Cervantes statue on the campus of Peking University. The Core follows Columbia students everywhere, even in China!
Posted 10 months ago
Tao talking to a student at the public elementary school we visited to see the education-focused NGO Roots & Shoots in action. One of my favorite field visits by far. The students were fabulous, and very open and willing to talk to us.
Posted 10 months ago
Blue Skies
I just noticed looking through most of the pictures I’ve posted that the sky is bright blue in them. How funny…I haven’t seen a blue sky in two weeks. I almost forgot how great the weather was when we first got here. All I see now everyday is smog.
Posted 10 months ago
Imperial China: The Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven
I was really excited to do the touristy thing and see these sites, especially because so much of what we do during the week is about the urbanization of China, and how China and Beijing as a city are growing and changing and modernizing. So to see these pieces of Chinese history was both incredible and incredibly confusing. I’m trying to wrap my head around this place, and every time I think I even begin to grasp a tiny strand of a single characteristic, something else comes along that complicates it all again.
***
I wish I’d had time to wander and explore the Forbidden City, but it was a holiday weekend and was so crowded it wasn’t really possible. Plus I couldn’t very well leave our group tour guide and flag. That’s right…I was in one of those groups. But it’s ok…literally everyone else was doing it too.
Posted 11 months ago
Cities are man made creations, but they function like an ecosystem. A skyscraper changes more than the skyline. A road brings more than transport alternatives. A community garden contributes more than just a bunch carrots. Developing a better understanding of the interconnected nature of urban environments allows us to design cities that are more efficient, more liveable, and more sustainable.
Because so far I’ve only posted touristy stuff, but I am here for school after all. A friend on the trip with me posted this, and it reminds me a lot of what we’re studying here.
Joe Peach on the future of urban design education.
「城市是人為產物，但運作卻與生態相似，高樓大廈不僅改變天際線，道路不只提供另一條動線，社區花園不僅自產胡蘿蔔，若瞭解都市環境彼此相連的狀態，就能設計出更有效能、更宜人居、更永續的城市。」
Joe Peach論都市設計教育的未來。
(via thisbigcity)
(Source: thisbigcity)
Posted 11 months ago
This cab—that like all cabs in Beijing is impossibly difficult to hail, and after which you must convince the driver to take your fare if he doesn’t want to drive where you are going—smells like cheese doodles. Maybe it’s the smog leaking through the window.
Posted 11 months ago
Inside (and outside, and around the generally vicinity of) the Birds Nest
