Living Together
Urban Regeneration in Tianlin No.2 Village
Bingjie Sheng
Master of Architecture
Advised by:
Jonathan Kline
Stefan Gruber
Studio Coordinated By Jonathan Kline and Stefan Gruber
Themes: Commoning | Community | Care
Abstract
Workers' New Village has been a focal point in Shanghai's urban renewal in recent years since it is one of the most important components of Shanghai's urban fabric. Built from the 50s to the 90s after the establishment of PRC, the workers’ village was originally awarded and assigned to the workers who made contributions to industrial production. Those who live in the workers’ village were considered honorable. The status of workers was also highly respected at the time due to state propaganda.
However, with the reform of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s, a large number of workers were laid off, and the status of workers was no longer as highly esteemed as before. This was accompanied by the aging of the buildings in the workers' new villages and the inability of the old communities designed especially for workers to meet the demands of contemporary lifestyles.
This project starts with the question that, during the regeneration of the old workers’ village in Shanghai, how can residents’ control over the public space and the existing informal flexibility in the community be maintained, and how a shared sense of community and collaboration be preserved as buildings inside the community are both renovated and reconstructed?