THESIS PORTFOLIO
SITE DIAGRAM The site is located in Shanghai, China in an area that is currently home to a low-income and migrant community. Because of this, the design is phased in three stages to reduce the need for relocation with the focus of this investigation being on the second stage.
RURAL MIGRANT DIAGRAMS Migrants make up a very large portion of the existing population of Shanghai and there are no signs that this trend of rural populations going to the city to seek their fortunes will end. Despite their increasing population, they live as second class citizens within the urban environment due to the Hokou system that denies them access to social welfare programs and opportunities. NON-LABOR OCCUPATION CONSTRUCTION 26.8%
MIGRANT 8.3 MILLION
URBAN 14.12 MILLION
MANUAL LABOR 39.5%
SHANGHAI AVERAGE 1,630 YUAN MIGRANT SALARY 750 YUAN
SHANGHAI POPULATION
OCCUPATIONS AND SALARY
UNDER 30
MALE
MARRIED
LIMITED EDUCATION
ORIGINS AND CHARACTERISTCS
SHIKUMEN HOUSING PRECEDENT The Shikumen Housing is an important precedent because of the distribution of service and living space which creates a blurring of the distinction between indoor/outdoor and public/private. The kitchen and courtyard spaces became areas of gathering and socialization as residents performed their daily activities within the lanes.
SHIKUMEN HOUSE SECTION AXON
LILONG BLOCK EXPLODED AXON
MVRDV’S MIRADOR PRECEDENT This housing project was conceived as a modern, higherdensity solution to the 6-story courtyard apartments in Madrid. Here, MVRDV translated the typology vertically and created a sky courtyard public space and integrated a winding circulation core throughout to incorporate additional public space. This concept is specifically valid for this investigation as is grapples with a similar concept and creates a unique urban experience through vertically incorporated “lanes”.
CONCEPT DIAGRAM
CIRCULATION NETWORK
HOUSING BLOCKS
FULL AXON DIAGRAM
SHIKUMEN HOUSING PRECEDENT
SERVICE LANE CORRIDORS AND ADAPTABLE UNIT DIAGRAMS In Shanghai it became clear that cooking and laundry were communal activities. To bring this into a higher density model, this design places service spaces within the circulation corridor in an attempt to reduce the size of the individual units and promote socialization.
Because migrants are typically only home late at night, the unit is reduced to just a bedroom with bathroom and balcony space. Also, because migrants are likely to be travelling light, furniture is incorporated into the design which will allow adaptability and potential growth.
EXPLODED AXON LOUVER DIAGRAM Because the majority of Shanghainese air dry their laundry outside, the design of the facade incorporates operable louvers that will provide both shading and a usable drying rack for laundry.