Super public, a housing project in China

Abstract

Nowadays urbanization has been processing in a very fast speed in China. Meanwhile, urbanization also leads to many negative effects on Chinese cities. Public space is widely undermined in housing blocks, streets and communities. By researching urbanism design theories and space types, the thesis attempts to conclude the design thinking for public space and provide suggestions for architectural design based on China's realities. With the conditions of Super Public, a housing project would comprehensively use design strategies to integrate public space and many other urban functions.

"Isolation of crowds, foul air, excessive hours, chances of employment" the description of great industrial cities which appeared in Ebenezer Howard's book in 1897, Garden Cities of Tomorrow, reflects contemporary Chinese cities appropriately. On the one hand, China is repeating the dilemma that the developed western countries had experienced in their urbanizations in history. On the other hand, the problems in China also have some special aspects, such as the size of the population and the speed of development, which are difficult to find references from the rest of the world.

China is undergoing the largest urbanization in human being's history, while many cities are losing their identities due to the wide range of demolishing and construction. Since the economic reform in 1979, a more authoritarian politic system has the ability to promote its vast urban renewal project in many cities. The urbanization processes with a huge movement of population from countryside to cities. In the foreseeable future, both of the size and density in Chinese cities will continue to have a large increase.

Furthermore, urbanization also changes the mode of living. More people would live in isolated high-rise towers. The intimate residential areas in old downtown have been enlarged to huge scales and distances. Many alleys, streets and traditional yards where communal life happened have been demolished. The disappearance of public space are more and more common in Chinese cities. However, the new housing buildings in China still do not give enough attention to create new types of public space. The city renewal planning still works as a process of brutal expansion.

The thesis will focus on the lost public space. The researching phase includes background description, phenomenon analysis and theories conclusion. A method of typology will be introduced to study the types of public space in various urban conditions. During the project phase, it aims to discover the usability of different public space. It is a schematical design with a precondition of Super Public. Super Public is a concept that inverts the existing proportion between public and private space in collective housing. Super Public gives enough space to designer to create scenarios and types for public space. With a very low density, it is not a practical design for a specific purpose. But it is a collective thinking about design strategies for public space. The design would attempt to involve various street events, common rooms and residential units. From urban street to each housing unit, the public space can be created in many levels. All in all, the public space aims at building up a vibrant community life for the inhabitants there.

The site locates in Nanjing, China. It is a joint point of historical buildings(e.g. the city wall and city gate), landscape, river and old residential districts. Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu Province, around 300 kilometers away from Shanghai, the most important city in eastern China. As many other large Chinese cities, it has been expanding a lot during the past 30 years. The urban problems represented in Nanjing are also happening in other major cities in China. So the considerations and concepts in this design are not specifically connected with Nanjing, but also linked with a wider background of Chinese large cities.