Lecture 11. Colonialism and Westernization

The nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a fundamental shift in the power structure of the world and of the East Asian region. Marked by the loss of the Opium wars, the Qing Dynasty went into radical decline. At the same time, Japan ascended as a world power by quickly absorbing and adapting to Western technology. With this fundamental shift in the power structure of the region, East Asia enters a fascinating, tragic historical period of imperialism and colonialism, of imported modernity and invented tradition that ends in war and destruction at a scale that the world had never imagined. The very idea of architecture was imported and translated by the Japanese Still very much a history that global conflict and arouses national passions, the urban and architectural legacy is to be studied not as part of a nationalist agenda but as part of a structure and network of forces.


supporting documents:

Lecture Notes

Handout