Architectural theorisations and phenomena in Asia : the polychronotypic jetztzeit

275 Pages·2017·6.203 MB·English

by  Lin, Francis Chia-Hui

ARCHITECTURAL THEORISATIONS AND PHENOMENA IN ASIA
The Polychronotypic Jetztzeit
-
FRANCIS CHIA HUI LIN
Architectural Theorisations and
Phenomena in Asia
Francis Chia-Hui Lin
Architectural
Theorisations and
Phenomena in Asia
The Polychronotypic Jetztzeit
Francis Chia-Hui Lin
Chinese Culture University
Taipei, Taiwan
ISBN 978-3-319-58432-4 ISBN 978-3-319-58433-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-58433-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949485
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本書獻給我的父親 林清長先生、母親 賴浣月女士、姐姐 林俐妏
女士以及我的外甥 陳永鈞
This book is dedicated to my family in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Preface
The motif of this book emerged from years of theoretical writing about
Asian histories, cultures, architecture and urbanism. During this time I
have become convinced that Asia needs alternative methodologies to
those that have been set up for dealing with typical ‘Western’ contexts,
for the Asian phenomena that have encouraged conclusively a proper
starting point of the philosophy of the humanities. Nevertheless, the
nature of theorisations has gone deeply enough to lay the foundations on
which many crucial problems of contemporary Asia might be solved.
Above all, it is Asia’s heteroglossic and decolonisation character that calls
for thoroughgoing analyses. At the time of the emergence of concern
with Asia’s present-day situations, it was little more than a heading for a
number of vital problems which, in current scholarship, have yet to be
scrutinised in detail. Nearly all these problems are closely related to the
character I have pinpointed, and hence related to the phenomena of
experience and time, which can be studied only by the most rigorous
philosophical reflection. Only when the nature of internal time- -
consciousness is grasped can we tackle the complicated and mostly invis-
ible and immeasurable structure of the concepts of the humanities that
are implied by architectural and urban representations. Amongst these
concepts are those of the interpretation of one’s own and others’ experi-
ences, observations and insights, and, above all, the nature of spatiotem-
poral formation upon which is based the very ideology of historiography
vii
viii Preface
towards its subject matter. All these must be accompanied by very detailed
and laborious investigations—unavoidable if one is to become clear
about the basic categories and methodologies of knowing contemporary
Asia. I believe that only such clarification of the hitherto obscure nature
of contemporary Asian scenarios can guarantee a precise grasp of Asianised
perspectives. I believe that only philosophically founded theory of meth-
odologies can exorcise the pseudo-problems which today not only hinder
research in Asian studies but also involve architecture and urbanity.
Architecture, as a study that deals with issues of the humanities, relies
strongly upon applied criticisms; however, they often have built stand-
points in very different positions. On the one hand, architecture tends to
absorb the texts of its predecessors but does not directly comment on
texts and authors, even though it has been very much influenced by them.
Architecture simply makes use of the material that it finds in the texts.
When advances are made in architecture, later thinkers condense the
findings and move on. On the other hand, architecture also often becomes
enshrined as exegeses rather than resources to be exploited. Architectural
theorists tend not to ask where architecture goes from here; instead, they
inform the public about the doctrines of major thinkers, who are prone
to imply reactions to earlier works rather than paraphrase them. Because
this book is a critical examination of contemporary Asian architecture
and urbanism, I use the vocabulary developed both in architectural and
Asian tradition. However, I do not overwhelmingly comment on these
terms as though they were alien to my own thinking; I use them and
reposition them in different contexts. I believe architecture and Asia
name important phenomena, and I want to make these phenomena
available to my readers. In this work, I do not trace explicitly but only
critically the manner in which these and other terms arose in the disci-
pline of architecture and Asian studies; I use words with serviceable
standpoints because they still have life in them. These terms need not be
explained; it is sufficient to show they are represented as forms of the
immediate historicity of contemporary architecture and Asia.
Theorising contemporary Asian architecture and urbanism is no easy
matter. In this book I take a bidirectional approach, dealing with the
same problems from a variety of angles in an attempt to try and deal with
some of the complexities. I have also compiled a limited yet well-directed
Prefac e ix
glossary of theoretical concepts; brief definitions are provided, but more
importantly, the intention is to guide the readers to those boundary- -
challenging texts where alternative theorisations have been made to medi-
ate the looseness of compatibility between the dominant Western
epistemology and emergent scenarios in Asia. The intention behind this
book is to make this quest a little easier. Alone with this ambition to
bridge the existing to the new, in this book I have built a platform for a
conversation between different standpoints; may it help cultivate the life
of reason expressed in all the human experiences that architecture
represents.
Francis Chia-Hui Lin
A Note on Transliteration
and Romanisation
One issue that sternly impacts scholarship on approaching the diversity
of Asia and its theory also tasks the researchers today who attempt to
study those same communities and break down surfaced and pseudo- -
knowledge: the problem of languages that represent non-English con-
cepts. In this book, I have used a great many Asian concepts that have
unique terms in their own languages— Taiwanese, Han, Japanese and
Malay—and philosophical concepts that are largely rooted in French and
German. All these ideas are provided with English explanations where
they are first used and quoted in the book; however, the original charac-
ters and Romanisations are also provided to avoid misunderstanding and
misinterpretation. This book applies the transliteration and Romanisation
conventions generally used for work on Asia, architecture, critical theory
and the humanities, except for original use in the citations or references
and those terms that have already been known and extensively recognised
by the public and academia. Asian individuals whose names are Romanised
have their surnames placed after their given names. Those terms that are
specific in their original languages, that are blended with argumentation
in this book, or that are philosophically unique and hence unusual in
their meaning in plain English, are italicised.
xi
Acknowledgements
I should like to acknowledge the following people who have helped me
in various ways in my studies and hence in the writing of this book:
Philip Goad, Anoma Pieris, Mark Hinchman, Hannah Lewi, Chia-Li
Chen, Cherch Kang Foo, Wei Hsum Yap and Li Jia Chen. Some of the
theoretical notions were tested with groups of students I taught at Taylor’s
University, Malaysia, and I am grateful for their inspiring responses.
Above all, I owe special debt of gratitude to my family— Ching-Chang
Lin, Dora Lai and Lilian Lin—for years of support. There are others who
have assisted me in conducting the research and giving birth to the con-
cepts that I have argued in the study. To anyone I might have uninten-
tionally overlooked, I declare for the sensation of appreciation faithfully.
Subang Jaya, Malaysia, 2017 Francis Chia-Hui Lin
xiii