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M+, Hong Kong. Gift of Urbanus, 2013, © Urbanus
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URBANUS 都市實踐
Model, Urban Village: Gangxia Village (2004–2005), Shenzhen, China 中國深圳「城中村研究：崗廈村」（2004–2005）模型
2005
Amidst China’s rapid transformation, the Urban Village research project devises strategies to reconcile and improve older residential areas facing demolition and other pressures from market-driven development. URBANUS identifies the ‘village in city’ phenomenon—dense, informal settlements among newer skyscrapers and infrastructure—as an important housing typology and a by-product of economic growth in the Pearl River Delta. These unregulated and self-sustaining urban enclaves absorb influxes of migrants from rural areas and accommodate many low-income residents on little land. URBANUS seeks to enhance the living conditions of these villages while retaining their intimate scale and vibrant characteristics.
Gangxia Village is a large block in Shenzhen’s central business district. A series of low-to-medium-rise buildings bordered by skyscrapers, the self-organised area faces top-down rehabilitation pressure. Through a series of interventions—depicted in the model with brightly coloured rectangular forms—URBANUS proposes methods of renovating the neighbourhood in order to maintain the urban fabric while adding housing units and public facilities. These strategies include partially demolishing buildings, inserting connections, infilling voids, adding public spaces at the roof and ground levels, and improving streets and commercial components. By removing specific buildings and redistributing their functions across the multi-level site in a new manner, the architects retain the block’s density but increase its livability and commercial activity.
Gangxia Village is a large block in Shenzhen’s central business district. A series of low-to-medium-rise buildings bordered by skyscrapers, the self-organised area faces top-down rehabilitation pressure. Through a series of interventions—depicted in the model with brightly coloured rectangular forms—URBANUS proposes methods of renovating the neighbourhood in order to maintain the urban fabric while adding housing units and public facilities. These strategies include partially demolishing buildings, inserting connections, infilling voids, adding public spaces at the roof and ground levels, and improving streets and commercial components. By removing specific buildings and redistributing their functions across the multi-level site in a new manner, the architects retain the block’s density but increase its livability and commercial activity.
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