Bøger af Yichen Lu

In May 2015, Studio Link-Arc completed the China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015, its most prominent work to date. As China's first free-standing Expo Pavilion beyond its own borders, the design and construction of the project raised a number of issues relevant to current architectural discourse: temporality and the legacy of Expos; nationality and representation; instant place-making and iconicity; and the relationship between parametric design and craft. This book is not conceived as a monograph that focuses on one project. Instead, it carefully examines the larger ideas woven into the design of the China Pavilion and explores their implications for design and global culture. In addition to presenting the story of the project--from conception through construction and occupancy--the book addresses the larger design forces at play via discussions with key figures in the architecture community. The parallel reading of the Pavilion dialogues and the project sections provides a deeper understanding of the process of conceiving an Expo, the constraints associated with building within an Expo environment, and the potential for global cultural exchange that is only possible through an event in which thousands of people from diverse backgrounds converge in one locale for a brief moment in time to share ideas and experiences within a physical space that embodies the diversity of global culture. The ideas seen in the China Pavilion are discussed and expanded by a respected group of professionals, with contributions by Stefano Boeri, Italian architect and one of the original master planners for Expo Milano 2015; Dr. Xiangning Li, Assistant Dean and Professor at Tongji University College of Architecture and Urban Planning and Visiting Professor in Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Daniel Libeskind, the internationally renowned architect and designer of the Vanke Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015; and Studio Link-Arc, the architects of the China Pavilion.

The number of people who live in Asia is greater than the total number of people who live in the rest of the world. More than 160 cities in Asia have a population of at least one million people. Thus, when new infectious diseases threaten popu- tions in Asia, huge segments of the global population are at risk. At the same time, Asians are thoroughly integrated with the rest of the world, providing skilled exp- tise and becoming trading partners in all continents. Infectious diseases ordinarily show no preference for infection or disease according to race or ethnic background. A few exceptions exist, due to the host- pathogen evolution that happened before the recent era of rapid travel. Such exc- tions occur usually because the infectious agent was newly introduced to one population only after having existed and evolved for hundreds or thousands of years in a different population. As air travel became popular in the last few generations of people, it became increasingly difficult for populations to remain in isolation. Thus, in 2003, SARS in China rapidly became SARS in Canada. Throughout history, a major source of new infections of people has been old infections of animals. For some, such as Ebola or Lassa, transmission to people is rare and self-limiting, though frighteningly lethal for the few unfortunate indivi- als who get infected. And Ebola and Lassa are indigenous for Africa, not Asia.