My geography skills are far from the best,But wherever I goI always follow the sign “eastwest” – The sacred sign I know.Andrei Voznesensky, “A Song of the Sea”The word ‘eastwest’ was not invented by the poet and the architect Andrei Voznesensky , but was saved by him from forgetfulness. This term was popular in the times of the disputes between Westernists and Slavophils and was discussed in the works of S. Bulgakov, E. Trubetskoy, N. Berdyaev etc. In those times (about one hundred years ago), however, ‘East’ mostly meant the Muslim world. For example, the famous...
The participants of the conversation discuss the issues concerning social, economic and political processes observed in Russia and China. They discuss how the pace and direction of the development depend on the national character and compare the tendencies towards unification and autonomization in different regions of the world. The modernization process in China is also featured.
The discussion is focused on various aspects of interrelations between East and West. Its participants discuss the problems of the increasing tourist flows from China and the specific characteristics of Chinese tourists. The future development of tourism in the Baikal region is formulated, and the peculiarities of ethno tourism and its prospects are discussed.
A little more than one hundred years ago Igor Severyanin wrote:On the land where bluebells gently ringAnd a breath of wind makes china sing,Admiration comes and comes againAs I travel though the rocks and velvet plain.There’s a village with its airbrick wall, behind which the fanzas are so small.Life is modest, quiet, poor but freeFrom the fog of Russian everyday melancholy.Starting from Voltaire, who bowed to the patience and wisdom of Confucian philosophy, the western people perceived China as a kingdom of peace, quiescence and meditative...
The article presents the results of the UIA World Congress and several fragments of the manifesto. It also touches on the participation of the Russian delegation in the previous Congresses. The important role of the Congresses in the dynamics of the current urbanization processes is pointed out.
The topic “West-East” has a clear cultural and historical meaning. Orthodox temples face East. The way from West to East and from East to West is tens of thousands of kilometers long and has a special meaning. It differs from the way from North to South: the horizontal axes connect regions, while the vertical axis (Earth-Sky) connects the worlds. The expansion of Eurasian tribes occurred along the East-West axis – the world horizontal way. Today the cultural memory of people in the East and West finds itself in the theatre of new dramas of existence and new forces. With the advances...
My Korea, my little leafHemmed in by Yue and Ho! Oh when shall we disperse the dust Away from the South and North?- Nam Yi, Russian translation by Anna AkhmatovaThe history of Korea is filled with hard and sad episodes. For many centuries, Japanese pirates, the Yue emperors of China from the South, the Ho tribes of Manchuria from the North and others made inroads into the ‘Land of Morning Freshness’. So the national culture and worldview seem to be deeply mistrustful of neighbours.Korean culture had been greatly influenced by more ancient and powerful...
throughout east and west the pathos is the same, come the winds of autumn.- Matsuo Basho
The aura of quiet sadness that accompanies traditional Japanese culture is hard to understand for western people. Japan was the first among far-eastern countries to enter the globalizing world, so at first the novelties of Syowa and Heisei eras looked like mockeries of the western style of life. Trendy round-eye surgeries, manga and anime comics, Tokyo skyscrapers and even ights in the Japanese parliament produced a crooked eflection of the western world seen from the East....
The article reviews the competition activity of the Department of Architecture in the context of various review competitions, festivals and conferences. The competition practices are analyzed considering the results of the Department’s creative activity, which is aimed at intensification of the educational process.
The phenomenon of public catering is observed from the point of view of interaction of national cultures and development of market economy. The types of ethnic public catering and their characteristic features are defined. Chinese catering in Irkutsk is analyzed. The article demonstrates how authenticity of food, decoration and ambiance depends on social demands, social stratification and the mentality of target audience.
The tolerance and ability to smoothly admit borrowings are considered as attributive peculiarities of the Russian culture and the Russian language. Comparison of Confucianism’s fundamentals with corresponding principles of western ideology reveals essential differences between them. The cult of the past (the principle of xiao) and the idea of deep inequality of people (division into junzi and xiaoren) in the Confucian philosophy define the ideology of the architectural and town-planning field. Despite the fact that many construction principles had been established in China long before...
The article observes several historical, present-day and possible forms of the idea of the geographical west-east line. It is stated that formation of the future depends on the chosen way of objective imagination. The long-term vision of the future connection between West and East is proposed.
The article studies the forms of interaction, gaps and intercrossing between the paradigms of East and West. Interpretation of the dichotomy as a model and value of culture and as a significant component of the worldview is presented in the article as a process of combination of cultural norms within the Whole. The idea of ‘transmutation contact’ is proposed for the discussion of peculiarities of the notion East-West. The mobility of borders and the ambiguity of the notion East-West predetermine different discourses of the discussion in the spaces of rational-irrational,...
Today’s China is an outpost of modern western architecture. All famous architects and firms build here. Having lost their historical context, the objects of traditional Chinese architecture become islands in the ocean of new development. Their destiny is controversial. Architectural masterpieces are perceived in a superficial manner not only by tourists, but also by local people. The link of times that used to be cherished in Chinese culture is being broken today.
The article presents a survey of the history and relationships of migrants from the South Asia and China in Britain. Their competitive character is underlined. The Chinese diaspora is regarded as a relatively isolated community with high educational and social requests. A review of public sources allows making a conclusion about the desire of the Chinese youth for assimilation and, at the same time, exists the opposite tendency to preserve the national identity.
The author reviews the development trends of the present-day China: urban processes; formation of special economic zones; employment of population; quality of urban environment. He draws historical parallels between the events of the Soviet period in the USSR and the reforms in China in the 1980s. The author points out specific features of organization of work in a design institution and peculiarities of design culture and describes the everyday life, interpersonal relations and the mentality.
The article observes peculiarities of Japanese gardens located in Great Britain and the USA. Their symbolics, traditions and techniques used for their creation are described. The article features several elements of the gardens and how they depend on the national mentality of the country of their location. According to the article, at present time, there is no deep understanding of the specifics of Japanese garden culture in Great Britain and the USA, and the images of China and Japan contaminate.
We continue publishing the fragments of the book by Georgi Stanishev (Stanishev, G. (2016). Architectural theory in monologues 1985-2015. Sofia: Iztok-Zapad). The interview with Toyo Ito was held by Georgi Stanishev more than twenty years ago, in 1995. With the passage of time, it has become only more obvious that the ideas of the Japanese master are still topical today and will probably be up-to-date even tomorrow. Japan was the first among big countries of Eastern Asia to start searching for the synthesis of East and West. Toyo Ito was born in the beginning of the period of rapid...
The architecture offices Atelier de la Seine and Rethink have been commissioned with the engineers Pouget Consultants by the social landlord Paris Habitat for the extensive renovation of a social housing estate in the historic centre of Paris. The estate has been built in 1930 and integrates a part of the former college of the Lombard build in the 17th century. It belongs to the social housing typology 'Habitations à Bon Marché (HBM)' constructed between1894 and 1949. This typology is generally characterized by its integration in its urban context and an apparent brick facade. The...
The article analyses the architectural concept for the historical and ethnographical exposition complex Russian Pritomye. The project tasks are formulated. The concept recognizes multifunctionality of the future use of the territory of the open-air museum. The article reviews the development plan of the ethnographical settlement, historical reconstruction and restoration of the re-located historic buildings.
This is a critical analysis of the monography written by V. G. Zalesov and I. V. Kulikova, lecturers of Tomsk State University of Architecture and Construction. The monography is devoted to the architecture of wooden tenement buildings of the late 19th – early 20th centuries in Tomsk. The monographer made a significant contribution to the research of the vanishing wooden houses that had been built in cities before the revolution. The scientific importance of the work is pointed out. Its text and graphic materials preserve and hand down to the descendants the layer of national culture...
In 1937 the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Architects was held in Moscow. The congress brought architects from all areas of the Soviet Union. Under the auspices of Vsesoiuvnoe Obshchestvo Kul'turnoi Sviazi s zagranitsei (VOKS) it invited international architects from Europe and North and South America. The Organizing Committee of the Union of Soviet Architects invited Frank Lloyd Wright from the United States. Frank Lloyd Wright presented his philosophy and exhibited his work, specifically his designs for the weekend home for E. J. Kaufmann "Fallingwater" and the...
The article analyses the results of the review competition of children’s architectural and art works held at the 15th anniversary International Festival “Zodchestvo 2017” under the slogan “Quality Now”. The tasks formulated in the Festival program are presented. The activities of art schools, lyceums and creative studios are featured. The article presents the results of the children’s competition and its winners (schools and educational institutions), as well as their educational and creative programs.