East Asian Architecture from A Global Perspective: Cultural Transactions and the Development of Traditions

This course focuses on the architectural traditions and conventions of East Asia, especially those of China, Korea, and Japan, and highlights the cross-cultural aspects of their great cities and monuments. The aim is to reveal that what has often been considered “traditional” in Asia was actually a constantly evolving process driven by dynamic cultural exchanges among different cultures and civilizations of its extensive regions. “Globalization” is not an invention of the contemporary world, but the driving force behind the development of the great architectural traditions linking different cultures in East Asia.