ARC505 Theis Prep

Ye Zhang

From Exacerbated Difference To Productive Difference

Shenzhens emerging urbanism

Primary Advisor: Secondary Advisor:

Anne Munly Susan Henderson 10.13.2011

thesis abstract: 15 years ago, Rem Koolhaas led a research project into Chinas most frontier economic zone the Pearl River Delta (PRD), in which he gave the region a new definition, City of Exacerbated Difference, meaning that every city in this region defines itself through a brutal opposition of the others, but at same time forming a holistic system. He said It is a region whose urbanism emphasizes the greatest possible difference between its parts, whose infrastructure both enables and prevents a functioning whole, whose fabric is neither urban nor rural(Koolhass 1996) From a regional scale of the PRD to a block scale in the city of Shenzhen (PRDs showcase city), the Exacerbated Difference manifests itself through a series of contested relations between the public and private realm -- discontinuous yet vibrant, surveilled but subversive, exclusive and has open flow. Urban architecture, caught in-between these emerging conditions, has the potential to spatialize them for unity and cohesion. Shenzhens capitalistic endeavors have led to increasing privatization of the urban fabric -- almost all developer-housing projects are walled, fenced and gated. The spatial exclusion of these gated communities offers a secure environment to foster a certain sociability of an exclusive group of people. But at same time, it contributes to a process of gentrification and social segregation. The gated communities together with the glittering shopping malls make up a public realm that is highly exclusive, surveilled and discontinuous. However, these conditions are reversed outside the gates, especially in the few urban villages right next to them at the heart of Shenzhens Central Business District. Caiwuwei villages are densely built with little open space, but this is the place that encourages open flows of traffic, of commercial exchange and of social encounters. This is where migrant workers come for affordable housing, where locals go for authentic dinning, and where people shop for cheap lifestyle in the markets. These villages of informal become a customized response to what the gate-communities cannot offer. Caiwuweis informality is vibrant, emancipated and almost subversive to the symbolic power of the mega-blocks. It is a result of highly contested relations between the public and private. The public-making, mostly retail businesses and services, infiltrates into the ground floors of the densely packed residential blocks; while the private activities, clothes drying for example, are spilled over to the public space. This public-private relation is physical, reciprocal and rhetorical. Caiwuwei villages are expected to disappear within the coming years. Caiwuwei South Village has already been demolished for the construction of Kingkey 100 tower (348m) and KK mall. The 2005 Caiwuwei CBD re-design blueprint calls for a denser and shinier CBD. It is an opportunity to re-conceptualize Caiwuwei CBD through the use of Productive Difference. Productive Difference translates Exacerbated Difference into a field of contingent relations, flows and forces (re-interpretation of field condition). It spatializes the contested public-private relations with a formal process of holistic stratification and local connections. It has unity and cohesion while respecting the informality of the vibrancy, subversion and open flows. Productive Difference is not the solution for the profound socio-problems behind Exacerbated Difference, but it translates and spatializes the contested relations with architectural provisions contribution of public space. Productive Difference is essentially a food market with an outdoor theatre attached to it, it is also a mixed-use development with residential units and offices as the negative space. It makes references to historical Chinese market typology and also responds to the current need for high density. It is a re-conceptualization of CBDs within local context.

graphic summary:

open flow

infiltration subversive temporal vibrant mobile

informality in field condition

gated communites

place for open flow of traffic, of commerical exchange and Adhesion to the fabric of social encounters

annotated bibliography:
Allen, Stan. Points Lines: Diagrams and Projects for the City. New York: Princeton Architectural, 1999. Print. Productive Difference is a re-interpretation of field condition. Chung, Chuihua Judy., Rem Koolhaas, Jeffrey Inaba, and Sze Tsung. Leong. Project on the City. Kln: Taschen, 2001. Print. PRD urban research that covers a series of topics, ideology, architecture, infrastructure etc. Lots of insights, but not necessarily leads to any design. Dovey, Kim. Becoming Places: Urbanism/architecture/identity/power. London: Routledge, 2010. Print. Writings on informal urban assemblages in Indonesia. Iveson, Kurt. Publics and the City. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007. Print. Research on public and private space from a geography and political aspect. Public space is defined in relation to public-making and public address. Koolhaas, Rem. Pearl River Delta. Mutations. Bordeaux: Arc En Re%u0302ve Centre Darchitecture, 2001. Print. This is the inspiration of this thesis. Koohaas concept City of Exacerbated Difference seems very western to me, but at the same time so refreshing. He was intrigued by something that I grew up with, something I would never have thought to be an issue before. Mars, Neville, and Adrian Hornsby. The Chinese Dream: a Society under Construction. Rotterdam: 010, 2008. Print. Mars 5 year research in Beijing. This book covered a wide range of topics and offered in-depth observations. Miller, Kristine F. Designs on the Public: the Private Lives of New Yorks Public Spaces. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2007. Print. How the design of public space affects its use. Moore, Malcolm, and Peter Foster. China to Create Largest Mega City in the World with 42 Million People. The Telegraph [London] 24 Jan. 2011. Web. The Telegraphs report on Chinas plan to build the Mega-city. Mostly interesting mentioned , PRD will not be a cored, single entity, but a cluster of cities. The building of this mega-city includes 150 more infrastructures relating to energy, water, telecommunications and transport networks. Staeheli, Lynn A., and Donald Mitchell. The Peoples Property?: Power, Politics, and the Public. New York, NY: Routledge, 2008. Print. Research on the public space from a political aspect (property, rights, accessibility etc).