From an Architect's Perspective:  3, 5, 7, 9 Column Halls: Status and Hierarchy in a Confucius Society 

7 December, 2019          
​9:30 am - 11:00 am 

Join First Saturday PDX for an illustrated lecture about the foundation and development of classical architecture in China.  Throughout history, societies were based on cultural and political hierarchies.  China was no exception and was influenced immensely by the teachings of Confucius.  Architect Ken Diener examines Chinese classical architectural design and construction through this cultural lens, especially referencing the buildings and grounds of Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden and how status contributed to the design of this unique treasure.
About the speaker:
Ken Diener joined the Classical Chinese Garden Society in 1990 and was a docent volunteer, contributing over 2,500 hours in Lan Su from when it opened in 2000 until he left Portland in January of 2018. Ken has presented two First Saturday lectures on Lan Su's architecture. In 2008, “A Mountain Out Your Doorway”  and 2011, “Stepping into the Clouds, the Poetics of Chinese Architecture”. After a year of traveling throughout the U.S., he and his wife have moved to McMinnville, OR. Ken studied architecture at NCSU, MIT and Vienna’s Technical Institute, later teaching architecture and working for architects throughout the US and abroad. He has run his own firm, KJD Architecture pc www.kjdarch.com  for 26 years.
Recommended Reading:       ​
​Maxwell K. Hearn, How to Read Chinese Paintings  (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300141874   ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300141870
​Liang Ssu-ch'eng, Chinese Architecture: A Pictorial History (Dover Architecture,  Dover Publications, 2005)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486439992   ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486439990
Beverly Jackson and David Hugus,  Ladder to the Clouds:  Intrigue and Tradition in Chinese Rank   (Ten Speed Press, 2000)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1580081274   ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1580081276
​Alfreda Murck, ​Poetry and Painting in Song China: The Subtle Art of Dissent
​(Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, 2002)  
ISBN :  9780674007826
Lisa See, Peony in Love  (Random House, Inc. 2007)  
​ISBN :  140006466X (ISBN13: 9781400064663)
Lin Feng, Canal Towns South of the Yangtze  (Shanghai Jiaotong University Press, 2009)  
ISBN : 9787313058188
Maggie Keswick, Charles Jencks, Alison Hardie,  The Chinese Garden:  History, Art and Architecture  
(Harvard University Press, 2003)   ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674010868   ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674010864
Stanley Appelbaum, Treasury of Chinese Designs CD-ROM and Book (Dover Publications 2006)
ISBN-10:  0486997448  ISBN-13:  9780486997445  ​
Dieter Kuhn,  The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China (Harvard University Press, 2009) 
ISBN :  9780674031463
Charles Q. Wu,  Listen to the Fragrance: Literary Inscriptions in Lan Su Chinese Garden (Lan Su Chinese Garden, 2016)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0998077704   ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0998077703
Craig Clunas, Fruitful Sites Garden Culture in Ming Dynasty China (Duke University Press 1996)
Paper  ISBN: 978-0-8223-1795-1 / Cloth ISBN: 978-0-8223-1800-2
Our educational program series has been developed in collaboration with PSU’s Institute for Asian Studies, and is free and open to the public.​  First Saturday PDX  current full season schedule and descriptions available HERE. 

View our regular monthly location by clicking on the address below for directions:  
Portland State University, Academic & Student Recreation Ctr (ASRC),  Room 230
1800 SW 6th Ave, Portland OR 97201
Excellent MAX and bus transportation is right by the venue; plan your Trimet trip HERE.   There is also a nearby parking structure at SW 6th and Harrison with an entrance on 6th Avenue is also available.
View PSU Parking info:  
https://www.pdx.edu/transportation/hourly-visitor-parking​​​