How was Beijing conceived, designed and constructed, as a political architecture? How did the Chinese design a space, at the scale of a building, a city and a large civil-engineering project? Were the constructions of the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, the city of Beijing and the imperial palace interrelated? Does that reveal a layout of power relations, a formalistic aesthetic or an existential worldview? By examining the buildings of Imperial Beijing (1420-1911) this book seeks to answer these questions, and explore a generic approach to spatial disposition in the Chinese tradition.Chinese Spatial Strategies considers spatial design on many levels and in different aspects including:

• the design of a geo-political map of China in Asia

• the layout of the city as a representation of imperial ideology

• the city as a social realm of interrelations between the central authority and local urban society

• the Forbidden City as an apparatus of power

• an imperial religious system across the city

• a comparison with European approach to state power and to visualaesthetic compositions

Drawing upon recent work in social theory, the author provides a spatial and political analysis of the Forbidden City, and a realistic, analytical and critical account of Imperial Beijing. This book transcends the convention of formal descriptions of Chinese buildings and cities, and will appeal to all those with an interest in Chinese architecture in a broad perspective.

Jianfei Zhu teaches Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne.