Courtyard Housing for Health and Happiness: Architectural Multiculturalism in North America

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Donia Zhang

Courtyard Housing for Health and Happiness

Architectural Multiculturalism in North America

Donia Zhang

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Hardback

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English

Routledge
28 April 2015

Theory of architecture; Houses, apartments, flats, units; City & town planning - architectural aspects

Health and happiness are fundamental to human quality of life. The United Nations World Happiness Report 2012 reflects a new worldwide call for governments to include happiness as a criterion to their policies. The Healthy Cities or Happy Cities movement has been endorsed by the WHO since 1986, and a Healthy House or Happy Home is a critical constituent of a healthy city or a happy city. Nevertheless, the concept has not been fully explored. Existing literature on the healthy house has often focused on the technical, economic, environmental, or biochemical aspects, while current scholarship on the happy home commonly centers on interior decoration. Few studies have addressed the importance of social and cultural factors that affect the health and happiness of the occupants. Identifying four key themes in Chinese philosophy to promote health and happiness at home, this book links architecture with Chinese philosophy, social sciences, and the humanities, and in doing so, argues that Architectural Multiculturalism is a vital ideology to guide housing design in North America. Using both qualitative and quantitative evidence gathered from ethnic Chinese and non-Chinese living in the USA and Canada, the study proposes that the Courtyard is a central component to promote social and cultural health and happiness of residents. It further details courtyard garden house design strategies that combine a sense of privacy with a feeling of community as represented in courtyard housing. The schemes may have universal implications.

By: Donia Zhang
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 246mm, Width: 174mm,
Weight: 530g
ISBN: 9781472449115
ISBN 10: 1472449118
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 28 April 2015
Audience: College/higher education , General/trade , Primary , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Foreword, Richard Harris; Preface; Introduction: health and happiness in housing; Four key themes in Chinese philosophy to promote health and happiness at home; Health as balancing Yin Yang: form and environmental quality of the housing; Health as gathering qi: space and construction quality of the housing; Happiness as attaining oneness: matters of social cohesion in the homes; Happiness as knowing the Dao: time and cultural activities in the homes; Four keystones of courtyard housing design; Conclusion: courtyard housing for health and happiness; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

Dr Donia Zhang is a graduate of Oxford Brookes University (BArch, MA, PhD) in the UK and Brock University (MEd) in Canada.

Reviews for Courtyard Housing for Health and Happiness: Architectural Multiculturalism in North America

'This is a unique book that traverses a wide range of topics including philosophy, oriental wisdom, psychology, and modern housing design. It aims to answer a central question - how to design a healthy house and a happy home - so practical and yet so eternally important for us all. The study proposes courtyard garden houses as a paradigmatic model. It promotes multiculturalism in architecture and in social life as a whole, which is so central to a new global sensitivity on the rise in North America and elsewhere. In a word, this book has masterfully integrated a range of topics from philosophy to building design, addressed a profound yet practical issue of housing for a healthy and happy life, and promoted cross-cultural thinking so central to a new sensitivity on the rise in the twenty-first century. It is a great book that addresses issues practical yet central to life for everyone - a book everyone should read - for reorganizing your interior, building a new home, debating for a neighbourhood, or simply pursuing harmony in your personal and social life.' Jianfei Zhu, University of Melbourne, Australia