Continuing to Write: Type-morphology, Latent Structures, and the Urban Project for the Chinese City

This paper discusses an approach to studying cities and architecture based on the Milan tradition，emphasising architectural design as a way of understanding urban reality，considering the urban site as a ‘written palimpsest’ and considering design as a process of writing，rewriting，and overwriting upon an already-written text. The author begins by pointing out that architecture is a study of innovation based on history and that the city is a layering of materials and ideas that must be constantly reinterpreted. By analysing historical city maps，the author further discusses the continuity of urban concepts and design interpretations and emphasises the need for modern urban design to focus on the built environment’s material consistency and layering morphologies strategies. At the same time，a shift from dual dialectic to assemblage thinking is proposed，emphasising the importance of surveys and interpretive mapping in understanding settlement rules. Through two study cases，the author proposes a new research methodology in the Chinese context that reveals how the layering of physical traces and immaterial stratifications work together to form urban memories and narratives and focuses on how to read the morphology of historic settlements in terms of the typological invariants，latent structures，and the triple relationship between type-morphology-topography. Finally，the paper emphasises that urban space comprises multiple codes and that design projects should be based on a deeper understanding of urban structure and history，with new inscriptions on existing urban texts to create new urban orders and meanings.