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Dr Donia Zhang is an author, writer, and editor of Architectural Humanities in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. She is the Director of the Neoland School of Chinese Culture, Neoland-Neolife Cross-Cultural Studies, and Chinese Culture Publishing, and the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Architecture and Urbanism (JCAU), and Courtyard Architecture: along the Silk Roads, around the World.
She has authored four scholarly books with one forthcoming: Courtyard Houses of Beijing: Past, Present, and Future (2009/2010/2011), Schoolyard Gardening as Multinaturalism: Theory, Practice, and Product (2009), Courtyard Housing and Cultural Sustainability: Theory, Practice, and Product (2013/2016), Courtyard Housing for Health and Happiness: Architectural Multiculturalism in North America (2015/2017), and The Curriculum for Chinese Culture (forthcoming).
Moreover, she contributed three chapters in two eBooks, Dialogues of Sustainable Urbanisation: Social Science Research and Transitions to Urban Contexts (2015), and New Approaches in Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism (2020). She has also published 20 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals. Furthermore, she is a contributor of three entries and translated the Chinese lexicon for the Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World (2024, 2nd ed). WorldCat has listed most of these publications.
Donia has seven years of work experience in the architectural industry in Toronto and Chicago, and eleven years of teaching experience in higher education in Ontario, Canada. The subjects she has taught include: History of Art and Architecture, Interior Design, and AutoCAD, among others.
Donia is a graduate of Oxford Brookes University (BArch, MA, PhD) in the UK and Brock University (MEd) in Canada. She has also obtained a Verified Certificate of Achievement in The Architectural Imagination from Harvard University | edX, and a Verified Certificate of Achievement in Interpreting Vernacular Architecture in Asia from the University of Hong Kong | edX. She is a former associate at the City Institute at York University, and a visiting scholar/occasional co-instructor at McMaster University, Canada.
Keywords: Architectural humanities, Architecture and urbanism, Courtyard housing, Chinese culture, Philosophy of architecture
Keynote Speaker
“Courtyard Housing around the World: A Cross-Cultural Analysis and Contemporary Relevance” (Best Paper Award) at the 3rd International Conference of Contemporary Affairs in Architecture and Urbanism (ICCAUA), Alanya HEP University, Turkey, 2020/5/6. Cambridge Open Engage: https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2020-rb9n2
Key Talks
“Courtyard Garden for Health and Happiness” at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden/Vancouver Chinese Garden, Canada, 2018/8/30.
“Courtyard Housing for Health and Happiness” at Innovation Summit on Smart City and Green Development, Innovation Round Table for Smart City, Beijing, China, 2017/7/7. Cambridge Open Engage: https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2020-6jpdq
“Courtyard Housing and Cultural Sustainability: A discussion on housing renewal and redevelopment in Beijing” at Courtyard Institute, Beijing, China, 2017/5/20.
“Courtyard Housing and Cultural Sustainability: A discussion on housing redevelopment in Suzhou” at Duke Kunshan University, China, 2017/5/10.
“Courtyard Housing and Cultural Sustainability in China” at Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, Canada, 2015/1/16. Cambridge Open Engage: https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2020-14lbc
“Adult Perceptions of Student Involvement in Schoolyard Gardening” at Faculty of Education, Brock University, Canada, 2005/10/18. Cambridge Open Engage: https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2020-j952n
Book Review
“Courtyard Housing for Health and Happiness: Architectural Multiculturalism in North America” 2018/1/2 | By Ulduz Maschaykh
News Media
“The Last Few Guardians of Beijing’s Hutong Culture” 2023/9/18 | By Wong Siew Fong, Correspondent, Lianhe Zaobao | ThinkChina
“Beijing Hutongs’ Appearance and Functions Are Gradually Changing due to Aging Residents” 2023/9/6 | By Siew Fong Wong | Singapore Lianhe Zaobao
“China’s Historic Preservation Challenges” 2023/4/4 | By Ashley Gardini | JSTOR Daily
“Beijing’s Five Architectural Colors, and the Symbolism Behind Them” 2018/11/29 | By Jeremiah Jenne | The Beijinger
“Benefits of the Courtyard House Design” 2018/2/19 | Blog post by TH!NK by IBI; Photo by Rikke Filbært Larsen on Unsplash
Academia Sites
Academia: https://independent.academia.edu/doniazhang
AHRA: https://ahra-architecture.org/members/donia-zhang
Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/author/doniazhang
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/doniazhang
Google Scholar: vbqDZMoAAAAJ
ORCID: 0000-0001-9559-366X
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Donia_Zhang
Scopus ID: 16235444200
Web of Science Researcher ID: AAB-5462-2019
Website: http://www.neolandschool.com/doniazhang
World Architecture Community:
https://worldarchitecture.org/profiles/cpvmh/donia-zhang-profile-pages.html
Social Media Sites
Facebook: doniazhang | drdoniazhang | doniadavia
Instagram: donia.zhang | drdoniazhang | doniadavia
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doniazhang
LiveJournal: https://doniazhang.livejournal.com
Pinterest: doniazhang | doniadavia
Skype: doniazhang
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/doniazhang
Threads: @donia.zhang | @drdoniazhang | @doniadavia
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@doniazhang
Twitter: @doniazhang | @doniadavia
WeChat: doniazhang | drdoniazhang
Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/doniazhang
WordPress: https://doniazhang.wordpress.com
YouTube: @doniazhang | @drdoniazhang | @doniadavia
Contact
Dr Donia Zhang
11211 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4S 0E9
Email 1: doniazhang@oxfordbrookes.net
Email 2: doniazhang@neolandschool.com
Website: http://www.neolandschool.com/doniazhang
WordPress: https://doniazhang.wordpress.com
Dr Donia Zhang 