Architectural antropologie by Martijn Verfaillie

Shenzhen The adaptive city Architectural anthropology

Martijn Verfaillie 2nd master in architecture KULeuven, faculty of architecture, Ghent

Abstract

In this paper you will find an anthropological approach towards my design in Shenzhen. This paper will start with an introduction containing the most important themes about Shenzhen. A story about patterns in the city will lead to an exploration of the urban villages in Shenzhen. Which will form the base for the design. Some case studies and the study about the importance of entrances will lead to a statement about public, common and private spaces. This statement is an anthropological view on space in general and is an important factor in the design. The view on the terms public, common and private will be translated in some design tools. These design tools will be explained and articulated in the design proposal.

Table of content

Abstract Table of content

3 5

One: Context History Geography and climate Administration Economy Shekou port Social context Two: Living in Shenzhen Patterns Urban villages Three: Challenges

Four: Concept Case studies Public common private

Five: Design proposal

Seven: Conclusion

Eight: Figure list

Nine: Reference list

One: Context History Shenzhen is located in the south of the Figure 1 Guandong province in the southern part of China. The city is connected with the northern part of Hong Kong and forms one of the most successful Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of China. A SEZ is a geographical region that is designed to export goods and provides employment. In this Special Economic Zone there are special laws about taxes to make the region as competitive as possible in the global market. Before 1979, when the SEZ was installed, Shenzhen was just a small village with a small harbor. In only thirty years the city grew exponentially and became one of the fastest growing cities in the world. In the beginning billions were invested by Chinese and foreign investors, first in manufacturing but nowadays more and more in service industries. Geography and climate Shenzhen is located in the Pearl River Delta. Shenzhen is neighbouring Hong Kong in the south, Huizhou in the northwest and Dongguan in the northeast. It has a total population of 14 million citizens. After becoming a SEZ Shenzhen went through a tremendous change of landscape. At first it was a rather hilly area, but due to the real estate developments the city lost its natural hilly appearance and became mostly fat ground. With the influx of migrant workers from all over the China, Shenzhen is experiencing a second stage boom. So more hilly areas need to be levelled to make place for more development, the natural surroundings of Shenzhen are really threatened by the expanding of the city. Shenzhen has a humid subtropical climate. Winters are mild mostly dry and frost is very rare. Early spring is the cloudiest time of the year and rainfall starts to increase in April. The raining season lasts until September to early October. The monsoon reaches its peak intensity in the summer month Administration Figure 2

Shenzhen is a sub-provincial city and it has jurisdiction over eight districts. The Luohu district is the financial and trading centre of Shenzhen. Futian is the seat of the Municipal Government; Nanshan is the centre of high-tech industries. The second busiest container terminal in China lies in The Yantian District and the main port, Shekou port, of the SEZ is situated in the Nanshan district.

Economy In 2001, the working population reached 3,3 million. The tertiary sector is smaller than the secondary sector, but is growing faster. Shenzhen is a major manufacturing centre in China. The Shenzhen's rapidly growing skyline is regarded as one of the best in the world; it currently has 26 buildings at over 200 meters tall. Shenzhen is the home of China’s most successful high-tech companies and also foreign high-tech companies are represented in the city. Shekou port Shekou port is located in the southern part of the Nanshan district. In the 1980s Shekou port started exploiting oil, with big majors like Agip, Chevron, Texaco and Shell, the future looked bright. But due to a lack of qualified people the main activity of the port changed into catering for mainly western companies. Today Shekou port is one of the biggest in the Pearl River Delta and is especially know for having one of the biggest container terminals. Social context Throughout the history of China we can detect six mayor shifts1 in the social context. The first is the shift from a mass to a class society. Under communism, lifestyles were undifferentiated, shaped and guided by the political elite and by popular media. Now, 30 years later, a growing middle class has emerged exemplifying a class society in which every generation is affected by change. The second shift concerns the rapidly older growing older population. The shift from a young society to an aging society. In 1949, China’s average lifespan was 42 years, and most women gave birth to more than five children. Mao Zedong’s dramatic socioeconomic reforms later in the century raised the life expectancy to more than 70 years. As a result, the country’s aged population will double in less than 30 years. Thirdly there is the shift from a communist economy towards market socialism. Beginning in 1980, Deng Xiaoping’s open-door policy encouraged economic production and business development. Gradually, innovation, competition, risk, efficiency, and profit are becoming part of people’s lives in China. Cultural attitudes toward money are changing from scorn and debasement to pragmatism and demand from certain cohorts in each generation and have created an elite wealthy class. The forth shift is going from a social welfare to an individual social responsibility. China’s communist government was traditionally responsible for the people’s total welfare. Social reforms under the market economy shifted the economic burden to individuals. Privatization is still largely mistrusted in China, yet these fast-moving reforms will radically change people’s expectations of future economic security, as well as their spending and saving patterns. Moving from a bipolar rural/urban society to an urban society is the fifth shift. Approximately 49 per cent of China’s population lives in rural areas, with about half of that group living in transitional rural communities that are urbanizing. The rural urban population distribution when Mao lead the revolution in 1949 was about 90% rural to 10% urban. Today China has about

1 As seen on: http://china-‐forecast.com/future-‐of-‐china-‐emerging-‐markets/the-‐chinese-‐generations-‐social-‐ context-‐6-‐big-‐shifts/

double the number of urban dwellers as the total U.S. population. Urbanization always creates more social classes as a by product and drives economic growth, the ultimate goal of the Chinese government. And the last shift is from a local context to a global context. After 30 years of development, China is poised to play a significant role in the global economy: its coasts are no longer isolated, its imports and exports constitute the world’s ninth-largest trading economy, it is increasingly attracting foreign capital and it finds many international companies relocating their firms to within its borders. Two: Living in Shenzhen Patterns Shenzhen is a car-based city, big lanes divide the city in a patchwork. Between these big lanes there is a big variety of interpretation. Some parts are dominated by green space; others are densely built with more low-rise building. Most parts are built with high-rise towers and big green spaces in between. If we look at Shenzhen in an areal view we can find six returning urban patterns. Four of these six patterns can be linked to living in Shenzhen. Figure 3

This map shows an abstract representation of Shenzhen and its most recurring patterns. The city is build up out of six patterns that are irregularly patched together. First there is the irregular pattern of the industry. It is characteristic by its big halls, cranes and lots of silos. This pattern is widely spread in the western area of the city, the Shekou port region. Also in the Shekou region we can find the pattern of the containers. It is characterised by its cranes, straightness and rigidness. The surrounding area consists out of concrete, when you take the containers away only a big concrete slab remains.

Moving towards the eastern part of Shenzhen there is a third pattern, a linear curvy pattern with ribbon development, the villas. The pattern of the dens high- and low-rise is stretched out over the whole city. It is a rather dens rigid pattern with variable heights. The pattern of the high-rise buildings is also a rigid pattern but is distinctive by its non-relating forms and lots of open space between the buildings. The last pattern is the one of the urban villages. This is the oldest pattern in the city and only few remain. Many of them have been demolished through time for the development of new high-rise buildings. The urban villages are very dens and consist out of low-rise similar buildings. Figure 4

The high-rise buildings lack of identity. The spaces in-between are to big so there is no sense of ownership. The public space is desolated and isn’t used for leisure, meeting, etc. But merely as a transfer place, space you just need to pas to get from A to B. In the high-rise itself there is not much of social contact, everybody lives just behind a door in the hallway, known by number, not by person. The total opposite are the urban villages. Here the buildings are almost stacked upon each other. There isn’t that much of public space, but this space is used for meeting, eating, markets, etc. These spaces are small and create a more intimate and private atmosphere. The villas have e very low density and are very low-rise. There is a lot of open space but mostly private. There is almost no social contact and the public space merely exists out of roads. The dens high-rise buildings have, just like the urban villages, small public space. Only this public space doesn’t work as in the urban villages, due to the oversized buildings. The inhabitants have no contact with the street; there is a lack of social interaction. Urban villages China has been increasingly industrialized and urbanized in the last 50 years that the urban built area has been tripled in the last two decades. Former farmland has been turned into urban villages because of that urbanization. The farmers didn’t go to the city, the city came to them. To handle with the rapidly growing city, the farmers

started to build on their field property. Former rice fields with narrow streets in-between were turned into five till seven story high housing blocks. The peasants became real estate developers. Yushi Uehara Yushi Uehara visited several urban villages in Shenzhen and this was her first reaction. “Upon my first visit to a Village in the City, I saw a dense structure abruptly interrupting the cityscapes of Chinese urbanity. This anomalous fabric consisted of tiny towers, mostly seven floors high, in an extremely compressed layout, as if it were zipped up electronically. The impression was one of human scale, a feeling of place and space that was missing in the surrounding make-believe city. I was told that this settlement had previously been a farming village.” Yushi Uehara, Guangzhou, 2004 Her first impression ties in with everyone’s think. You really need to visit an urban village to experience the human scale and the liveability of the villages. Yushi Uehara also stated 25 urban actions to describe and understand the evolution of the urban villages. These urban actions are based upon the research conducted by the Berlage institute in 2005. Here you can find five of them. 2 Extrusion: The villagers ‘extrude’ their house in order to achieve a profit. The farmer sets his sights on the expanding city and extrudes his home just before the construction of infrastructure. Extrusion also often occurs when a farmer aims to optimise rents to meet the demand for accommodation from the floating population of migrant workers. Hospitality: The ground-floor areas are often rented out to house small commercial activities, which transform the urban village into a more selfsustainable urban unit. Neighbourhoods: The Urban village installs temples, schools and crèches that enable the floating population to become an even more productive labour force. Implosion: After the purchase of the farmland, the villager inserts houses for new family members in the small open terrains. This consequentially increases the overall density of the whole urban village. Education: The now-wealthy businessmenvillagers send their children to Western universities, in the hope they will develop skills to become politically influential.

Figure 5

2 As seen on : https://courses.marlboro.edu/pluginfile.php/44514/mod_page/content/1/AD_New%20Urban%20China.pdf

Urban villages aren’t slums but compared to the brand new ‘fully planed’ developments around them, which consist of gated residential high-rises and commercial shopping malls, they don’t appear far off. Instead of considering them slums they should be considered as unregulated assets. They are vital to the overall housing needs of the city and they provide small-scale economic opportunities which are not catered for in the larger developments. In fact it is because these areas have not been planned that they are valuable. The local villagers weren’t developers and were taking a pragmatic approach to their own survival; they went from ‘growing crops to growing homes’ (Song, Zenou & Ding 2003). Not much of the physical history is kept standing until these days in the urban villages. Only a few temples and some built fragments, but that isn’t what is important to survive. The real importance of the heritage is embedded in the spatial dynamic. Not vertically, but more in terms of scale and the relation from building to building. Just as the original villages, these urban villages are built in clustered grids. The true trace has been ingrained into the pragmatic urban response to surviving forced urbanisation. So this is why urban villages aren’t just slums packed upon each other. They have an urban form that has been tried, tested and accepted by its inhabitants. Figure 6

Three: Challenges The first challenge is to remain the high density a city like Shenzhen needs. The biggest challenge here is not to build high-rise buildings with lots of open space in between. As seen before this way of building is good for the real-estate developers because they earn a lot of money for a small piece of ground. But living in high-rise means no sense of ownership of the public space, which means desolated parks, squares and roads. It is important to build with the same density, but in a different way. The public and the private space should reinforce one another. Easier said then done, redeveloping an area where the private and public is equal. This is why it is important to review the terms public and private. And introduce the term common in this discussion. The common space can bind everything together and insure a good integrated mix between the public and the common. Another important challenge is tackling the industrial heritage. There should be an assessment to determine which old industrial buildings can remain and get a second live. Second part of this challenge is how to integrate these industrial buildings in the urban fabric. First you can treat it as a artefact. Place it on a pedestal and let it be a reminder of the former destination of the area. Secondly the industrial heritage could be absorbed by the city, making part of the urban life, by reconverting it to dwellings, offices, commercial functions, etc. The memory remains, but starts fainting in time, because of its new function. Another possibility is to let it absorb by nature. Like they did in Duisburg (DE) the old industry becomes part of nature and nature cleans the polluted ground. Four: Concept The influence of entrances

Looking to a square in an urban village you can see that the influence of the square doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t reach that far. The first row of buildings profits the most benefits of the square. The second row also benefits of the square because many people need to pass here to enter the square. The profits for these buildings are way less then the buildings surrounding the square. Important to notice is the other buildings. The further away from the square the less influence the square has on these buildings. Only people who really have to be there will wander those streets. So these streets could become abandoned.

A major factor in this are the entrances. The main entrances of buildings surrounding a square are always facing the square. Which means you get a straight linear and simple circulation. You enter the square en go straight to your destination.

If the buildings surrounding a square would have an equal important front entrance and back entrances. Actually not a front and back entrance anymore, two main front entrances. The influence of the square expands and the second row of buildings becomes equally important. By having two entrances not only the circulation in the public space changes, the circulation in the interior spaces also is changed. Entrances are main factors in the forming of circulation patterns in a city.

Expanding this idea of more entrance throughout the whole city would mean that the previous straight and direct circulation would change. The abandoned streets would relive because the urban square is as important as all the other streets. The whole city block becomes part of the urban square. The urban realm and the buildings itself become that permeably that there are no boundaries anymore on ground level. You could see this urban block as a building where the boundaries of the city are reinterpreted and rescaled to become a building where all spaces are equally important and where

Case studies House with empty lot – ON design partners

Figure 7

Common space can be a physical border between two private spaces, but when designed and used well by the inhabitants a common space can be a link between two private spaces. It is a gradient between private and public. A common space doesn’t need to be detached from the intimate places in a home. A common space can tie does intimate spaces together and form some kind of intimate common space. A space that is neither private nor public. These spaces are important to connect neighbours with one another, instead of connecting each other with everyone.

Yokohama apartment – ON design partners

Figure 8

On street level this plot is seen as a public space. It has a vertical gradient from public towards private space. The private space rests on the public space having the common space as support. The social interaction is stretched to the maximum. People interact freely with each other in the public space, going upwards through the common space, these social interactions should get restricted, but through the visible stairs this social interaction remains. And even when there is no one using the stairs, they give a sense of ownership. Meaning the space is public but it has it restrictions. The stairs implements that someone is living above so there is some kind of social control. You can use the space but have to be aware that this public space can become a private space when the inhabitants want to.

Sakura apartment – Hitoshi Wakamatsu

Figure 9

Here the ground level is just as previous reference public space. A big difference here is the fact that the public space is pierced by the private space. This gives some restrictions for the public space. The sense of ownership and the social control is much bigger. Going upwards there is common space between the private spaces, these common spaces are used much more then the public space is used. There is a strong link between the common and the private space. The link between these two spaces en the public is rather small, although there is direct connection from public to private, the focus lies on level one. And between the common and public spaces.

Seijo townhouse – Mirushin architects

Figure 10

Again ground level is public space. The private space really lies on top of the common space with limited interaction. On the other hand the relationship between the common and the public space is maximized. The use of glass for the common spaces only reinforces this, the gradient between private, common and public space is much softer, although there is a big shift between the common and the private. It is important for the private space that the common and the public space work well together, if they don’t correspond well to each other the private space could get totally isolated, loosing its link with the public.

Superblock vs Gifu Kitgata apartment – SANAA

Figure 11

The entrance is the only element that directly relates the interior space to the outdoor space. More entrances per living unit will create a different circulation pattern, not only indoors but also outdoors. Exactly the same dwellings will have a different circulation pattern. This pattern depends on the users.

Main principles // The ground level should only be public space. No interruption of private space. // The spaces between the private spaces should be defragmented to make it more interesting and more permeable. // The public space on ground level should have different heights. The function/program/atmosphere of the public space should determine the height. // There should be indoor and outdoor common spaces on every level to enhance the social interaction between neighbours. // A visible circulation is needed. The circulation gives an identity to the buildings; you can see that there is movement. // By having more entrances to one and the same apartment the circulation will always be different. There is not a fixed way to go in or out. // By having different neighbours there will be a social mix, not in terms of rich and poor, but in terms of families, singles, elderly people. This mix means different typologies and means divergent mix of inhabitants. Statement // public common private To redevelop an area like Shekou there is a need for good balance between public, common and private space. Public space not only needs to be versatile, open, accessible for everyone, etc., but most of all it needs to be well spread throughout the whole city. Entering common space is coming closer to the private space, therefore one needs to take into account that there are boundaries here: common space means shared space, shared by a selection of people. It could be called private public space or public private space: it provides a buffer between public and private. The private space has boundaries, and can only become common or even public by choice of the owner, in other words: its approachability is bound. To get from public to private, whether you first go through a common space or not, you need to enter it; you need to go through an entrance, through a door, a gate, a hole, a line, etc. Entering a space is crossing a boundary. Entrance is a main factor in defining space. An urban square is an important public space of which the significance is defined by open area and more importantly by the entrances facing the square. An urban square without entrances to other spaces would only be open space, not public space. The influence of the urban square diminishes, as the distance from it increases. To counter the diminishing influence of the urban square, the need for more entrances raises. There is no need for a back entrance, but for one or more equally accessible entrances at the back, at the front or on the sides. The whole ground level becomes more permeable and there are not only more possibilities to enter the private space, but even more to enter the urban square and even to re-enter the other public spaces. An urban square, the public space, is mainly located on ground level. Creating more entrances on this level makes a city even more permeable, but in section almost nothing changes. Having public space only on the ground level limits the accessibility of the buildings or even space as a whole. It is important to see public space not only on the ground level and not to see an entrance solely divided by a threshold from public space. To create a permeable city it is important to generate public space and entrances on every level. There is a need for a good balance between public, common and private space, not only in plan, but also in section. To create this, a good gradient between the common, public and private space is needed: not only a gradient in plan, but also in section. Public space is not only provided by parts of the ground

level, but by the ground level as a whole. Going up there is still need of public space, in which case we speak of public space translated into a stair, a passage, a bench, a room, etc. The common spaces need to be located at a smaller distance from private space to give it that kind of ownership it needs. The common space is a shattered space; it can lie between two private spaces, between a public and a private, two public spaces or even between two other common ones. The common space is that in-between zone that can easily transform from a private to a public space and vice versa. The common space is a closed public space of which opening the door can make it public. The private space is the most enclosed space. Where the entrance is the only element that directly relates the interior space to the outdoor space. Mainly private spaces have one main entrance and one back entrance. This makes the private space and its participation with the common and public space limited. Adding a second entrance makes the relationship between the private space and the public and common more versatile and differentiated. There are nor front- nor backdoors, only front doors. To create this balance between private, public and common there is a need for a framework. More precisely, a framework above the public ground level that makes it possible to design deliberately private and common spaces that are punctured with public space.

Five: Design proposal Framework To create this balance between private, public and common there is a need for a framework. More precisely, a framework above the public ground level that makes it possible to design deliberately private and common spaces that are punctured with public space.

The framework should tie all public, common and public spaces together and help form a network for social interaction. The framework takes part in the configuration of the spaces. It helps determine what function can go where.

In this section you can see that the ground level is un-built. The only things you can find on ground level are the columns. These columns are necessary not only to carry the private and the common spaces on top but also to have a physical link between the public and the common/private. The public space is the metaphorical base and the columns the physical base for the private and common spaces. Typologies To be more versatile typologies are being introduced. These typologies give the opportunity to fill the framework easily with different configurations and neighbours. The typologies are a built up by the same principle. There is one main piece of furniture that includes a kitchen, bathroom, toilet and storage. By placing the closet in such a way the apartment gets divided into different rooms. No walls needed, just a curtain to obtain the wanted privacy.

Public functions On ground level several public function can take place, by just implementing some basics between the columns. The public space can change/adapt itself in function of the needs of the users.

Lots of bicycles stand. The bicycle is a much used for transportation but the car still is the most favoured. To encourage using the bike, cars are band as much as possible and there is a good infrastructure foreseen for bikes.

Between the columns there are shelves on several places. These shelves could function as bookshelves and encourage people to come and sit together. Or it could be exchange shelves or exhibition shelves or â&#x20AC;Ś Shelves can be an activator for social interaction.

In China many people eat on the street. Just by placing a dinning stand you can activate a whole space and encourage the social interaction.

Greenery is important in public space. By just spanning cables between columns a vertical garden can rise. These green spots are necessary the make the public space more enjoyable.

A shop is not really a public space but has such an importance in the public life that it can be accounted as a public place. Shops are one of the most important functions that generates social interaction. When open, the panels make the shop an open space, when closed the panels need to be closed, just because of security measurements.

A tribune. A stage. A place for entertainment. Planned or spontaneous. Performing is an attraction for people and should not be inside of a building where you need to pay for. Performing should be available for all.

Common functions Common functions are situated on al floors. These are shared places with neighbours. The common places tend to generate more interaction between neighbours.

Common outdoor green spaces are important; these are place for leisure and encounters. It is important that there are enough of these places and they may not be too big. The human scale of these spaces is crucial for them to work.

A rentable room with a bar. For a neighbourly party, for a small celebration, a gathering place for youngsters or just for a business meeting. These rentable rooms can be used in such a versatile ways and is needed because the apartments arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that big. These rooms give new opportunities for special private occasion or public occasions. .

A projection room. For a cosy movie night or to give a presentation. When there is no projection this room could be used as a common living room.

Everybody needs to do its laundry. Instead of making this a private thing, public washing rooms are provided. Linking the necessary to the pleasant.

Seven: Conclusion This project is an answer against the high-rise development that goes on in Shenzhen. Whit this framework I want to point out that when build differently you can create an even more dens city that is more liveable. The project aims on social interaction stretched to the maximum. This social interaction is conceived by mixing public, common and social functions in a different way then conventionally. This project is trying to be an example on how to tackle these three sorts of spaces. The main goal is to start a discussion about these spaces and their relationship towards each other. I think it can be concluded that this kind of tackling space in general enhances the quality of living in a city, certainly when as dense as in Shenzhen.

Eight: Figure list 1. HOWARD W. FRENCH (2006), In Chinese boomtown. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/world/asia/18shenzhen.html?pagewanted=all&_r= 0 2. UNKNOWN (2011), Universiade Shenzhen. [online] Available at: http://www.wqs-china-interpreters.com/2011-shenzhen-universiadevenues-stadium-arena-maps-help.html 3. Own drawing 4. Own drawing 5. JOHN J. BURNS (2011), Axonometric of Typical ‘Handshake Building’. [online] Available at: http://www.mascontext.com/tag/shenzhen/ 6. JOHN J. BURNS (2011), Axonometric of Shui Wei Village. [online] Available at: http://www.mascontext.com/tag/shenzhen/ 7. ERIKA KIM ( 2012), ON design partners: house with empty lot. [online] Available at: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/on-design-partners-house-withempty-lot/ 8. UNKNOWN (2011), Yokohama apartment by ON design partners. [online] Available at: http://www.homedsgn.com/2013/06/02/yokohama-apartment-by-ondesign-partners/ 9. UNKNOWN ( 2012), Sakura apartment. . [online] Available at: http://zhan.renren.com/jianzhuzhongguo?gid=3602888498033675721&checked=true 10. MIURASHIN ARCHITECT + ASSOCIATES (2012), Seijo Townhouse. [online] Available at: http://www.archello.com/en/project/seijo-townhouse 11. CHEN FARKAS (2007), Gifu Kitgata apartment building. [online] Available at: http://gifuprefecture.blogspot.be

Nine: Reference list MARY O’HARA-DEVEREAUX (2013), The chineses generation’s social context: 6 big shifts. [online] Available at: http://china-forecast.com/future-of-china-emerging-markets/the-chinesegenerations-social-context-6-big-shifts/ LAURENCE LIAUW (2008), New urban China. [online] Available at: https://courses.marlboro.edu/pluginfile.php/44514/mod_page/content/1/AD_New%20Urban%2 0China.pdf JOHN J. BURNS (2011), The Chengzhongcun Urban Traces of the Village. [online] Available at: http://www.mascontext.com/tag/shenzhen/ FRED KENT (2012), Toward an Architecture of Place: Moving Beyond Iconic to Extraordinary. [online] Available at: http://www.pps.org/reference/toward-an-architecture-of-place-movingbeyond-iconic-toextraordinary/?fb_action_ids=10203309501556857&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.U1gjXS MrE9s.like&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

SONG, Y., ZENOU, Y. & DING, C., The Role of China’s Urbanizing Villages, Urbanization in China: Critical Issues in an Era of Rapid Growth, (Cambridge: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2003) pp. 145-168. YAN, M.:2008, Urban Villages. Architectural Design, September/October, pp.52-59.