hintergrund 08

Description

In the context of buzzwords such as globalization, international networking, accelerated growth, the Asian metropolis has emerged in recent years as a new focus in the urbanism debate. While theorists and architects already speak of “lost urbanity” in North American and European cities and lament the increasing suburbanization and simultaneous “Disneyization” of core cities, the Asian metropolis offers itself as a new model, as a partly threatening, partly hopeful challenge for the 21st century. Shimmering images of overpopulated, seemingly chaotic, constantly proliferating urban structures fit in well with the millennium euphoria of the Western world.
The pressure of densification and growth in cities, brought about by the rapid economic rise of East Asia, provides broad projection surfaces for visions of renewal that are tinged with both the myth of the unknown and exotic and with fear. The emergence of new, thriving economic and financial centers also brings with it a dynamic cultural production that is becoming increasingly internationalized. Imported set pieces of Asian art and culture have long since become a natural part of our “hip,” urban everyday life; products of ethnic tradition are absorbed into consumer goods, culinary logos, and glamorous images under the generalizing brand of “Far Eastern”.