A01=Peter Cookson Smith
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Peter Cookson Smith
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Barcelonamodernhistory
BarrioChino
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=AMX
Category=HBTB
Category=JBSD
Category=JFSG
Category=NHTB
CathedralSantaEulalia
cityofbarcelona
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
ElEscandalo
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Language_English
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
softlaunch
Product details
- ISBN 9781943532520
- Weight: 1150g
- Dimensions: 229 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 20 Jan 2020
- Publisher: Oro Editions
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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In 1925 a journalist on the Barcelona newspaper El Escándalo used the term Barrio Chino in a somewhat derogatory way to describe part of the older city. While the area in question represented a dystopian underbelly of the city, known for its impoverished living and working conditions together with its 'red-light' subcultures, it never existed as a 'Chinatown' in either a physical or social sense. However the name of this mythical community stuck from the 1920s onwards, appearing on maps and descriptions of the inner city but devoid of any hint of Chinese inhabitants or their culture.
The book takes this as a starting point to chart the development of Barcelona over two hundred years using a series of 'diaries' and drawn images. These are set around four generations of a fictional Chinese dynasty and their imagined architectural participation in some of the major events in Barcelona's modern history. As residents of the Barrio from the mid-nineteenth century, they individually document diverse contributions to the city during periods of dynamic growth. This is set against a backdrop of cataclysmic political change and exemplary forms of urban regeneration which have provided Barcelona with its contemporary 'World City' status as it plans for the future.
Dr Peter Cookson Smith is an architect, urbanist, and founder of the URBIS consultancy in Hong Kong. He is a Past Professor of architecture and Past President of Hong Kong's Institutes of Planning and Urban Design. Between 2014 and 2016 he directed the joint Urban Exchange between Hong Kong and Barcelona.
