January 2009
The MAK Center for Art and Architecture has announced Heterotopias: Themed Environments in Shanghai and Los Angeles, the fourth event in its new series, the MAK UFI Public Forum.
Heterotopias will feature Xiangning Li, a UFI fellow and urban theorist whose research focuses on the transplantation, application, adaptation and distortion of Western models in China.
His presentation will include an overview of Shanghai's "One City Nine Towns" development plan, in which nine suburbs have been designed as large-scale replicas of traditional European towns, reflecting the preference for Western culture, architecture and urbanism in contemporary China.
Examples include the "Italian town" of Pujiang, designed by an Italian firm and featuring a palazzo and Venice-like canals. Li's research is aimed at evaluating the consequences of such "themed" urban environments.
During his UFI residency in Los Angeles, he has found an abundance of examples for comparative analysis, from Disneyland's Main Street USA to the canals of Venice, California.
Examining both the positive and negative aspects of these themed environments, Li has identified lessons for Shanghai as it grows and expands.
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