, the Chinese quarter has constantly played an important role in the development of Surabaya.
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ItemBeyond Mac world and 'umbrella' architecture: an alternative design framework for urban public buildings in Sri Lanka( 2009)The obsession to become modern while maintaining a link to a glorified history is a prevalent practice in most postcolonial nations. Combined with layers of developmental politics, geo-political agendas, ethnic insecurities and globalization, there emerges an increasingly complex picture which is generally absent from developed post-industrial nations. Post-independent Sri Lanka is not immune to this canvas of complexity. As a result, professional input into non-residential building production has been caught up in the ostensibly irreconcilable position of, "how to revive an old, dormant civilization and take part in universal civilization." With the patronage of political and cultural elites of post-independent Sri Lanka, the production process of social space has created a paradoxical architectural paradigm of modernity and tradition. The enthusiasm of transnational tourism for commodified local culture has further crystallized this predicament. The resultant physical landscape has thus created a specific reference system through which architecture is understood, taught, perceived and appreciated. Symbolic and representative politics have marginalized the functional and social inclusiveness of the civic built fabric. Set against this background, this thesis intends to firstly, examine the historical background involved in constructing this dichotomous paradigm and the social costs involved. Secondly, the thesis aims to examine alternative mechanisms by which to expand the existing architectural debate, enabling the production of a more socially inclusive, context-generated civic architecture.
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ItemInteraction between state authority and the Chinese architectural profession: a critical analysis of Jianzhu Xuebao( 2009)In the decade (1992–2001), the Chinese architecture profession, (hereinafter using abbreviation the CAP) has been largely promoted to a higher level under the socialist circumstance. It is pivotal to note that the evolution of the architecture and the profession does not occur as a natural process, but rather as a result of power relations. In effect, the transformation in the architectural field is a result of interplay between many agents, with the state authority sitting as a predominant force amongst many components despite the complexity and complicity. On the one hand, the CAP has experienced independence, self-improvement and integration into the world through the journey towards a liberalized position. On the other hand, the operation of architectural practice is highly channeled by the state authority, is closely tied to government policies and shaped by government regulations and facilitated by socio-economic dynamics. The state authority, at various levels, affects the direction of the CAP’s development as well as how it is evolving. This is implemented through interrelations not static but dynamic, that are constantly being re-enacted. In the midst of the range of architectural phenomenon, the thesis focuses on changes of the CAP, and the relationship between the CAP and the state authority in China during a crucial decade of post–Mao reform, as reflected in the publications in Jian Zhu Xue Bao. It is based on a textual analysis of Jian Zhu Xue Bao, and observes the interrelations that occurred or re-occurred through historical review, discourse analysis and case studies. At the conceptual level, the study considers the interaction as that of power and knowledge. Against the background provided, the dissertation argues that the underlying power–knowledge correlations react in the Chinese architectural field and at the same time; various interactions that drive the development related to the CAP are unfolding in Chinese architectural discourse. Drawing on scholarship concerning power and knowledge, findings are of four kinds related to: (1) the CAP obtained a relative autonomy; (2) the improvement of professional systems and enforcement; (3) the facilitation role of the state authority; (4) integration into international practice and discourse.
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ItemEnvironmental technologies and reshaping of healthcare architecture( 2009)This research investigates adoption and integration of a range of building environmental systems in healthcare facilities in India. Based on detailed case studies of eight selected healthcare facilities developed at different times in India, this research traces the evolution of hospital designs in a specific geographic context through the lens of adoption of building environmental systems over the internal shell and external skins of healthcare buildings in India. By documenting and analyzing changes in building designs over time, the research develops a comparative understanding of trends of adoption of environmental technologies and their impacts on building form and performance.
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ItemAdaptive reuse of historical buildings and urban areas in Shanghai (1990-2008): a practical and critical assessment( 2009)Adaptive reuse, as an alternative approach to the treatment of existing old buildings and urban areas, is being received more concerns in contemporary China. Taking Shanghai as an example, this thesis attempts to assess the practice of reuse of historical buildings in the urban context of Shanghai from 1990 to 2008. In this research, the practice of adaptive reuse is studied with a focus on improving dynamic urban life through giving old buildings an advisable new use. With the aim of finding out what makes a lively and dynamic city, I employ the theory of city diversity from Jane Jacobs into my research as a theoretical basis to be tested in the research. These investigations of Shanghai were conducted during a fieldwork in Shanghai. The case includes three types, which are respectively located in different areas in contemporary Shanghai. The first one is an alteration and upgrading of old industrial buildings on the waterfront. The second is a reuse of clusters of commercial buildings built in the colonial era on the Bund, with the ‘Bund 18’ building as a critical example. The third one is an urban renewal through adaptive reuse of traditional residential buildings in an inner city area, with a focused study on the Xintiandi area. Through empirical analysis of these three cases, I try to examine the relationship between the buildings transformed through adaptive reuse and the urban surroundings in terms of participation or use by the various urban populations, and further explore how adaptive reuse may contribute to the generation and sustaining of diverse urban life in the urban context. We may assume that the relationship between the city and the user is linked by urban activities, and that diversity of urban life can contribute to the healthy growth of cities. Given these assumptions, the empirical studies in this thesis suggest that the principal condition in adaptive reuse of historical buildings, for generating diverse and active urban life, is a potential in the old buildings to be ‘divided’. This includes ‘divisions’ of space, function and the category of users. Consequently, the design principles, as I would propose at the end of this study, are as follows: extracting spatial potential, creating mixed and small-scale businesses, and expanding categories of users to attract participation of a broad spectrum of the population with a diverse social background. Based on this, the practice of adaptive reuse of historical buildings can help reviving a close and dynamic relationship between the user and the physical setting, people and the city, facilitating the generation and sustaining of a diverse and healthy urban life.