[Master Thesis] Provocation, Art & Culture : [RE]born

[RE]born

by Hannah Liew

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“ C R E ATI N G A FAIR CHAN

N C E FOR WOM E N A ND BA B I E S TO L I V E A N O R M A L L I FE .”

CONTENT

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\ MANIFESTO

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\ PROJECT BRIEF

10 & 11

\ ONE CHILD POLICY - Issue - Trend - Timeline - Affected Area - Fertility Rate

12 - 19

\ TARGET USER GROUPS

20 & 21

\ DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - Journey of Spaces - Place Making - Chinese Courtyard House - Further Exploration of Models - Human Circulation Route - Post Traumatic Design Considerations

22 - 33

\ SITE ASSESSMENT - Beijing - Site Criteria - Site Analysis

34 - 39

\ BUILDING PROGRAMS - Baby Drop Off Point - Woman & Baby Shelter - Adoption Center

40 - 47

\ LONGITUDINAL SECTION

48 - 49

\ EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC & ISONOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE

50 - 51

\ FINAL DESIGN BOOTH

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ONE –CHILD POLICY

‘Women living under the policy descri eviction from homes if they attempted

The policy had worrying consequence male children led to reported abortion only child was a boy.

As a result, in 2016, there were 1.15 ma most skewed gender ratios in the wor

ibed forced abortions, heavy fines, and d to have a second baby.

es for the gender balance as a desire for ns and infanticide to ensure a couple’s

ales for every female in China, one of the rld. ‘ // CNN World

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R e c o n t e x t u a l i s e C h i n e s e Tr a d i t i o n i n B e i j i n g

BY HANNAH LIEW

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CHINA’S ONE CHILD

CRISIS

A B A N D O N M E N T, A B O R T I O N & A D O P T I O N .

W H Y T H E W O R L D ’ S M O S T P O P U L O U S N AT I O N N E E D S M O R E P E O P L E ?

Poster by Author

MANIFESTO This project addresses the social issues attributed to the radical government policies in China, and explores possibilities of new architectural typologies derived from the resulted social issues.

Being home to 33 million more men than women in 2014 due to inequal gender ratio at birth, China possesses the worst gender inequality for the longest period of time in the world. This gender inequality results in the rise of social issues such as domestic violence, sexual harrasment, forced abortion, marriage revolution and many more unjust issues. This project would act as platform for these weaker social groups to express themselves allowing their voices to be heard, ideally provoking an immediate reaction/ action to the government policies.

The startling gender imbalance in China stems from the internationally renowned One-Child Policy (OCP) implemented in the 70’s. Under the OCP, parents are only lawfully allowed to have one child due to overpopulation in China. As such, this policy advocates selection abortion of female babies due to the preference of the Chinese traditional culture towards male heirs.

“China’s unwanted babies once mostly girls, now mostly sick, disabled.” - CNN World Consequently, abandoned babies (mostly females) became increasingly ubiquitous. China reacted by launching pilot drop zones for unwanted infants in 25 major cities in 2015. Unfortunately, most of the schemes are forced to close after being overwhelmed by infants with severe disabilities. Until now, the issue continues to deteriorate without any plausible action taken.

Ultimately, this project does not intend to change China’s policies. Conversely, it aims to recontextualise China’s social issues as opportunities for architecture to adapt and manifest itself into new provocative typologies. These typologies would be imagined as equal, free and sensible paradisiacal spaces within a posttraumatic world, creating a fair chance for women and babies to live a normal life.

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‘China last year launched pilot dr 25 major cities last year in a bid t being left to die to the streets, to close after being overwhelme disabilities.’

rop zones for unwanted infants in to prevent unwanted babies from but many schemes were forced ed, mostly by infants with severe

// Radio Free Asia

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Photo Collage by Author

PROJECT BRIEF WOMEN “Gender equality is the view that everyone should receive equal treatment and not be discriminated against based on their gender.”

To create an equal social environment for women to against all the inequality treatments from the society. Ending gender-based violence, eliminating domestic violence and advocate female reproductive rights. A platform for them to raise out hidden voices and provide equal opportunities in education, work, and representation.

UNWANTED BABIES “Please abandon your baby safely.”

To provide fair chance for the unwanted babies to live with their human rights. The building will be equipped with the necessary health facilities, education system and professional medical monitoring. The ideology of the building is not to support the movement of abandoning their baby but to make sure parents have a safe place to abandon their new born.

INVISIBLE BABIES “I don’t even have an identity file. I haven’t received any education, and no work place would accept me. Everyone needs to provide an identity card to take a train anywhere and to see a doctor.”

To support the unregistered individuals who is suffering from the side effects of OCP by designing accessible spaces and facilities for everyone who is in need of help and without any restriction with their identity or race. The facility will seek to liaise with the government and fight for their identity/ human rights.

This scheme will be a building prototype with its site context being Beijing and a baby receiving centre will be placed in every province of China and America + international adoption centre for countries which has an aging population, where a younger population is needed due to economic reasons or for couples who have special needs.

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12 ISSUE / ONE CHILD POLICY

‘Women living under the policy described forced abortions, heavy fines, and eviction from homes if they attempted to have a second baby.

The policy had worrying consequences for the gender balance as a desire for male children led to reported abortions and infanticide to ensure a couple’s only child was a boy.

As a result, in 2016, there were 1.15 males for every female in China, one of the most skewed gender ratios in the world. ‘ // CNN World

TREND / GENDER IMBALANCE The graph shows the population statistics in China, as we can see the male population is consistently 33 millions more than women since the 80’s. The OCP plays an important role in causing this phenomenon. According to the Chinese tradition, they prefer to have a son instead of a daughter because they believe that sons will inherit their surname and the son has the responsibility to take care of the family but daughter will eventually be married to other families.

Furthermore, people will have to face punishments such as fines and losing their job by breaking the law, abandoning their baby girl became their only choice. This therefore generates tremendous side effects in the long run due to the gender imbalance burden on the country. Leading to insufficient numbers of the working population to support the economy and the aging population, and eventually threatening the financial stability of the country.

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P O P U L AT I O N I N M I L L I O N

580

660

640

620 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 Male Fe m a l e

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ONE CHILD POLICY / TIMELINE

1970

1950

1980

1960

• • • • •

Population growth outpace the food supply.

Catastrophic famine resulted in the deaths of millions Chinese.

Birth Control has been promoted.

• • •

Uplifting family planning programme.

Educate public with birth control knowledge Encourage people postponing having children.

• •

The total population achieved one billion in China.

One Child Policy (OCP) was introduced by former Chinese leader Deng Xiao Ping.

To tackle the rapid growing population and to ease the usage of natural resources.

Rewards/ incentives for families who adheres OCP. E.g. lower unemployment, higer wages and gouvernment asistance.

• •

Medical & Sanitation are improved.

Tremendous transition in economy, China transformed itself from a nation that is predominantly relied on its primary sector, moving into the industrial ages.

2013

2020 2018

• • • •

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Fertility rate reduced.

Birth rate reduced.

Couples that are both only child are allowed to have a second children.

Punishments for not obeying the policy has been implemented. Punishments such as huge fines, forced abortions and the risk of losing jobs and many more.

• • • • •

China became the second largest economy in the world.

OCP has relaxed, couples were allowed to have second child if their first child is baby girl.

Shrinkage of the labour force.

The demographic structure becoming increasingly imbalanced with an aging population.

Couples were allowed to have a second child if either of the parents is the only child.

• • •

OCP has ended.

Every couple is allow to have two childrens.

Imbalanced gender ratio, 33.49 million men > women.

•

•

Expected to have 30 million more young men > women in China.

Millions of Chinese men may not able to find wives.

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AREA AFFECTED BY OCP Relaxed Medium Strict

AFFECTED AREAS Most of the provinces from the east China are less effected by OCP while main cities like Shanghai, Beijing are fully under controlled by the government. The reasons for the rural areas to be less affected by the policy are the inaccessible transportation link and the under development of the town became an obstacle to track the human activities.

This sums up the reason for the death rate of girls in their first year of life is up to three times higher in rural areas than in urban areas. 95% of abandoned children in rural areas live outside of state-controlled orphanages.

FERTILITY RATE, % 1.50 & Above 1.30 - 1.49 1.00- 1.29 Lower than 1

FERTILITY RATE China appears to be backpedaling on its decades-long policies to limit population growth as it attempts to address a demographic time bomb. As we can see from the map on the left, the country’s total fertility rate is 1.6 children per woman, well below the 2.1 rate estimated to be necessary to keep the population steady. The birth rate is directly proportioned with the graph of the affected areas of the OCP, as demographic issues caused by the lack of children became increasingly apparent. China’s pool of workers is shrinking, with many young people supporting their parents and two sets of grandparents, in a country where social services for the elderly are still lacking. The working-age population will contract just as the older population expands. In order to stabilize the consumption growth to pick up the overall economy of the country, China started to encourage citizens to have more babies.

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U. S

C H I NA

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION CENTRE The scheme will be designed based on the Beijing site context as a prototype and it will be placed in every province of China to benefit the local society. It will also be situated in the United States due to the high demand for adoption every year from the States. In 1995, the Chinese government reported that there were 40,000 orphanages. In 2009, Americans adopted more orphans from China than in any other country, totaling 3001 adoptions. In the most recent years for which data is available, Americans adopted 2587 children from China. A total of 24,635 Chinese mainland children were adopted in 2012. Eighty-seven percent were adopted by parents from the mainland, while the remaining 3,311 children were adopted by overseas parents.

Last but not least, up to 74% of mainland Chinese children adopted by overseas parents in 2012 were disabled or older children. This statistic shows the potential of an international adoption centre in sight of seeking a better environment for the babies, which can benefit the foreign couples in need. A Pokemon themed private jumbo jet will be the transportation for babies to every country, to prioritize the safety of them and their family.

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TARGET USER GROUPS The target main user groups will be unwanted babies, traumatized woman and unregistered babies. A few building typologies are mixed due to the different programmes and spaces will be designed specifically for the need of user groups.

The scheme is design as a safe island for traumatize women and abandoned babies to be taken care of, a life support for the unregistered babies/ individuals while at the same time it is an international adoption centre to the countries/couples that are having special needs.

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

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TEMPORATY STAY

ACCOMODATION

REGISTRATION INFANTS

CHILDREN

ADOPTION

POLICE STATION

CHECK UP INFORMATION COUNTER

SUPPORT HOSPITAL GOODBYE

COMMU POLICE STATION DROP OFF

PSY ACCOMODATION

REGISTRATION

WOMAN

CONSULTATION

JOURNEY OF SPACES

EDUCATION

MEMORIES LIFE SKILLS

COMMUNAL BLOCK / FACILITIES

OUTDOOR

UNITY ACTIVITIES

A series of spaces for the scheme is carefully designed to create the sense of home for different user groups. The spaces are designed based on the mental and physical needs of the various occupants. For instance, the babies will go through a complete journey from saying goodbye to their biological parents, checkups in the hopsital and ending with adoption phase by couples who has special needs. The series of spaces are broken down as below, Red = Unwanted / Unregistered babies.

Blue = Woman that needs help.

Green = People who is interested in adopting a baby

INDOOR

YCHOTHERAPHY

SACRED PLACE

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P L AC E � M A K I N G

PRGNANT WOMEN | HELPLESS

U N WA N T E D B A B Y | C H I L D P O L I C Y

PA R E N T S | A D O P T I O N

PLACE MAKING

NG

Z O N I N G | P R I VA C Y

S PAT I A L A R R A N G E M E N T

SOLID | VOID

HIERARCHY OF SPACES

C O U RT YA R D

WA L K WAY

CHINESE COURTYARD HOUSE

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28 FURTHER EXPLORATION OF MODELS

Building Blocks / Programmes

Green Terraces / Courtyards

Hierarchy of Spaces / Human Scale

Route for parents with special needs

Route for women

Human Circulation Route The building typology are designed with multi functional spaces to suit the needs of every building users. The spaces are well defined from the level of publicity and arranged to be more sensible for occupants by placing the spaces that required for each propose to be more convenient for usage. For instance, route 1 is for parents who wanting to adopt baby where the spaces are located on the west side of building while route 2 is for women who needs temporary shelter and route 3 is for parents who are forced to abandon their beloved children.

Route for unwanted babies

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Architecture is a art wh unconsciously creates a atmosphere and when thi well being.

hen one consciously or aesthetic emotion in the is environment produces

// Luis Barragan

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Multiple access to communal space.

Transparency of spaces.

Abundant daylight and views.

Clarify way finding.

Design for me-time.

DESIGN CONSIDERATION / POST TRAUMATIC GUIDELINES Multiple access to communal space

Clarify wayfinding

A communal area may be used by residents to gather with family and supportive friends, host community gatherings for meetings, and/or provide a location for classes or workshops. Similarly, an outdoor gathering space are more preferable without compromising resident safety but at the same time it can invite all the community members to get involved in fulfilling the shelter’s mission.

An easy-to-navigate environment is particularly important for people who are anxious, depressed, or in crisis.

Besides, clear wayfinding helps people with short term memory problems or other cognitive challenges (which are not uncommon for survivors who have sustained traumatic brain injuries from being beaten). Lively colors and images at can help children to stay oriented and it brings postivie vibes to the users too. The areas of the building could be differetiate with different colors and pictures.

Aundant daylight and views Position rooms, windows, and skylights will be considered to maximize natural daylight and increase views of natural features like gardens and trees. The location of the windows will be placed strategically throughout the building to provide a sense of connection between the indoor and outdoor, while still preserving the sense of secure.

Design for Me-time Window seats are commonly love by not only children but also adults, because spaces like alcoves and other peripheral spaces that allow them to create their own little world between themself while also being connected to the larger, communal space. A range of spaces will be create to meet the emotional, psychological and learning needs to the users.

Transparancy of spaces In shelters, the transparency of spaces help in choosing when to interact and with whom is an essential component of self determination. In order to accomplish the ability to see who is in a communal space before entering it, the designer should make good use of the location of the interior windows or cutouts and open sight lines. At the same time it provide a clear visual access supports to people who may be deaf, hearing impaired or use sign language to communicate.

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SITE ASSESSMENT

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BEIJING - Political capital of China.

- Cultural & educational centre.

- Central of government.

- Centre for economy, technology & business city.

BEIJING

ansport hub

rading town e

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Political capital of China C u l t u r a l & e d u c a t i o n a l c e n t re Central of government C e n t re f o r e c o n o m y, t e c h n o l o g y & b u s i n e s s c i t y

SITE CRITERIA The site will preferably be a developed city that is equipped with advanced transportation links for example like trains, subway or highway that connect every part of the cities, at the same time it must be accessible from the outskirts too.

The response the intention of provoking the government policy, the site should be in the heart of the political capital or the central of government in order to raise the awareness for the public. On top of that, the site would be rather close to police stations or hospitals for passive public surveillance of human activities and these building functions it will complement the scheme by supporting the health services and provide protection to the whole social environment. Besides, the scheme could work with schools to achieve the education proposal for the babies or anyone who needs free education to survive, it will be convenient in reaching all the education resources. Last but not least, the site will likely be in a quiet residential area that is close to the city centre which is accessible by anyone who is coming from anywhere with the sense of community but offers a calming social community at the same time.

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SITE ANALYSIS The idea behind selecting Beijing as the site is to provoke the conserved government policy at the capital of Republic of China. Beijing as the central of politics and the gathering point for the politicians are the perfect location to raise awareness not only to the local but internationally through the advancement of media network. The site is located at the city centre surrounded by landmarks would maximise the exposure to the tourist and social media. It is located between two largest streets with most of the political buildings along the highway which it is accessible from everywhere with all kinds of public transportations into the city. Beijing Catholic Association is located right behind the site provides the confident for people to against forced abortion while the Hospital located opposite the site would provide medical services for the weaker social groups.

CHANG AN AVENUE

XUAN WU MEN STREET

BEIJING CA ASSOCIA

ATHOLIC ATION

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BEIJING XI CHENG CHANG AN KINDERGARTEN

BEIJING NO2 HOSPITAL

XI CHANG AN STREET FORBIDDEN CITY/ NATIONAL CENTRE GREAT HALL OF POLICE STATION THE PALACE MUSEUM OF THE PROPLE PERFORMING ARTS

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BUILDING PROGRAM

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Spaces that designed for baby drop off.

Baby drop off entrance

BABY DROP-OFF Secondary entrance are designed for parents who is forced to abandon their child at the centre. It is a hidden entrance that location on the North sice of the building while the main entrance is located on the South side.

Clear and obvious wayfinding is to provide guidance for vistors especially for parents who is having a hard time in giving up their child. A bell is designed beside the cot bed to inform the nurse from the community, huge window with views to the courtyard provides abundant daylights into the room. Parents could exit the building immediately after making this hard decision or they could choose to hide from publid while adjusting the emotions at the Chapel.

Smaller scale for baby room is for a better management . The attached nursery room provides reachable distance to nappies for nurses who is handling a baby alone. Nursery room has spaces for food preparation, storage for nappies and cleaning area as well.

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Drop off Room

Baby Room

Nursery Room REBORN

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Spaces that designed for women who needs help.

Exterior perspective for baby & women stay

WOMEN SHELTER The women stay provides a shelter who woment that needs help where they need to contribute in volunteering work in return.

Volunteering services including taking care of the babies at the lower floor, maintaining the cleanliness, reception or clark of works until they have further planning arranged by the center. Despite the community living in the center, me-walkway is specially designed for short escape from the group where they could spend some time alone reading books or recuperating. Window seats are commonly love by not only children but also adults, because spaces like alcoves and other peripheral spaces that allow them to create their own little world between themself while also being connected to the larger, communal space. Other than tht, Chapel is another space create to meet the emotional, psychological and learning needs to the users.

Chapel

Me-walkway

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Spaces that designed for parents with special needs

Perspective for family stay

ADOPTION CENTRE Adoption Process is a long application for overseas parents,it could take up to 10 years for one single application.

Family stay is a temporary shelter for overseas parents to stay while they are waiting for the approval . Basic living spaces like laundry room, game corner, bedroom with ensuite bathroom, kitchen, garden, gathering spaces, workshops and activity room are specially designed to provide a sensible environment for parents to receive proper education and trainings in taking care of the new born.

Reception for adoption centre

Laundry Room

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LONGITUDINAL SECTION The cross section of the whole scheme shows how the building programmes integrated with each other while the baby center occupied the highest hierarchy of spaces within the building compound. Designated green courtyard / terrace for every spaces to be connected visually with the occupants for a soothing indoor atmosphere.

The position rooms, amount of windows, and location of skylights are carefully considered to maximize natural daylight and increase views of natural features like gardens and trees. The location of the windows are placed strategically throughout the building to provide a sense of connection between the indoor and outdoor, while still preserving the sense of secure.

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EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC

ISONOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE

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FINAL PRESENTATION BOOTH

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