Waidiren, Shenzhen, and my Thesis

Ever since my parents emigrated to the US, I have been curious of the foreigner-and-native conflicts on identity. I chose Shenzhen for its particular situation as a young but rapidly developing city. Shenzhen has undergone a drastic transformation from village to metropolis in only 30 years.

Meanwhile, there is an air of "native" superiority that has been slowly developing. Slang such as "western digital person" or "hard disk person" are used to denigrate the new migrants that seek work and opportunity for a better life. Ironically, these "natives" were immigrants themselves pursuing the same dreams as the current generation.

In this context there is potential for an architectural solution to bridge the cultural, social, and economical gap between the two parties. This is even more evident in the conditions of Huanggang, a village from the past sandwitched between large scale developments of the new Central Business District. There, I propose a new form of architecture that attempts to promote a healthier interaction between the old village and the new metropolis: to examine the current workings of both the village under attack and the generic city, and to imbue the site with a new identity.