JAUE2017-013: Typological Principle and Local Presentation – an Urban Design Project with Typological Methodology

Abstract

This paper at first summarizes the typological design approach and its theoretical foundation after literature 
reviews focusing on foreign architects and local practitioners. Then the paper explains the whole design process 
of the “Hankou Town” competition entry and gives my personal evaluation and reflection, before attempts a 
new design. The new “Hankou Town” argues for some improvements when compared to the previous one: it 
aims to relate the typology with the local people’s lifestyle, explores to what extend the new creation can differ 
from its prototype, and underlines the local representation in details at the eye level. As a design based research, 
this dissertation synthesizes the architectural theory and practice, and the final design result presents a feasible 
tool aimed at Chinese urban problem by means of the extraction, abstraction and recombination of the 
traditional types. It implies that the rational idea and logical method behind the concept of typology are also 
applicable in the Chinese context as a tool to preserve local identities and create regional spaces.