Archive for the ‘Beijing’ Category
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
Two wells as deep as 2,000 meters underground will provide heat for a 7,500-seat gymnasium in winter, the competing venue for the badminton tournament of Beijing Olympic Games, and another 12 wells are used for the cooling system in summer.
The Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium will realize zero emission in the use of geothermal energy, and energy consumption would be reduced by 30 percent, said vice president of the university Zhang Ailin.
Read more @ the SOURCE: Xinhua – ‘Green’ becomes color of Beijing Olympic Games_
Posted in Beijing, China, Olympics | No Comments »
Monday, June 16th, 2008
China is planning a new environment friendly city that will house one million inhabitants, on a total area of 150 square kilometers.
According to a report in ENN (Environmental News Network), the city is being planned in the Tangshan region near Beijing.
The new city will consist of 150 square kilometers with an initial stage that will have a scope of 30 square kilometers. A deep-water port and industrial area are also being planned in conjunction with the city.
SOURCE: Fresh News – China plans eco-friendly city for one million inhabitants | Latest News.
Posted in Beijing, China, Sustainable Design | No Comments »
Sunday, May 11th, 2008
Pecha Kucha Beijing Volume No.8 18th of May 2008, 04:00pm at Yugong Yishan Pecha Kucha Night Beijing (www.pbkj.org) invites everybody to join, either by visiting one of our upcoming events or by sending in work for presentation. 6 min and 40 seconds (20 slides x 20 seconds) of fame can start right here and right now. With drinks, dance and the latest ideas in the same room at the same time, who knows what will happen! The Japanese term ´Pecha Kucha´ roughly translates as chit-chat or noisy chatter. As a potent crossbreed between an elevator pitch and a slide show, Pecha Kucha Night presents 10 participants who show 20 slides for 20 seconds each (6 min and 40 seconds per presenter). No more boring lectures, painful seminars or tiring presentations. Pecha Kucha Night Beijing offers the audience the experience of a dazzling range of speakers and images, from different creative fields (such as art, architecture, graphics and any other creative filed you can imagine) in the course of one evening. Breaks will be filled with drinks, music, images and of course: chit-chat (so bring your business cards).
Don’t miss to join Pecha Kucha Beijing Volume No.8 on 18th of May 2008, 04:00pm at Yugong Yishan (www.pbkj.org)
Pecha Kucha Beijing 第五回 地点：愚公移山 下午4:00 2008年5月18日 Pecha Kucha (www.pbkj.org) 北京邀请大家加入！形式不限，无论是通过参加我们其中任何一个活动还是亲自参与作品演示。 6分钟40秒（每人放映20张幻灯片，每张幻灯片20秒钟）的精彩就在此时此刻爆发。与酒水，音乐一起狂欢，同时与最新的想法相聚，谁知道会发生什么！ 日语中“Pecha Kucha”（ペチャクチャ）可以大致翻译为闲聊或者喋喋不休。Pecha Kucha Night作为电梯推销和幻灯片放映这两种形式的结合体，会通过10名参加者展示20张幻灯片，每张为20秒（ 每位演讲者只有6分钟40秒）。这种方式可以避免以往那种长到令人打瞌睡的讲座或讨论会，使每个人的演讲精简扼要。来自艺术，建筑，设计等任何你能想到的 创意领域的演讲者和海量图片，每一次的Pecha Kucha Night都会为听众带来一个炫彩缤纷的夜晚。当然在休息时间里也不会少了酒水，音乐，图片，同时还有最重要的——闲聊（所以不要忘了带上名片哦！） Astrid Klein和Mark Dytham (东京Klein Dytham建筑事务所)在他们的Supperclub中发起Pecha Kucha Night活动。本意为年轻的设计师们提供一个聚会、社交与向公众展示作品的空间。这个活动已经迅速传播到全世界的107城市中。其中Pecha Kucha Night北京是由Sebastian Linack, Florian Pucher, Andre Schmidt和Salome Chen建立和组织的，后来从第3回开始Miriam Deller也加入了进来。 2008年3月26日，将在东京举行第50回Pecha Kucha Night。在创办之初，可能谁也没有想到会一直举行到第50回，更不会预料到它会快速传播到全世界100多个城市中。它再一次的来到这里——北京！所以 不要再犹豫了，赶快加入吧！don’t miss to join Pecha Kucha Beijing (www.pbkj.org) Volume No.8 on 18th of May 2008, 04:00pm at Yugong Yishan
Posted in Beijing | No Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008
At his first sight of Las Vegas, a Chinese student of community participation in urban development remarked, “I feel as if I am back in Beijing’s second ring road!”
Indeed, the shadow of the American casino capital looms large over Beijing and many other Chinese cities, which vie with one another in copying the model of Las Vegas to become a mixture of something of everything.
With a messy combination of bits from New York City, Paris, Italy, Egypt and others, Las Vegas could satisfy a fancy of the wonderland.
Yet the city in the wild desert is a nightmare for urban planners, as it has developed with little planning. Even though Las Vegas hosted the centennial convention of the American Planning Association (APA) in late April, many American planners dismiss it as a good example of urban development.
To their regret, however, Las Vegas becomes a role model for too many Chinese cities in their drive for urban development. Like Las Vegas, these cities with entirely different cultural and socioeconomic contexts are sprawling ever wider with ever more and taller high-rises, until they become jungles of cement.
Perhaps the decision-makers and designers of Chinese cities should come to such a consensus. They should learn from the culture and traditions of their own cities before they set out to borrow others’ experiences. If they fail to develop a taste for the treasures under their eyes, it is doubtful that they can pick out something valuable elsewhere.
Read more at the Source: China Daily – to stop building cities without souls by Xiong Lei
Posted in Beijing, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Pecha Kucha Beijing Volume No.8 - 18th of May 2008 - 04:00pm at Yugong Yishan - Admission RMB 20,
After a small pause to regain energy, Pecha Kucha Beijing is back in full swing!
The line up of Volume 8’s speakers is compiled of professionals of the fashion industry, artists, architects and multimedia specialists.
Pecha Kucha北京 第八回
地点：愚公移山
时间：2008年5月18日，下午4：00，门票：20RMB
经过一个短暂的间隔后，Pecha Kucha北京重新回来！
这次的演讲者由来自时装设计，艺术，建筑和多媒体的专业人员组成.
Posted in Beijing, China | No Comments »
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
The Olympics are never just about sport. This summer’s Beijing Olympics have been emphatically about architecture, too. In preparation for the games this August, the Chinese capital is undergoing an urban transformation unprecedented in recent history.
The Olympics are seen as an opportunity to put the Chinese “brand” front and center on the world stage, to build infrastructure that’s been badly needed anyway, and to prove that China has “arrived” as a superpower in the making.
Read more @ Symposium held on Olympic architecture
Source: The Harvard University Gazette.
Posted in Beijing, China | No Comments »
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
With its grandiose architecture, cowed citizens, and earnest self-improvement efforts—No pushing! No swearing! No irony!—Beijing is determined to be the perfect host. But no amount of pomp and prep work can buy China the role it wants.
Beijing’s Olympic Makeover: Entertainment & Culture
Source: VanityFair.com.
Posted in Beijing, China | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Authorities say they will ban the sale of cars that fail to meet new emission standards, starting from next month onwards in another move to cut air pollution and host a truly “green” Olympics later this year in Beijing.
All vehicles on the Beijing market will need to meet the new China IV standard, which is equivalent to its European counterpart known as the Euro IV.
Read more @ Xinhua Beijing only to sell China.
Posted in Beijing, China | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
A second international airport is being planned in Beijing to ease traffic pressure, a top official with China’s civil aviation administration confirmed on Wednesday.
The Beijing Capital International Airport, the only international airport in the host city of the upcoming Olympics, will have no further significant expansions, said Yang Guoqing, deputy head of China’s General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC).
Yang told a press conference here that a new airport was necessary for Beijing and that the CAAC had submitted a report to the central government on site selection.
The airport, China’s busiest, handled 50 million passengers between January 1 and early December, putting it among the world’s 10 busiest airports.
2nd international airport in Beijing is confirmed – Xinhua News Agency
Posted in Architecture, Beijing, Technology, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Friday, January 18th, 2008
“China is halfway done,” stated Neville Mars on January 12, at a talk entitled “Beijing, 2001-2050: 3 new books/ 3 views,” co-sponsored by urbane magazine and Boloni Lifestyle Museum. He was joined by two other internationally-recognized architects Ma Yansong and Andre Schmidt. The three architects presented their views of Beijing’s ongoing construction, and highlighted points made in their already-published or up-coming work
The dream: full of hyper-positive feelings
Neville Mars is the author of The Chinese Dream – a society under construction. He first came to Beijing in 2002 and began the Dynamic City Foundation.
At the talk, he focused on China’s goal to build 400 new cities by 2020, and finding solutions to densely populated cities. Mao Zedong once said that “only on a clean sheet of paper can the newest and most beautiful picture be drawn.” Mars argues against the understanding that China “can take a city as ‘tabula rasa’ and build a new one on top.” He is also concerned with the overlap in the rural and urban areas in, and emphasizes a need to “work with the flow” of existing cities before expanding them. He proposes making Beijing more local, as opposed to creating satellite cities around it; building hybrid tower-hutong communities, as opposed to gated high-rise communities; and an elevated, flat escalator that moves people above the city, as a way of “shrinking the urban network.”
Read more at The architects’ hope for the Chinese dream - People’s Daily Online.
Posted in Architecture, Beijing, China, Design, Urban Planning | No Comments »
