Journal articles on the topic 'Vernacular architecture - China - Hong Kong'

Despite the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) government’s determination to implement the ‘mother tongue education’ policy amid strong social resistance one year after the handover, English remains a prestigious language in society. The need for Putonghua (Mandarin/Standard Chinese) is also increasing following ever-expanding trade and other activities with mainland China. The societal demand for both English and Putonghua in postcolonial Hong Kong is important for understanding the SAR government’s language-in-education policy called ‘biliteracy and trilingualism’. The learning of English is fraught with two main problems: (a) the absence of a conducive language-learning environment outside the classroom, which makes English in Hong Kong more like a foreign than a second language, and (b) tremendous typological difference between Chinese and English on one hand, and considerable linguistic differences between Cantonese and Putonghua on the other. Given the significant phonological differences and, to a lesser extent, lexico-grammatical divergence between the majority’s vernacular and modern written Chinese, the learning of Putonghua is no straightforward task either. The dilemmas of the medium-of-instruction (MoI) debate will be discussed by elucidating the main concerns as seen from the respective vantage points of the government and five key stakeholder groups: employers, parents, school principals, teachers and educationalists, and students.

After the change of sovereignty in Hong Kong from Britain to China on July 1st, 1997, the status of Putonghua (the language of the new Chinese ruler) has been formally recognized in addition to Cantonese (the vernacular language) and English (the international and ex-colonizer’s language). Four years after the political handover, a Matched-guise test was conducted on a total of 1048 local Hong Kong Secondary 4 students. The aim of this study was to ascertain the respondents’ subjective reactions towards the three languages when the city was undergoing significant political and socio-economic changes. The results showed that the Cantonese guise was rated the highest on traits of solidarity, the English guise the highest on traits of power, whereas the Putonghua guise was rated the lowest in both dimensions. Although the study started from a micro perspective investigating the attitudes of the respondents towards the three target languages and their speakers, the research results helped to reveal the vitality of the three target languages in post-colonial Hong Kong and suggest directions for language education.

AbstractThe history of Hong Kong is intertwined with British colonialism and China’s Hong Kong policies. This history offers unique and important lessons on the rise and fall of Hong Kong’s constitutional order. In accordance with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, China declares 12 basic policies regarding Hong Kong and has translated these into the 1990 Hong Kong Basic Law. It is generally held that “One Country, Two Systems” will be the main constitutional architecture of Hong Kong for 50 years, and it will remain basically unchanged even after 2047. However, there are obvious difficulties and enormous differences on the interpretation of Article 5 of the Hong Kong Basic Law concerning the true meaning of “unchanged for 50 years.” Recent years have witnessed the great need for deciphering the time-code of the Basic Law because the question of 2047 draws closer and closer to the central stage for the determination of Hong Kong’s constitutional future. This Article aims to provide legal analysis on Article 5 of Hong Kong Basic Law and the constitutional fate of Hong Kong toward 2047. It distinguishes all sorts of Article 5 interpretations into three broad categories: “Unchanged for 50 years” as international promise, “unchanged for 50 years” as political commitment, and “unchanged for 50 years” as constitutional obligation. Different approaches have been utilized for various constitutional interpretations. But all in all, the constitutional puzzles regarding “unchanged for 50 years” must be addressed within the framework of the temporality of the Basic Law in a fast-paced world. In order to maintain the constitutional stability and endurance, to secure the unamendability of “One Country, Two Systems” in 2047 will be the best blessing for Hong Kong in every possible way.

Chinese Christian (Catholic) architecture is not only an important type of religious architecture, but also an important witness of cultural exchanges between China and the West. This article comprehensively summarizes the architectural styles of Christian (Catholic) churches in modern mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong, and compares the differences in the main styles of their churches horizontally. Based on the data results, a comprehensive analysis of various factors such as age, region, religion, and society is carried out to further explore the reasons for the differences in the architectural styles of Christian churches in the three regions, and discover the historical and religious significance of the Christian churches in modern China.

Parallel to the discourse of Tropical Architecture and the work of UK architects in the British colonial territories in the Middle East, Africa, and India after the WWII, climate adaptation designs or devices such as brise-soleil, perforated cement bricks, sun shading screens, courtyards, etc., started to emerge in modernist buildings in Asia. This article is a preliminary survey of these cases in Hong Kong and Macau since the 1950s. It discusses how tropicality was used in response to the post-war revisionism of Modern Movement that placed emphasis on local identity and culture.

This paper is a positioning statement and expository article describing design and fabrication projects built by students and faculty of the Hong Kong Design Institute’s (HKDI’s) Architecture programme. Through a series of experimental design-build projects, HKDI faculty teaches students the knowledge and experience to be gained through personal fabrication work, whether wholly manual or digitally assisted. The author stages the work against a series of excerpts from notable architects’ writings, describing a field of study relating tacit knowledge, architectural education, and fabrication specifics students explore through projects in Hong Kong and South China. Lessons and summary bodies of knowledge drawn from these preliminary projects define the path forward for HKDI’s spatial design pedagogy and research.

Braj Kachru, Asian Englishes: Beyond the canon. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2005. Pp xxiv, 333. Pb. $27.95.>Yamuna Kachru & Cecil Nelson, World Englishes in Asian contexts. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006. Pp. xxiv, 412. Pb. $32.50.Rana Rubdy & Mario Saraceni (eds.) English in the world: Global rules, global roles. London: Continuum, 2006. 218 pp. Pb. £30.00.With the growth of Asia's manufacturing and service industries, the prediction that China and India, respectively, will have the first and third largest global economies within 30 years, a population that comprises over 50% of the world's people, and massive English language programs throughout the region, it is no surprise that the role of English in Asia has become a major concern. At a recent (2006) Asia TEFL conference in Japan, the notions of Asian English(es), along with Asian methodologies and Asian knowledge, were topics of considerable discussion. The size and diversity of Asia, however, makes it a very difficult entity to define: The Asia TEFL conference included delegates from Israel and Iran, and two of the books under review here, Braj Kachru's Asian Englishes: Beyond the canon (AEBC) and Yamuna Kachru & Cecil Nelson's World Englishes in Asian contexts (WEAC), include (with identical maps) Australia and New Zealand. In some ways, the idea of Asia is defined by what it is not: Europe and North America. It is also not, of course, South America or Africa, though with WEAC containing a chapter on African Englishes (as well as African American Vernacular English, or AAVE), it seems as if they might be allowed in. It is clear nevertheless that various notions of Asia – as an economic zone, as a cultural entity, and as a user of a type or types of English – are widely used. We need to take the notion of Asia and Asian English(es) seriously, if only to try to understand what is meant by Braj Kachru's explanation that AEBC is “essentially about the Asianness in Asian Englishes and their gradual, yet marked, distinctiveness” (p. xv).

In 2001 Mathias Woo, a trained architect and co-artistic director of Hong Kong's foremost performing arts group, Zuni Icosahedron, proposed the concept of ‘multimedia architectural music theatre’ (MAMT), which he later investigated through a series of performances focusing on three masters of modern architecture – Louis I. Kahn, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier. This article traces the development of Woo's architectural theatre aesthetics by examining the most ambitious work in the series, Looking for Mies, premiered in 2002 and revived in 2009 and 2011. This links Hong Kong's twenty-first-century postmodernist theatre to early twentieth-century European modernism, particularly the Bauhaus, and international examples of architecture-centred performance. Looking for Mies unearths connections between theatre and architecture, and explores the relations between tradition and technology, man and machine, live performance and digitally mediated experience on the modern stage. Rossella Ferrari is a Lecturer in Modern Chinese Culture and Language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She has published articles in TDR: The Drama Review, Postcolonial Studies, Journal of Contemporary China, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, and other journals. Her monograph Pop Goes the Avant-garde: Experimental Theatre in Contemporary China is forthcoming from Seagull Books, and her current research focuses on inter-Asian collaboration and performance networks in the Chinese-speaking world.

Abstract The British Empire expanded into East Asia during the early years of the Protestant Mission Movement in China, one of history’s greatest cross-cultural encounters. Anglicans, however, did not accommodate local Chinese culture when they built St. John’s Cathedral in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. St. John’s had a prototypical English style and was a gathering place for the colony’s political and social elites, strengthening the new social order. The Cathedral spoke a Western architectural language that local residents could not understand and many saw Christianity as a strange, imposing, foreign religion. As indigenous Chinese Christians assumed leadership of Hong Kong’s Anglican Church, ecclesial architecture took on more Chinese elements, a transition epitomized by St. Mary’s Church, a Chinese Renaissance masterpiece featuring symbols from Taoism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk religions. This essay analyzes the contextualization of Hong Kong’s Anglican architecture, which made Christian concepts more relevant to the indigenous community.

Daylighting is an important issue in modern architecture that has been characterized by the use of curtain walls in buildings. Nonovercast skies, including clear and partly cloudy days, are essential because they may occur more frequently for places such as in equatorial regions and the tropics. Better understanding of nonovercast sky luminance distribution is vital to estimate the dynamic variation in daylight illuminance as sky condition and solar position change. This paper presents the work on the evaluation of six clear sky and three partly cloudy sky models against three-year (1999–2001) measured Hong Kong sky luminance data. The general features and characteristics for the models were described and assessed. The nonovercast sky conditions were identified using the ratio of zenith luminance (Lz) to diffuse illuminance (Dv) and the ratio of global illuminance (Gv) to the extraterrestrial illuminance (Ev). Subsequent interpretations of the clear skies into high and low turbid types were conducted in conjunction with the cloud cover (CLD) and the luminous turbidity (Tv), and partly cloudy skies were further subdivided into thin and thick cloud modes using sunshine hour (SH) and global irradiance (GSI). A statistical analysis of the models revealed that the Gusev model (i.e., CIE (Internal Commission on Illumination) polluted sky No. 13) and the model by Chen et al. (1999, “Luminance Distribution Model of Intermediate Skies,” Zhaom Ing Gong Chen Xuebao, 10(1), pp. 59–63 (in Chinese)) developed using artificial neural network (ANN) theory with the measured data in Chongqing, China (29.6degN and 106.5degE) showed the best predictions for sky luminance at this location under the clear and partly cloudy sky conditions, respectively.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of revitalization of old industrial buildings on the market value of the neighbourhood residential properties. Hong Kong’s economy has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past three decades. The most visible phenomenon in this transformation is the relocation of traditional manufacturing activities from Hong Kong to China since the 1990s. This has led many of the old industrial buildings in Hong Kong to be empty/underutilized and dilapidated. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government launched the “Revitalizing Industrial Buildings Policy” to revitalize these underutilized properties with the aim to provide suitable land and premises to meet local’s economic and social needs. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a hedonic price model to determine whether there is a relationship between revitalization projects and neighbourhood residential property values and the influence of revitalization programmes on the residential property price if there is such a relationship. The study is based on a sample of 4,015 residential transactions obtained from the residential developments located near three large-scale revitalization projects in an old industrial district, Kwun Tong. Findings – Empirical findings suggest that revitalization programmes have not brought net positive price effects on the value of neighbourhood residential properties. This is in line with findings of some previous studies. However, it reveals that both the mode and scale of revitalization projects have different impacts on the neighbourhood: wholesale conversion has less negative impacts compared with redevelopment, while the larger the scale of a revitalization programme, the greater are the negative impacts on nearby property values. The study also finds that negative externalities generated by the revitalization during and post-revitalization stages are almost similar in magnitudes. Research limitations/implications – The results imply that industrial revitalization projects located adjacent to residential developments both reduce the value of the latter and discourage potential property buyers. The negative public perception of these properties diminishes their value and hence decreases the value of the property. Practical implications – The paper raises the concern about the importance of adequately addressing issues of planning and zoning to minimize the negative externalities arising from urban renewal projects. Originality/value – This research paper is first of its kind to analyze the effects of revitalized industrial buildings on the value of neighbourhood properties in Hong Kong. The tangible benefits identified in this study would be incentives, or otherwise, to motivate the revitalization policy in general.

Abstract The business success of the most important hotel company in Asia in the 20th century, and therefore of its owners, the Kadoorie Family, is intertwined with the life of the only Spanish architect in the city of Huangpu. A long-forgotten story, its discovery reveals the interests, tastes and cultural mix of the multinational community that inhabited the most open city of the continent. Abelardo Lafuente García-Rojo (Madrid 1871–Shanghai 1931) worked uninterruptedly for the ‘Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd.’ (HSH) for ten years since 1916. In that decade, he carried out interior renovations in eight HSH hotels in the cities of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shameen in Canton. Along with that, he worked for many clients and introduced the Spanish neo-Arab style in several buildings which still stand today in the city under unknown authorship. His professional career in China—linked to the HSH—is a case study of the cultural melting pot of the city of Shanghai. Lafuente is nowadays a foot note in Shanghai’s architecture history and yet he deserves a chapter of his own, and this article is the first step.

The Asian semiconductor industry toward the year 2010 is growing rapidly. The major players are Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, and Singapore. Among them, Taiwan is the fastest-growing country. Taiwan has a strong demand for ICs because of her No. 1 PC manufacturing capability. Japan is still the leader and the major technology driver. Korea will remain No. 1 in DRAM manufacturing. Taiwan is No. 1 in foundry service. The enterprise infrastructure is vertical disintegrated but corporative, which is dynamic, flexible and quick responsive. China comprises a huge market for ICs and is No. 1 in TV production. Singapore is an excellent bridge among Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Hong Kong has a promising future in software and EDA development business. The rest of Asia has a tremendous opportunity for software development and export processing.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present site planning and design (SPD) relevant variables and items in practice for practitioners to better understand and implement SPD in green building projects. Design/methodology/approach The research methods include questionnaire survey and case studies in the context of China. A questionnaire survey was adopted to identify the importance of 13 variables and the corresponding 38 items in SPD of green residential buildings. Three green residential projects including one in Hong Kong and two in Mainland China were selected to investigate the SPD considerations in practice and to discuss the necessary improvement. Findings The results show that 12 out of the 13 variables of SPD in green buildings are involved in the three case projects to some extent, thereby underscore the importance of these variables. The potential improvement in real-life SPD of green buildings is also discussed such as adopting design-build and integrated project delivery methods and preserving and protecting cultural characteristics on site. Originality/value The research findings may serve as a reference for practitioners to better conduct SPD in green building projects.

Design Aesthetics of Transborder Infrastructure in the Pearl River Delta investigates the development of a “transborder” ferry network that allows passengers in Mainland China to fly through Hong Kong International Airport without going through customs and immigration controls. Located deep inside Guangdong Province, these facilities cater to travelers whose movement across international frontiers is limited by their income or citizenship. Focusing on two of these terminals, Max Hirsh argues that the prevailing emphasis on iconic structures in the architectural history of air travel has overshadowed the emergence of distinctly un-iconic aviation facilities designed to plug less-privileged people and places into broader networks of international air travel. Hirsh locates this infrastructural innovation in the historical context of the region and interrogates its spatial logic and aesthetic composition in an effort to model a new understanding of urban space: one that illuminates an architecture of incipient global mobility that has been inconspicuously inserted into ordinary places and unspectacular structures throughout the Pearl River Delta.

This book demonstrates Jeffrey Cody's affection for Henry Murphy's use and promotion of the traditions of Chinese architecture. Murphy combined the traditional Chinese characteristics of elevation, roof form and axial symmetry with contemporary technologies in order to achieve “structural significance” and “purity of form and colour.” He achieved this during long periods spent in China where he brought together teams of American and Chinese-American architects while taking special care with clients and contractors.

Architecture can be viewed as a reflection of value placed on life. In colonial Hong Kong, a distinctive Gothic-style castle, Euston, was built by tycoon Eu Tong Sen (1877–1941) as his family's grand residence. Eu was a prominent figure in South China and Southeast Asia and remains a local legend decades after his death. Eu's castle, being built in 1928 and demolished in the 1980s, was and still is one of the most recognizable monuments in the region. Although Eu did not leave behind any autobiography or memoirs, the monumental castle can be regarded as a symbolic manifestation of his life story. The design of the castle is of mixed ancestry—it is a reconciliation of traditional Chinese design based on feng shui (Chinese geomancy) with European architectural elements. The fusion of East-West architectural building elements, as symbolized by the Eu castle, was a significant achievement symbolizing general social and cultural changes spanning more than a century.

Islam was introduced to Taiwan in two different periods via migrations of populations from the continent. The first one occurred in the seventeenth century in the wake of Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong’s campaign of resistance against the Qing. The later one was in the mid-twentieth century following Chiang Kai-shek’s retreat to Taiwan after the defeat of the Nationalists in the Civil War against the Communist Party. Taipei’s Grand Mosque was built in 1960 following the second migration of Muslim population from mainland China. At the end of the 1950s, the Chinese Muslim Association (CMA) in Taiwan commissioned the construction of Taipei’s Grand Mosque to Chinese architect Yang Cho-cheng. The building, inaugurated in 1960 in front of several leaders of the Muslim world, is an architectural anomaly in Taipei’s urban landscape and it has strangely been overlooked by the most relevant contemporary western literature on building mosques in non-Muslim countries. Three important mosques were built in non-Muslim countries in the first half of the twentieth century: the Jamia Mosque in Hong Kong (1915); the Kobe Mosque (1935); and the Old Tokyo Mosque (1938) in Japan. At first glance, Taipei’s Grand mosque is immediately recognizable to the general public as a temple of Muslim faith, because it features elements traditionally associated with mosques, such as the dome, and the two slender minarets. For its design, the architect Yang Cho-cheng combined several Islamic architectural traditions (Umayyad, Fatimid, Safavid, and Ottoman) with new building techniques like the use of reinforced concrete. Even if it might look like some sort of architectural pastiche, it is actually the manifesto of the foreign politics of Taiwan in the 1960s. The following article is a detailed architectural analysis of Yang Cho-cheng’s Grand Mosque and all the factors which led to its peculiar design. Keywords: Taiwan, Islam, Islamic Architecture, Taipei, Mosque design, 1960s. Abstrak Islam diperkenalkan ke Taiwan dalam dua tempoh yang berbeza melalui migrasi penduduk dari benua itu. Yang pertama berlaku pada abad ketujuh belas semasa kempen penentangan Ming Zheng Chenggong terhadap Qing. Yang kemudiannya adalah pada pertengahan abad kedua puluh selepas berundurnya Chiang Kai-shek ke Taiwan selepas kekalahan Nasionalis kepada Parti Komunis dalam Perang Saudara. Masjid Besar Taipei dibina pada tahun 1960 berikutan penghijrahan kedua penduduk Islam dari tanah besar China. Pada penghujung tahun 1950-an, Persatuan Cina Islam (CMA) di Taiwan telah menyerahkan kerja pembinaan Masjid Besar Taipei kepada arkitek Cina bernama Yang Cho-cheng. Bangunan yang dirasmikan pada tahun 1960 di hadapan beberapa pemimpin dunia Islam, adalah anomali seni bina lanskap di bandar Taipei tetapi ironinya kesusasteraan barat kontemporari seperti tidak mengiktiraf pembinaan masjid-masjid di negara bukan Islam. Terdapat tiga buah masjid penting yang telah dibina negara bukan Islam pada separuh tahun pertama abad kedua puluh: Masjid Jamia di Hong Kong (1915); Masjid Kobe (1935); dan Masjid Tokyo Lama (1938) di Jepun. Sekilas pandang, masjid Grand Taipei diketahui oleh masyarakat umum sebagai tempat pengibadatan orang Islam, kerana ia mempunyai unsur-unsur tradisi sebuah masjid, seperti mempunyai kubah, dan dua batang menara yang tinggi. Dalam reka bentuk senibinanya, arkitek Yang Cho-cheng telah menggabungkan beberapa tradisi seni bina Islam (Umayyad, Fatimid, Safavid, dan Uthmaniyyah) dengan teknik bangunan baru seperti penggunaan konkrit bertetulang. Walaupun ia kelihatan seperti sejenis karya senibina, ia sebenarnya adalah manifesto politik asing Taiwan pada tahun 1960-an. Artikel ini bertujuan menganalisa seni bina dengan terperinci mengenai Masjid Besar yang dibina oleh Yang Cho-cheng dan semua faktor yang membawa kepada keunikan reka bentuk seni binanya. Kata Kunci: Taiwan, Islam, Arkitek Islam, Taipei, Rekabentuk Masjid, 1960s.

Eugene (Gene) Kohn is one of the founders of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, or KPF. As the firm's website puts it, he has been responsible for developing ‘a global strategy that has made the firm into a global player’. Some idea of the scale of the operation may be gained from the fact that they are presently working in sixteen different cities in China and that their completed work there includes the world's third and fourth highest buildings (Shanghai World Financial Center, 2008, at 492 metres and the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, 2010, at 484 metres). By comparison, their spiralling Pinnacle building, on site in London just a mile from where I meet Gene Kohn, is a baby at 288 metres, though still comfortably within the world's tallest 100. Such league tables go with the territory. So it seems do jolly nicknames – such as Helter Skelter (for the Pinnacle), Shard, Walkie-Talkie, Cheese Grater and Gherkin – whose kindergarten quality belies the highly competitive market they represent for architects and their clients as well as their users. As a business, KPF itself was successful almost as soon as it opened its doors in 1976. The timing and manner of that beginning are revealing. Kohn's partners were both good friends but chosen for different reasons, in the case of Sheldon Fox because he was, as Kohn told me, ’more of a manager, a fine architect but extremely conservative … I thought it would be good if somebody who wasn't like me shared the balance‘ [with Bill Pedersen]

The characteristic architectural style of Tao Fong Shan in Hong Kong is unique in the sense that this Christian institution looks exactly like a traditional Chinese Buddhist monastery. What kind of secret exists behind this seemingly uncoordinated appearance? The two names of Karl Ludvig Reichelt and Johannes Prip-Møller are closely connected with Tao Fong Shan buildings, but few people know how exactly the Norwegian founder of The Christian Church for China’s Buddhists met and cooperated with the Danish architect in designing these buildings. The present paper is an effort to retrace the initial vision of architectural style for Tao Fong Shan shared by Reichelt and Prip-Møller, as well as the evolution of the later designs at different stages. Reichelt found many common features between Chinese Buddhism and the Gospel of John in New Testament. In order to promote the missionary work among China’s Buddhists, he tried to create an environment in which the inquiring Buddhists would find it comfortable and at ease. Reichelt’s another contribution is in raising money for the construction of Tao Fung Shan buildings. His method of crowd funding proved to be practical and effective. Prip-Møller had ten years’ experiences of working in China and was a top-notch expert in China’s Buddhist architecture. His professional expertise has ensured that Reichelt’s idea of combining the traditional Chinese Buddhist architectural style and the Christian nature of Tao Fong Shan buildings could be eventually realized.

The acquisition of accurate and timely traffic information is a vital precondition to rational traffic decision making. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are bound to be the outcome when modern traffic systems develop to a high degree. In ITS, instantaneous traffic information can be collected by the Floating Car Data (FCD) method. Based on the establishment of the Shenzhen Urban Transportation Simulation System (SUTSS) in China, the authors explored how to use 4000 taxis as the data collection sensors in Shenzhen, a southern city in China which borders Hong Kong. The authors introduce the procedures and algorithms for the computation and map-matching of road segment velocities to a digital road network. To superimpose the near real-time traffic information onto a digital map, coordinate transformation is required and the transformation precision is analyzed using field testing data. Due to the nature of FCD, continuous GPS data such as routing velocities and coordinates can be collected by any GPS equipped vehicle. Therefore, relevant algorithms are developed and utilized for the map-matching according to probability and statistical theories. To evaluate the reliability of proposed map-matching method, the confidence levels are calculated statistically, from which it can be determined whether the positioning data is valid or not with predefined threshold values. Furthermore, road segment velocity matching methods based on the Metropolis criteria is extended and relevant validation is carried out through the comparison of estimated and measured results. The major objective of this method is to obtain more accurate road segment travel time through the combination of those estimated by FCD and historical ones. This can significantly improve the reliability of instantaneous traffic information before its web publication. The final part of this paper introduces the architecture and the realization of a web Geographical Information System (GIS) and FCD-based instantaneous traffic information dissemination system for the whole of Shenzhen City.

The model of Late Pleistocene-Holocene sequence stratigraphy of the subaqueous Red River delta and the adjacent shelf is proposed by interpretation of high-resolution seismic documents and comparison with previous research results on Holocene sedimentary evolution on the delta plain. Four units (U1, U2, U3, and U4) and four sequence stratigraphic surfaces (SB1, TS, TRS and MFS) were determined. The formation of these units and surfaces is related to the global sea-level change in Late Pleistocene-Holocene. SB1, defined as the sequence boundary, was generated by subaerial processes during the Late Pleistocene regression and could be remolded partially or significantly by transgressive ravinement processes subsequently. 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Through a historical research on two well-preserved vernacular Chinese dwellings: The Wang Family Courtyard in Shanxi and the Sam Tung Uk Walled Village in Hong Kong, this paper examines the cultural sustainability of architecture in China, and explores what factors have contributed to their success and decline, and what can be learned from their stories. In doing so, the article employs the analytical framework developed in the author’s previous works, that is, architectural form and space, and social and cultural dimensions of the cases. The findings reveal that ancestor worship was a common practice in the two families, hard work and traditional family values had resulted in their success. The abandonment of traditional values and schooling, coupled with social and military instability in the country, along with urban sprawl, destroyed the family unity and businesses, and ultimately caused the moving. The study has implications for the contemporary world beyond China.

Abstract Neon signs dominated Hong Kong’s urban landscape from the 1950s to the early 2000s. This visual vernacular, however, has begun to vanish from Hong Kong’s streets over the past decade due to stricter regulations and the emergence of cheaper alternatives. As a result, scholars, the media and the general public have become more engaged in recording and preserving neon signs, and have begun to recognize them as an aspect of Hong Kong’s vernacular design. This engagement serves as an entry point for investigating the application of western views of vernacular design to Hong Kong, using neon signs as a case study. A collection of 218 original neon sign designs was donated by the Nam Wah Neonlight & Electrical Factory to the Information Design Lab at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Using these original designs and photos of neon signs taken in different districts in Hong Kong, this article provides historical and socio-cultural perspectives with which to examine vernacular design, to identify other attributes that should be taken into account, such as aesthetics, bottom-up participation, architecture and the urban environment. The article aims to contribute to the study of vernacular design and the design history of neon signs.

Based on government appointed specialists’ (Antiquities Advisory Board or AAB’s) assessments of the heritage value of more than 1400 heritage items in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, we found no evidence of nationalistic bias against British or Japanese built military heritage buildings and structures after the handover of Hong Kong to China in July 1997. We also found no evidence of bias in favour of imperial Chinese architecture in the postcolonial period. Incidentally, we found some evidence that suggests AAB’s assessments of heritage value for military heritage buildings and structures have increased while those for imperial Chinese architecture have decreased after 1997, which is somewhat puzzling and merits further investigation. The reasons for the results are discussed in terms of the governance of the AAB as a government appointed committee.

Shenzhensetsanexampleforrapiddevelopmentofurbanplanningandconstruction.It was the starting point of the most massive city-construction movement in contemporary China. In less than 40 years, many representative urban space and buildings on the mainmast-west highway—-ShennanRoad,have witnessed the for mation of the banded multi-center structural layout and the miraculous expansion of the city. Many of those iconic buildings are designed by Hong Kong or foreign architects. With the continuous development of the length and width of Shennan road, its broad and prosperous image is not only a symbol of the fruits of reform and opening up in Shenzhen or even China, but also contains the growth history of Shenzhen’s architectural modernization. This paper reviews and summarizes the changes of the urban fabric and the design trend of representative buildings along with the Shennan Road in different periods by the historical research methods. Combined with the transfer path of the city center, this study analyzes what kind of unique role the street and buildings act as in the developmentofurbanstructureinShenzhen,and expound what other urban functions and symbolic meaning they have. In the context of globalization, this article discusses how do the buildings designed by foreign architects change our city,thedrivenfactors behind the phenomenon of the design trend change. This research can make a supplement to the history and theory of the modernization of contemporary Chinese architecture.

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The curtain rose. The howling of desert wind filled the performance hall in the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Into the center stage, where a scenic construction of a mountain cliff and a desert landscape was dimly lit, entered the character of the Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu (1849–1931), performed by Chen Yizong. Dressed in a worn and dusty outfit of dark blue cotton, characteristic of Daoist priests, Wang began to sweep the floor. After a few moments, he discovered a hidden chambre sealed inside one of the rock sanctuaries carved into the cliff.Signaled by the quick, crystalline, stirring wave of sound from the chimes, a melodious Chinese ocarina solo joined in slowly from the background. Astonished by thousands of Buddhist sūtra scrolls, wall paintings, and sculptures he had just accidentally discovered in the caves, Priest Wang set his broom aside and began to examine these treasures. Dawn had not yet arrived, and the desert sky was pitch-black. Priest Wang held his oil lamp high, strode rhythmically in excitement, sat crossed-legged in a meditative pose, and unfolded a scroll. The sound of the ocarina became fuller and richer and the texture of the music more complex, as several other instruments joined in.Below is the opening scene of the award-winning, theatrical dance-drama Dunhuang, My Dreamland, created by China’s state-sponsored Lanzhou Song and Dance Theatre in 2000. Figure 1a: Poster Side A of Dunhuang, My Dreamland Figure 1b: Poster Side B of Dunhuang, My DreamlandThe scene locates the dance-drama in the rock sanctuaries that today are known as the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, housing Buddhist art accumulated over a period of a thousand years, one of the best well-known UNESCO heritages on the Silk Road. Historically a frontier metropolis, Dunhuang was a strategic site along the Silk Road in northwestern China, a crossroads of trade, and a locus for religious, cultural, and intellectual influences since the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). Travellers, especially Buddhist monks from India and central Asia, passing through Dunhuang on their way to Chang’an (present day Xi’an), China’s ancient capital, would stop to meditate in the Mogao Caves and consult manuscripts in the monastery's library. At the same time, Chinese pilgrims would travel by foot from China through central Asia to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, playing a key role in the exchanges between ancient China and the outside world. Travellers from China would stop to acquire provisions at Dunhuang before crossing the Gobi Desert to continue on their long journey abroad. Figure 2: Dunhuang Mogao CavesThis article approaches the idea of “abroad” by examining the present-day imagination of journeys along the Silk Road—specifically, staged performances of the various Silk Road journey-themed dance-dramas sponsored by the Chinese state for enhancing its cultural and foreign policies since the 1970s (Kuang).As ethnomusicologists have demonstrated, musicians, choreographers, and playwrights often utilise historical materials in their performances to construct connections between the past and the present (Bohlman; Herzfeld; Lam; Rees; Shelemay; Tuohy; Wade; Yung: Rawski; Watson). The ancient Silk Road, which linked the Mediterranean coast with central China and beyond, via oasis towns such as Samarkand, has long been associated with the concept of “journeying abroad.” Journeys to distant, foreign lands and encounters of unknown, mysterious cultures along the Silk Road have been documented in historical records, such as A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Faxian) and The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (Xuanzang), and illustrated in classical literature, such as The Travels of Marco Polo (Polo) and the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West (Wu). These journeys—coming and going from multiple directions and to different destinations—have inspired contemporary staged performance for audiences around the globe.Home and Abroad: Dunhuang and the Silk RoadDunhuang, My Dreamland (2000), the contemporary dance-drama, staged the journey of a young pilgrim painter travelling from Chang’an to a land of the unfamiliar and beyond borders, in search for the arts that have inspired him. Figure 3: A scene from Dunhuang, My Dreamland showing the young pilgrim painter in the Gobi Desert on the ancient Silk RoadFar from his home, he ended his journey in Dunhuang, historically considered the northwestern periphery of China, well beyond Yangguan and Yumenguan, the bordering passes that separate China and foreign lands. Later scenes in Dunhuang, My Dreamland, portrayed through multiethnic music and dances, the dynamic interactions among merchants, cultural and religious envoys, warriors, and politicians that were making their own journey from abroad to China. The theatrical dance-drama presents a historically inspired, re-imagined vision of both “home” and “abroad” to its audiences as they watch the young painter travel along the Silk Road, across the Gobi Desert, arriving at his own ideal, artistic “homeland”, the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Since his journey is ultimately a spiritual one, the conceptualisation of travelling “abroad” could also be perceived as “a journey home.”Staged more than four hundred times since it premiered in Beijing in April 2000, Dunhuang, My Dreamland is one of the top ten titles in China’s National Stage Project and one of the most successful theatrical dance-dramas ever produced in China. With revenue of more than thirty million renminbi (RMB), it ranks as the most profitable theatrical dance-drama ever produced in China, with a preproduction cost of six million RMB. The production team receives financial support from China’s Ministry of Culture for its “distinctive ethnic features,” and its “aim to promote traditional Chinese culture,” according to Xu Rong, an official in the Cultural Industry Department of the Ministry. Labeled an outstanding dance-drama of the Chinese nation, it aims to present domestic and international audiences with a vision of China as a historically multifaceted and cosmopolitan nation that has been in close contact with the outside world through the ancient Silk Road. Its production company has been on tour in selected cities throughout China and in countries abroad, including Austria, Spain, and France, literarily making the young pilgrim painter’s “journey along the Silk Road” a new journey abroad, off stage and in reality.Dunhuang, My Dreamland was not the first, nor is it the last, staged performances that portrays the Chinese re-imagination of “journeying abroad” along the ancient Silk Road. It was created as one of many versions of Dunhuang bihua yuewu, a genre of music, dance, and dramatic performances created in the early twentieth century and based primarily on artifacts excavated from the Mogao Caves (Kuang). “The Mogao Caves are the greatest repository of early Chinese art,” states Mimi Gates, who works to increase public awareness of the UNESCO site and raise funds toward its conservation. “Located on the Chinese end of the Silk Road, it also is the place where many cultures of the world intersected with one another, so you have Greek and Roman, Persian and Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese cultures, all interacting. Given the nature of our world today, it is all very relevant” (Pollack). As an expressive art form, this genre has been thriving since the late 1970s contributing to the global imagination of China’s “Silk Road journeys abroad” long before Dunhuang, My Dreamland achieved its domestic and international fame. For instance, in 2004, The Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara—one of the most representative (and well-known) Dunhuang bihua yuewu programs—was staged as a part of the cultural program during the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. This performance, as well as other Dunhuang bihua yuewu dance programs was the perfect embodiment of a foreign religion that arrived in China from abroad and became Sinicized (Kuang). Figure 4: Mural from Dunhuang Mogao Cave No. 45A Brief History of Staging the Silk Road JourneysThe staging of the Silk Road journeys abroad began in the late 1970s. Historically, the Silk Road signifies a multiethnic, cosmopolitan frontier, which underwent incessant conflicts between Chinese sovereigns and nomadic peoples (as well as between other groups), but was strongly imbued with the customs and institutions of central China (Duan, Mair, Shi, Sima). In the twentieth century, when China was no longer an empire, but had become what the early 20th-century reformer Liang Qichao (1873–1929) called “a nation among nations,” the long history of the Silk Road and the colourful, legendary journeys abroad became instrumental in the formation of a modern Chinese nation of unified diversity rooted in an ancient cosmopolitan past. The staged Silk Road theme dance-dramas thus participate in this formation of the Chinese imagination of “nation” and “abroad,” as they aestheticise Chinese history and geography. History and geography—aspects commonly considered constituents of a nation as well as our conceptualisations of “abroad”—are “invariably aestheticized to a certain degree” (Bakhtin 208). Diverse historical and cultural elements from along the Silk Road come together in this performance genre, which can be considered the most representative of various possible stagings of the history and culture of the Silk Road journeys.In 1979, the Chinese state officials in Gansu Province commissioned the benchmark dance-drama Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, a spectacular theatrical dance-drama praising the pure and noble friendship which existed between the peoples of China and other countries in the Tang dynasty (618-907 C.E.). While its plot also revolves around the Dunhuang Caves and the life of a painter, staged at one of the most critical turning points in modern Chinese history, the work as a whole aims to present the state’s intention of re-establishing diplomatic ties with the outside world after the Cultural Revolution. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, it presents a nation’s journey abroad and home. To accomplish this goal, Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road introduces the fictional character Yunus, a wealthy Persian merchant who provides the audiences a vision of the historical figure of Peroz III, the last Sassanian prince, who after the Arab conquest of Iran in 651 C.E., found refuge in China. By incorporating scenes of ethnic and folk dances, the drama then stages the journey of painter Zhang’s daughter Yingniang to Persia (present-day Iran) and later, Yunus’s journey abroad to the Tang dynasty imperial court as the Persian Empire’s envoy.Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, since its debut at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the first of October 1979 and shortly after at the Theatre La Scala in Milan, has been staged in more than twenty countries and districts, including France, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Russia, Latvia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and recently, in 2013, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.“The Road”: Staging the Journey TodayWithin the contemporary context of global interdependencies, performing arts have been used as strategic devices for social mobilisation and as a means to represent and perform modern national histories and foreign policies (Davis, Rees, Tian, Tuohy, Wong, David Y. H. Wu). The Silk Road has been chosen as the basis for these state-sponsored, extravagantly produced, and internationally staged contemporary dance programs. In 2008, the welcoming ceremony and artistic presentation at the Olympic Games in Beijing featured twenty apsara dancers and a Dunhuang bihua yuewu dancer with long ribbons, whose body was suspended in mid-air on a rectangular LED extension held by hundreds of performers; on the giant LED screen was a depiction of the ancient Silk Road.In March 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping introduced the initiatives “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” during his journeys abroad in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. These initiatives are now referred to as “One Belt, One Road.” The State Council lists in details the policies and implementation plans for this initiative on its official web page, www.gov.cn. In April 2013, the China Institute in New York launched a yearlong celebration, starting with "Dunhuang: Buddhist Art and the Gateway of the Silk Road" with a re-creation of one of the caves and a selection of artifacts from the site. In March 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, released a new action plan outlining key details of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Xi Jinping has made the program a centrepiece of both his foreign and domestic economic policies. One of the central economic strategies is to promote cultural industry that could enhance trades along the Silk Road.Encouraged by the “One Belt, One Road” policies, in March 2016, The Silk Princess premiered in Xi’an and was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing the following July. While Dunhuang, My Dreamland and Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road were inspired by the Buddhist art found in Dunhuang, The Silk Princess, based on a story about a princess bringing silk and silkworm-breeding skills to the western regions of China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) has a different historical origin. The princess's story was portrayed in a woodblock from the Tang Dynasty discovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein, a British archaeologist during his expedition to Xinjiang (now Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region) in the early 19th century, and in a temple mural discovered during a 2002 Chinese-Japanese expedition in the Dandanwulike region. Figure 5: Poster of The Silk PrincessIn January 2016, the Shannxi Provincial Song and Dance Troupe staged The Silk Road, a new theatrical dance-drama. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, the newly staged dance-drama “centers around the ‘road’ and the deepening relationship merchants and travellers developed with it as they traveled along its course,” said Director Yang Wei during an interview with the author. According to her, the show uses seven archetypes—a traveler, a guard, a messenger, and so on—to present the stories that took place along this historic route. Unbounded by specific space or time, each of these archetypes embodies the foreign-travel experience of a different group of individuals, in a manner that may well be related to the social actors of globalised culture and of transnationalism today. Figure 6: Poster of The Silk RoadConclusionAs seen in Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road and Dunhuang, My Dreamland, staging the processes of Silk Road journeys has become a way of connecting the Chinese imagination of “home” with the Chinese imagination of “abroad.” Staging a nation’s heritage abroad on contemporary stages invites a new imagination of homeland, borders, and transnationalism. Once aestheticised through staged performances, such as that of the Dunhuang bihua yuewu, the historical and topological landscape of Dunhuang becomes a performed narrative, embodying the national heritage.The staging of Silk Road journeys continues, and is being developed into various forms, from theatrical dance-drama to digital exhibitions such as the Smithsonian’s Pure Land: Inside the Mogao Grottes at Dunhuang (Stromberg) and the Getty’s Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road (Sivak and Hood). 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“As the old technologies become automatic and invisible, we find ourselves more concerned with fighting or embracing what’s new”—Dennis Baron, From Pencils to Pixels: The Stage of Literacy Technologies What constitutes a computer, as we have come to expect it? Are they necessarily monolithic “beige boxes”, connected to computer monitors, sitting on computer desks, located in computer rooms or computer labs? In order for a device to be considered a true computer, does it need to have a keyboard and mouse? If this were 1991 or earlier, our collective perception of what computers are and are not would largely be framed by this “beige box” model: computers are stationary, slab-like, and heavy, and their natural habitats must be in rooms specifically designated for that purpose. In 1992, when Apple introduced the first PowerBook, our perception began to change. Certainly there had been other portable computers prior to that, such as the Osborne 1, but these were more luggable than portable, weighing just slightly less than a typical sewing machine. The PowerBook and subsequent waves of laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and so-called smart phones from numerous other companies have steadily forced us to rethink and redefine what a computer is and is not, how we interact with them, and the manner in which these tools might be used in the classroom. However, this reconceptualization of computers is far from over, and is in fact steadily evolving as new devices are introduced, adopted, and subsequently adapted for uses beyond of their original purpose. Pat Crowe’s Book Reader project, for example, has morphed Nintendo’s GameBoy and GameBoy Advance into a viable electronic book platform, complete with images, sound, and multi-language support. (Crowe, 2003) His goal was to take this existing technology previously framed only within the context of proprietary adolescent entertainment, and repurpose it for open, flexible uses typically associated with learning and literacy. Similar efforts are underway to repurpose Microsoft’s Xbox, perhaps the ultimate symbol of “closed” technology given Microsoft’s propensity for proprietary code, in order to make it a viable platform for Open Source Software (OSS). However, these efforts are not forgone conclusions, and are in fact typical of the ongoing battle over who controls the technology we own in our homes, and how open source solutions are often at odds with a largely proprietary world. In late 2001, Microsoft launched the Xbox with a multimillion dollar publicity drive featuring events, commercials, live models, and statements claiming this new console gaming platform would “change video games the way MTV changed music”. (Chan, 2001) The Xbox launched with the following technical specifications: 733mhz Pentium III 64mb RAM, 8 or 10gb internal hard disk drive CD/DVD ROM drive (speed unknown) Nvidia graphics processor, with HDTV support 4 USB 1.1 ports (adapter required), AC3 audio 10/100 ethernet port, Optional 56k modem (TechTV, 2001) While current computers dwarf these specifications in virtually all areas now, for 2001 these were roughly on par with many desktop systems. The retail price at the time was $299, but steadily dropped to nearly half that with additional price cuts anticipated. Based on these features, the preponderance of “off the shelf” parts and components used, and the relatively reasonable price, numerous programmers quickly became interested in seeing it if was possible to run Linux and additional OSS on the Xbox. In each case, the goal has been similar: exceed the original purpose of the Xbox, to determine if and how well it might be used for basic computing tasks. If these attempts prove to be successful, the Xbox could allow institutions to dramatically increase the student-to-computer ratio in select environments, or allow individuals who could not otherwise afford a computer to instead buy and Xbox, download and install Linux, and use this new device to write, create, and innovate . This drive to literally and metaphorically “open” the Xbox comes from many directions. Such efforts include Andrew Huang’s self-published “Hacking the Xbox” book in which, under the auspices of reverse engineering, Huang analyzes the architecture of the Xbox, detailing step-by-step instructions for flashing the ROM, upgrading the hard drive and/or RAM, and generally prepping the device for use as an information appliance. Additional initiatives include Lindows CEO Michael Robertson’s $200,000 prize to encourage Linux development on the Xbox, and the Xbox Linux Project at SourceForge. What is Linux? Linux is an alternative operating system initially developed in 1991 by Linus Benedict Torvalds. Linux was based off a derivative of the MINIX operating system, which in turn was a derivative of UNIX. (Hasan 2003) Linux is currently available for Intel-based systems that would normally run versions of Windows, PowerPC-based systems that would normally run Apple’s Mac OS, and a host of other handheld, cell phone, or so-called “embedded” systems. Linux distributions are based almost exclusively on open source software, graphic user interfaces, and middleware components. While there are commercial Linux distributions available, these mainly just package the freely available operating system with bundled technical support, manuals, some exclusive or proprietary commercial applications, and related services. Anyone can still download and install numerous Linux distributions at no cost, provided they do not need technical support beyond the community / enthusiast level. Typical Linux distributions come with open source web browsers, word processors and related productivity applications (such as those found in OpenOffice.org), and related tools for accessing email, organizing schedules and contacts, etc. Certain Linux distributions are more or less designed for network administrators, system engineers, and similar “power users” somewhat distanced from that of our students. However, several distributions including Lycoris, Mandrake, LindowsOS, and other are specifically tailored as regular, desktop operating systems, with regular, everyday computer users in mind. As Linux has no draconian “product activation key” method of authentication, or digital rights management-laden features associated with installation and implementation on typical desktop and laptop systems, Linux is becoming an ideal choice both individually and institutionally. It still faces an uphill battle in terms of achieving widespread acceptance as a desktop operating system. As Finnie points out in Desktop Linux Edges Into The Mainstream: “to attract users, you need ease of installation, ease of device configuration, and intuitive, full-featured desktop user controls. It’s all coming, but slowly. With each new version, desktop Linux comes closer to entering the mainstream. It’s anyone’s guess as to when critical mass will be reached, but you can feel the inevitability: There’s pent-up demand for something different.” (Finnie 2003) Linux is already spreading rapidly in numerous capacities, in numerous countries. Linux has “taken hold wherever computer users desire freedom, and wherever there is demand for inexpensive software.” Reports from technology research company IDG indicate that roughly a third of computers in Central and South America run Linux. Several countries, including Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, have all but mandated that state-owned institutions adopt open source software whenever possible to “give their people the tools and education to compete with the rest of the world.” (Hills 2001) The Goal Less than a year after Microsoft introduced the The Xbox, the Xbox Linux project formed. The Xbox Linux Project has a goal of developing and distributing Linux for the Xbox gaming console, “so that it can be used for many tasks that Microsoft don’t want you to be able to do. ...as a desktop computer, for email and browsing the web from your TV, as a (web) server” (Xbox Linux Project 2002). Since the Linux operating system is open source, meaning it can freely be tinkered with and distributed, those who opt to download and install Linux on their Xbox can do so with relatively little overhead in terms of cost or time. Additionally, Linux itself looks very “windows-like”, making for fairly low learning curve. To help increase overall awareness of this project and assist in diffusing it, the Xbox Linux Project offers step-by-step installation instructions, with the end result being a system capable of using common peripherals such as a keyboard and mouse, scanner, printer, a “webcam and a DVD burner, connected to a VGA monitor; 100% compatible with a standard Linux PC, all PC (USB) hardware and PC software that works with Linux.” (Xbox Linux Project 2002) Such a system could have tremendous potential for technology literacy. Pairing an Xbox with Linux and OpenOffice.org, for example, would provide our students essentially the same capability any of them would expect from a regular desktop computer. They could send and receive email, communicate using instant messaging IRC, or newsgroup clients, and browse Internet sites just as they normally would. In fact, the overall browsing experience for Linux users is substantially better than that for most Windows users. Internet Explorer, the default browser on all systems running Windows-base operating systems, lacks basic features standard in virtually all competing browsers. Native blocking of “pop-up” advertisements is still not yet possible in Internet Explorer without the aid of a third-party utility. Tabbed browsing, which involves the ability to easily open and sort through multiple Web pages in the same window, often with a single mouse click, is also missing from Internet Explorer. The same can be said for a robust download manager, “find as you type”, and a variety of additional features. Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox, Konqueror, and essentially all other OSS browsers for Linux have these features. Of course, most of these browsers are also available for Windows, but Internet Explorer is still considered the standard browser for the platform. If the Xbox Linux Project becomes widely diffused, our students could edit and save Microsoft Word files in OpenOffice.org’s Writer program, and do the same with PowerPoint and Excel files in similar OpenOffice.org components. They could access instructor comments originally created in Microsoft Word documents, and in turn could add their own comments and send the documents back to their instructors. They could even perform many functions not yet capable in Microsoft Office, including saving files in PDF or Flash format without needing Adobe’s Acrobat product or Macromedia’s Flash Studio MX. Additionally, by way of this project, the Xbox can also serve as “a Linux server for HTTP/FTP/SMB/NFS, serving data such as MP3/MPEG4/DivX, or a router, or both; without a monitor or keyboard or mouse connected.” (Xbox Linux Project 2003) In a very real sense, our students could use these inexpensive systems previously framed only within the context of entertainment, for educational purposes typically associated with computer-mediated learning. Problems: Control and Access The existing rhetoric of technological control surrounding current and emerging technologies appears to be stifling many of these efforts before they can even be brought to the public. This rhetoric of control is largely typified by overly-restrictive digital rights management (DRM) schemes antithetical to education, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Combined,both are currently being used as technical and legal clubs against these efforts. Microsoft, for example, has taken a dim view of any efforts to adapt the Xbox to Linux. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who has repeatedly referred to Linux as a cancer and has equated OSS as being un-American, stated, “Given the way the economic model works - and that is a subsidy followed, essentially, by fees for every piece of software sold - our license framework has to do that.” (Becker 2003) Since the Xbox is based on a subsidy model, meaning that Microsoft actually sells the hardware at a loss and instead generates revenue off software sales, Ballmer launched a series of concerted legal attacks against the Xbox Linux Project and similar efforts. In 2002, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft simultaneously sued Lik Sang, Inc., a Hong Kong-based company that produces programmable cartridges and “mod chips” for the PlayStation II, Xbox, and Game Cube. Nintendo states that its company alone loses over $650 million each year due to piracy of their console gaming titles, which typically originate in China, Paraguay, and Mexico. (GameIndustry.biz) Currently, many attempts to “mod” the Xbox required the use of such chips. As Lik Sang is one of the only suppliers, initial efforts to adapt the Xbox to Linux slowed considerably. Despite that fact that such chips can still be ordered and shipped here by less conventional means, it does not change that fact that the chips themselves would be illegal in the U.S. due to the anticircumvention clause in the DMCA itself, which is designed specifically to protect any DRM-wrapped content, regardless of context. The Xbox Linux Project then attempted to get Microsoft to officially sanction their efforts. They were not only rebuffed, but Microsoft then opted to hire programmers specifically to create technological countermeasures for the Xbox, to defeat additional attempts at installing OSS on it. Undeterred, the Xbox Linux Project eventually arrived at a method of installing and booting Linux without the use of mod chips, and have taken a more defiant tone now with Microsoft regarding their circumvention efforts. (Lettice 2002) They state that “Microsoft does not want you to use the Xbox as a Linux computer, therefore it has some anti-Linux-protection built in, but it can be circumvented easily, so that an Xbox can be used as what it is: an IBM PC.” (Xbox Linux Project 2003) Problems: Learning Curves and Usability In spite of the difficulties imposed by the combined technological and legal attacks on this project, it has succeeded at infiltrating this closed system with OSS. It has done so beyond the mere prototype level, too, as evidenced by the Xbox Linux Project now having both complete, step-by-step instructions available for users to modify their own Xbox systems, and an alternate plan catering to those who have the interest in modifying their systems, but not the time or technical inclinations. Specifically, this option involves users mailing their Xbox systems to community volunteers within the Xbox Linux Project, and basically having these volunteers perform the necessary software preparation or actually do the full Linux installation for them, free of charge (presumably not including shipping). This particular aspect of the project, dubbed “Users Help Users”, appears to be fairly new. Yet, it already lists over sixty volunteers capable and willing to perform this service, since “Many users don’t have the possibility, expertise or hardware” to perform these modifications. Amazingly enough, in some cases these volunteers are barely out of junior high school. One such volunteer stipulates that those seeking his assistance keep in mind that he is “just 14” and that when performing these modifications he “...will not always be finished by the next day”. (Steil 2003) In addition to this interesting if somewhat unusual level of community-driven support, there are currently several Linux-based options available for the Xbox. The two that are perhaps the most developed are GentooX, which is based of the popular Gentoo Linux distribution, and Ed’s Debian, based off the Debian GNU / Linux distribution. Both Gentoo and Debian are “seasoned” distributions that have been available for some time now, though Daniel Robbins, Chief Architect of Gentoo, refers to the product as actually being a “metadistribution” of Linux, due to its high degree of adaptability and configurability. (Gentoo 2004) Specifically, the Robbins asserts that Gentoo is capable of being “customized for just about any application or need. ...an ideal secure server, development workstation, professional desktop, gaming system, embedded solution or something else—whatever you need it to be.” (Robbins 2004) He further states that the whole point of Gentoo is to provide a better, more usable Linux experience than that found in many other distributions. Robbins states that: “The goal of Gentoo is to design tools and systems that allow a user to do their work pleasantly and efficiently as possible, as they see fit. Our tools should be a joy to use, and should help the user to appreciate the richness of the Linux and free software community, and the flexibility of free software. ...Put another way, the Gentoo philosophy is to create better tools. When a tool is doing its job perfectly, you might not even be very aware of its presence, because it does not interfere and make its presence known, nor does it force you to interact with it when you don’t want it to. The tool serves the user rather than the user serving the tool.” (Robbins 2004) There is also a so-called “live CD” Linux distribution suitable for the Xbox, called dyne:bolic, and an in-progress release of Slackware Linux, as well. According to the Xbox Linux Project, the only difference between the standard releases of these distributions and their Xbox counterparts is that “...the install process – and naturally the bootloader, the kernel and the kernel modules – are all customized for the Xbox.” (Xbox Linux Project, 2003) Of course, even if Gentoo is as user-friendly as Robbins purports, even if the Linux kernel itself has become significantly more robust and efficient, and even if Microsoft again drops the retail price of the Xbox, is this really a feasible solution in the classroom? Does the Xbox Linux Project have an army of 14 year olds willing to modify dozens, perhaps hundreds of these systems for use in secondary schools and higher education? Of course not. If such an institutional rollout were to be undertaken, it would require significant support from not only faculty, but Department Chairs, Deans, IT staff, and quite possible Chief Information Officers. Disk images would need to be customized for each institution to reflect their respective needs, ranging from setting specific home pages on web browsers, to bookmarks, to custom back-up and / or disk re-imaging scripts, to network authentication. This would be no small task. Yet, the steps mentioned above are essentially no different than what would be required of any IT staff when creating a new disk image for a computer lab, be it one for a Windows-based system or a Mac OS X-based one. The primary difference would be Linux itself—nothing more, nothing less. The institutional difficulties in undertaking such an effort would likely be encountered prior to even purchasing a single Xbox, in that they would involve the same difficulties associated with any new hardware or software initiative: staffing, budget, and support. If the institutional in question is either unwilling or unable to address these three factors, it would not matter if the Xbox itself was as free as Linux. An Open Future, or a Closed one? It is unclear how far the Xbox Linux Project will be allowed to go in their efforts to invade an essentially a proprietary system with OSS. Unlike Sony, which has made deliberate steps to commercialize similar efforts for their PlayStation 2 console, Microsoft appears resolute in fighting OSS on the Xbox by any means necessary. They will continue to crack down on any companies selling so-called mod chips, and will continue to employ technological protections to keep the Xbox “closed”. Despite clear evidence to the contrary, in all likelihood Microsoft continue to equate any OSS efforts directed at the Xbox with piracy-related motivations. Additionally, Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox would likely include additional anticircumvention technologies incorporated into it that could set the Xbox Linux Project back by months, years, or could stop it cold. Of course, it is difficult to say with any degree of certainty how this “Xbox 2” (perhaps a more appropriate name might be “Nextbox”) will impact this project. Regardless of how this device evolves, there can be little doubt of the value of Linux, OpenOffice.org, and other OSS to teaching and learning with technology. This value exists not only in terms of price, but in increased freedom from policies and technologies of control. New Linux distributions from Gentoo, Mandrake, Lycoris, Lindows, and other companies are just now starting to focus their efforts on Linux as user-friendly, easy to use desktop operating systems, rather than just server or “techno-geek” environments suitable for advanced programmers and computer operators. While metaphorically opening the Xbox may not be for everyone, and may not be a suitable computing solution for all, I believe we as educators must promote and encourage such efforts whenever possible. I suggest this because I believe we need to exercise our professional influence and ultimately shape the future of technology literacy, either individually as faculty and collectively as departments, colleges, or institutions. Moran and Fitzsimmons-Hunter argue this very point in Writing Teachers, Schools, Access, and Change. One of their fundamental provisions they use to define “access” asserts that there must be a willingness for teachers and students to “fight for the technologies that they need to pursue their goals for their own teaching and learning.” (Taylor / Ward 160) Regardless of whether or not this debate is grounded in the “beige boxes” of the past, or the Xboxes of the present, much is at stake. Private corporations should not be in a position to control the manner in which we use legally-purchased technologies, regardless of whether or not these technologies are then repurposed for literacy uses. I believe the exigency associated with this control, and the ongoing evolution of what is and is not a computer, dictates that we assert ourselves more actively into this discussion. We must take steps to provide our students with the best possible computer-mediated learning experience, however seemingly unorthodox the technological means might be, so that they may think critically, communicate effectively, and participate actively in society and in their future careers. About the Author Paul Cesarini is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Communication & Technology Education, Bowling Green State University, Ohio Email: pcesari@bgnet.bgsu.edu Works Cited http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/docs/debian.php>.Baron, Denis. “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies.” Passions Pedagogies and 21st Century Technologies. Hawisher, Gail E., and Cynthia L. Selfe, Eds. Utah: Utah State University Press, 1999. 15 – 33. Becker, David. “Ballmer: Mod Chips Threaten Xbox”. News.com. 21 Oct 2002. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-962797.php>. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-978957.html?tag=nl>. http://archive.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/08/13/020813hnchina.xml>. http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/1062/>. http://www.bookreader.co.uk>.Finni, Scott. “Desktop Linux Edges Into The Mainstream”. TechWeb. 8 Apr 2003. http://www.techweb.com/tech/software/20030408_software. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/29439.html http://gentoox.shallax.com/. http://ragib.hypermart.net/linux/. http://www.itworld.com/Comp/2362/LWD010424latinlinux/pfindex.html. http://www.xbox-linux.sourceforge.net. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/27487.html. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/26078.html. http://www.us.playstation.com/peripherals.aspx?id=SCPH-97047. http://www.techtv.com/extendedplay/reviews/story/0,24330,3356862,00.html. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,61984,00.html. http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/about.xml http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/philosophy.xml http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2869075,00.html. http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/docs/usershelpusers.html http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/fun.games/12/16/gamers.liksang/. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Cesarini, Paul. "“Opening” the Xbox" M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture <http://www.media-culture.org.au/0406/08_Cesarini.php>. APA Style Cesarini, P. (2004, Jul1). “Opening” the Xbox. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture, 7, <http://www.media-culture.org.au/0406/08_Cesarini.php>