STREET ON THE ROOFTOP / Urban

Village Renewal

2019.07 - 2019.10

Competition / team leader

Site: Chengjie Village, Guangzhou, China

Ket words: urban, renewal, public architecture

Superviser: Ling Yaoguang

Collaborator: Qiu Yanxia, Cai Feiyang, Chen Ying

"Village in the city" is a "crack land" in the city. With this unique status and phenomenon, there are also social problems that cannot be ignored. For example, the population is mixed, illegal buildings are concentrated, the living environment is poor, and there are serious fire hazards. In the process of urbanization, urban villages are regarded as obstacles, and many urban villages have been demolished, so that the land can radiate more commercial value.

In this project, we took the chengjie Village as our site, and we found that the urban village is actually a island of humanity and tolerance in modern cities. The cheap housing and prices in the urban village make it a place where many foreigners settle. Many young people who have just come out to work will also choose cheap housing in urban villages during the transition period. The very narrow spacing between buildings means that many rooms are not illuminated. So people who live here will only sleep in the village and spend their time in the city.

This project wants to use the roof space to bring a shared space that can see sunlight to the urban village, build a street in the sky in a growing way, improve the quality of life of the urban village, and bring different possibilities.

Urban Villages

Urban villages refer to the traditional villages remaining in urban areas, which is a unique phenomenon in the process of urbanization in mainland China. In the more than 30 years since the reform and opening up in 1978, the built-up area of cities in some economically developed regions (such as the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Rim, municipalities directly under the central government, and provincial capitals, etc.) has expanded rapidly, and the rural areas that were originally distributed around the cities have been included The territory of the city, surrounded by rows of high-rise buildings, has become a "village in the city".

In this project, we focus on Chanjie Village, the buildings are mainly four or five-story buildings, which are mostly used for residential purposes. In this case, many homeowners will rent out the extra rooms at a low price.

There are few open spaces in the village, only the main road with some grocery stores, restaurants, barber shops, massage shops and etc. The other roads are extremely narrow, without light, and you can only look up to see the sky in the gap between the buildings. many rooms are not illuminated properly. So most of people who live here temporarily will only sleep in the village and spend their time in the city.

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