Common Forms of the City - 18 Steps Village
The 18 steps village is an articulation of 3 zones, creating threshold between figure and ground, allowing the two to exchange.
The project serves as a critique against the developmental device common to rapid growing Chinese cities - the mega-plot. Arguing that monumentality and identity is achieved through the collective and both figure and ground. Ultimately the proposal provides alternative approach to deploy the mega-plots, questioning both the device itself and the resultant forms, transforming them into the device for us to understand the city.
Formal Transformation
Deriving the formal elements from the 18 steps village, various formal transformation is performed to generate different spatial relationships and possibilities.
Overall Plan
The plan of the proposal shows how the infrastructure is organizing the formal elements for different functions and how the towers intersect with the ground level.
Intersection between ground and tower
A visual showing how the tower meets the ground.
Overall Section
The section of the proposal indicate how the ground level becomes the space where the two different communities meet and engage, promoting the encounter of different social groups.
Ambiguity of Figure and Ground
The visual shows one of the moments where the boundary between figure and ground disappear, and also spaces that are open for interpretation.
Sectional Isonometric
Although the upper level of the tower is indifferent from the ground level, the intersection points between the towers allows the different formal elements to converge together, creating spaces that can be used by both parties.
Spatial Ambiguity of the ground level
Although permanent functions are hold inside the volumes, the infrastructure is flexible enough for various temporary functions and becomes spaces for different social groups to exchange ideas.
Overall Scheme
The drawing shows the whole proposal, the volumes act as pavilions holding different functions, infrastructure as organizing element and the 3 intersection points between the towers and the ground level.
Challenging the mega-plot
The project thus becomes a guild line of future approach towards the mega-plot urbanism, rethinking the mega-plot as an opportunity to consolidate different aspect of the city.
