Xi'An : an ancient city in a modern world : evolution of the urban form : 1949-2000

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This book is about the evolution of a central Chinese metropolis from 1949 to the end of the 21st century. It presents this evolution from the perspective of both its urban and architectural forms, which are replaced within their geographical and historical contexts. Xi'an, capital of the province of Shaanxi in northwest China, is of great interest for the study of contemporary Chinese cities. Its long history is attested by the archaeological sites of the ancient imperial capitals, particularly of the Han and the Tang dynasties, not to mention the discovery in 1974 of the terracotta army of the Qin emperor Shihuangdi 30 kilometres north of the city. Xi'an is now one of the major poles of development in western China. Beyond its interest as a monographic study, the purpose of this publication is to show the application of the models for transforming contemporary Chinese urban space, as well as their adaptation in the regional context.

In the middle of the book is an album of 43 plates with maps and ground plans that provide spatial and multi-level points of reference, especially for the evolution of the contemporary urban form. This album creates a link between the contents of the various articles, most of which are illustrated, and so reinforces the coherence of the whole.

This book features contributions by Chinese, French and Norwegian authors working within a cooperative framework that associates three educational and research institutions: the research laboratory of the IPRAUS at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville, the Department of Architecture of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim and the PVP research team at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture et de Paysage in Bordeaux.