Asian Alterity: With Special Reference to Architectur + Urbanism Through the Lens of Cultural Studies Case Studies

Employing the multi-disciplinary cultural studies as a theoretical platform, this book presents a unique analysis of Asia's development and its architecture and urbanism. The concept of "multiple modernities" is extensively examined to provide the foundational understanding of Asian modernity today, which is firmly rooted in both its indigenous cultures and traditions as well as its contemporariness. This book, a new reflection on the nature of the city in Asia, and the role of professionals in the multiple modernities of those cities, includes: case studies of dynamic Asian cities such as Shanghai, Seoul, Melbourne and others; comments written by an internationally-assembled review panel; innovative and stylistic page layouts by a designer who is the Webby International Ambassador of Singapore; and a full color printing.

Review
"This book on Asian Alterity is so welcome, as one of the new (yet still all too rare) explorations in architecture and urbanism which seek to operate from an interdisciplinary perspective, and, as such, comprehend the true difficulty of the life that we seek to comprehend and better. As such, it provides invaluable insights into aspects of what William Lim calls the 'non-West', that is into modernity globalization, technology, politics, and social organization ... it helps me to understand my London-based daily life, one which is composed of similarly complex (and often 'Asian') cultures, languages, peoples, hybrids, diasporas, fractional identities, and disparities of wealth. And the book suggests too that, of course, places like London are also part of the global condition of architectural and urban issues such as memories, public space, uncertainty, spatial justice and what William Lim memorably terms the 'Colonial Hangover'".Iain BordenProfessor of Architecture and Urban CultureBartlett School of ArchitectureUniversity College London"There is nothing quite like Asian Alterity for its comprehensive and insightful perspective on Australasian urbanism, its creative recomposition of stubborn modernist binaries, its sensitive handling of difference and otherness, its effectively politicized interdisciplinarity, and its challenging ethical agenda for the city building professions and city dwellers everywhere."Edward W SojoProfessor of Urban Planning, andVisiting Centennial Professor of Sociology, School of Economics