Zara Strayer
Professor Farhan Karim
ARCH 540
12 December 2017
Analyzing Space: The Forbidden City (Figure 1)
1) Introduction
The Forbidden City was enacted by the Ming dynasty emperor, Chengzu, who reigned from 1402-1424. He named his reign “Yongle” which means, “perpetual happiness” and created the Forbidden City as an exclusive district for the Emperor. The complex is basically a city within a city2. The reconstruction of Beijing by Chengzu, was done so over the remains of what Khubilai abandoned. There were three distinct regions of Beijing: the outer city, the inner city, and the Forbidden city. The components of the Forbidden city were constructed from a ‘kit of parts’ and kept to a strict color scheme. There were hundreds of different …show more content…
It acts as a sort of intermediate space that facilitates the transition from one space to the next. This does not have to be a physical door or wall, but could also just be a dividing space1. There are many types of boundaries seen in the Forbidden city. The most obvious being the outer wall surrounding the rectangular city space. This is a rigid boundary, the purpose is evident: to keep the outsiders out and the insiders in4. This defines the space as a realm of the city. There is no questioning the dimensions of the Forbidden City because this wall does that job. There are also other, more porous boundaries inside the city, splitting up the courtyards and separating space. You can see from Figure 1 provided above how the city is split up into sections. The boundaries that achieved this on the inside were much less imposing than the outer wall. The inside of the palace achieved its grandeur not from massive structures and walls, but through …show more content…
They are vital components to how we view the space around us. Paths are used to indicate the form of the space, depending on the orientation and direction1. In the Forbidden city, there are many paths, but not all define space in the same way. For example, a courtyard could be considered a path, and there are many courtyards within the walls of this city. You might think of a path as a narrow walkway, in which the line is continuous and you simply follow it one way or another. A courtyard is still a path, it just doesn’t define the space so simply. The Forbidden city is full of space and vastness, but all the spaces are connected creating hundreds of ways one could choose to navigate the
Professor Farhan Karim
ARCH 540
12 December 2017
Analyzing Space: The Forbidden City (Figure 1)
1) Introduction
The Forbidden City was enacted by the Ming dynasty emperor, Chengzu, who reigned from 1402-1424. He named his reign “Yongle” which means, “perpetual happiness” and created the Forbidden City as an exclusive district for the Emperor. The complex is basically a city within a city2. The reconstruction of Beijing by Chengzu, was done so over the remains of what Khubilai abandoned. There were three distinct regions of Beijing: the outer city, the inner city, and the Forbidden city. The components of the Forbidden city were constructed from a ‘kit of parts’ and kept to a strict color scheme. There were hundreds of different …show more content…
It acts as a sort of intermediate space that facilitates the transition from one space to the next. This does not have to be a physical door or wall, but could also just be a dividing space1. There are many types of boundaries seen in the Forbidden city. The most obvious being the outer wall surrounding the rectangular city space. This is a rigid boundary, the purpose is evident: to keep the outsiders out and the insiders in4. This defines the space as a realm of the city. There is no questioning the dimensions of the Forbidden City because this wall does that job. There are also other, more porous boundaries inside the city, splitting up the courtyards and separating space. You can see from Figure 1 provided above how the city is split up into sections. The boundaries that achieved this on the inside were much less imposing than the outer wall. The inside of the palace achieved its grandeur not from massive structures and walls, but through …show more content…
They are vital components to how we view the space around us. Paths are used to indicate the form of the space, depending on the orientation and direction1. In the Forbidden city, there are many paths, but not all define space in the same way. For example, a courtyard could be considered a path, and there are many courtyards within the walls of this city. You might think of a path as a narrow walkway, in which the line is continuous and you simply follow it one way or another. A courtyard is still a path, it just doesn’t define the space so simply. The Forbidden city is full of space and vastness, but all the spaces are connected creating hundreds of ways one could choose to navigate the