Vertical Hutong
The new governmental regime in China is set to implement a nationwide social credit
system by the end of 2020. The newly implemented system in China rejects individual
thinking and trains citizens to become what the government would consider being “rational” and “acceptable.” Since the citizens would be being closely watched via mobile devices and surveillance cameras. One is always on the receiving side. Therefore, the problem arises as to how could architecture act as an agent to foster discussion among citizens in the context of the urban night?
This project is a response to the aforementioned policy and proposes a new housing scheme which defies the conventional standards of contemporary East Asian condominiums. It creates a space for discussion and thus encourages individual thinking. Learning from the typology of Beijing hutong, the project takes the characteristics of the vibrant vernacular housing and adapts them to the design of
high-rise residential buildings. Similarly, in this proposal, five units agglomerate into one cohort, which corresponds to the organization of the courtyard house; each cohort extends into the common space within the condo that adopts various communal programs.
Collection of Hutong Collages:
Identifying extended personal space in public realm
Identifying extended personal space in public realm
Winter 2019
McGill University School of Architecture
Instructor: Ipek Tureli