A research, design and exhibition on hybrid residential infrastructures in new york city.
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Communal living structure, also known as “high rise tower block“ is a common living prototype in cities of China. It represent the rapid process of urbanization, and is a way to accommodate high density population in an efficient way. However, because of these towers are usually planned as massive block of mono-drone usage- residential accommodation, these gigantic towers gradually isolate themselves from the rest of the city.
Their programs are outdated, while their functions not up to date. Though in recent years, the government has put forward new policy trying to open up the tower island, the problem still exists.
In the US, there’s a similar typology called Collective housing project. Today the Projects perform as a collection of anachronistic urban islands that block the continuity of the city and contain a number of stigmas that make them be not widely accepted by the neighbors.
My research and focused on three points:
1.
Urban
2.
Society
3.
Economy
I visited the site several times throughout different times of the day. I printed a site map and hand recorded the elements I observed at site. Each number represented photo taken, so the photos could be sorted out by location after the visit.
homogeneous Materiality
After several site visits, I depicted the very initial thoughts of the site. The mono-drone materiality with very few diversity- the bricks, metal windows frames, bricks facade, presented a very strong solidarity in contrast of the diverse neighborhood: parks, small scale restaurants and bars, street skateboarders, and all sorts of small businesses. The feeling of "isolation" is so strong that whenever I am approaching the site, I feel like an intruder from different society.
Cameras and surveillance
The density of CCTV cameras within NYCHA is higher than the average in the city. Populated cameras play an opposite role of defining safety and order. Located at almost each corner of the housing units, CCTV cameras imply and thus define the region of danger. As a consequence, people living in the project are tagged as "Projected people". Those incubated cameras, though viewed as single spots, have a wider range of view coverage.
Diverse Recycled Materials
Recycled Clothes
Recycled Cans
Recycled Bottles
Recycled Sand
Recycled Sand Bags
Recycled Plastic Bags
Recycled Trucks
Recycled Washing Machines
Recycled Plastic Bottles
On the contrary of the homogeneous construction materials, the recycled objects at site are of great diversity. Ranging from plastic bottles, wine bottles, to recycled washing machine, this remix could be a new language to be injected into the site to fight against its monotonous isolation.
Mapping out the cameras
In order to emphasize the unique features of the site, I started with mapping out surveillance camera location both in plan (horizontally) and in section (vertically). This site map maps out the location of each CCTV camera within the site. The angles illustrate the area that is under surveillance while the gradient represents the different intensity a camera could reach for.
play with the shadow of the cameras
The area that could not be captured by cameras is defined as “shadow of the cameras“. These are the area where we can "play" around. I traced over the shadow area both in plan and section. The irregular shaped "shadow" area could be a space for future growth.
structure: Shadow play
On the contrary of the homogeneous construction materials, the recycled objects at site are of great diversity. Ranging from plastic bottles, wine bottles, to recycled washing machine, this remix could be a new language to be injected into the site to fight against its monotonous isolation.
propose new industries to diversify the project
My project aims at providing new industry and jobs for female residents in NYCHA. Different than traditional Laundry industry, the laundry here is industrialized. With organizational system, the huge industry could serve for the whole Manhattan. With better streamlined laundry, the flow could be divided into storage, arrival collection, sorting, washing factory, ironing factory, and storage. Kindergarten and art studio will be offered serving the community. Public space such as library would be introduced to the project as a brand new space.
I had a chance to exhibit my research and ideation in a three person exhibition named "camera, sound and sunshine".
With a background in both China and the US, we found similarity between New York collective housing and China’s tower block. Our research started out in New York City, one of the cities with the most promising real estate values and opportunities. However, we believe that our research on high density housing tower in New York could be a brainstorming chance for reviving China’s high rise towers. Within the context of fast-paced developing urbanism, these islands appear to us full of potential, asking for a second chance to find again a pertinent role in the urban scene. Our target is to find out the negative characteristic of these projects, thus push these problematic conditions further into urban renewal process. We are putting forward the solution, not to tear them down , but to free them from the hybrid residential infrastructure, erosion of real estate industry, disconnection from communities. We are proposing to give them a chance to revive from their defects: Overly monitored, Lack of sound attenuation, lack of public space, etc, to truly tear down the “boundary“ between these gigantic urban island and the modern city life.
