Hansen Wang
Pamphlet for a Humanized Architectural Future Conserving and Celebrating Local Communities through Relicfication
Our Local community is unique and important! And it is crucial that we strive to protect it. In this pamphlet, the importance of the local community will be discussed and reaffirmed, followed by some emerging methods that can be implicated in our community’s conservation and celebration. To ensure a humanized vision of architectural future, the diverse building blocks of our urban fabric must be preserved!
As the homogenization and commercialization of our built environment is increasingly prevalent, the world is in dire need of a sustainable alternative architectural future where human individuality and uniqueness are prioritized. The conservation and celebration of local communities not only preserve the plethora of unique architectural realities, but also ensure the continued growth of the exceptional breadth of human traditions fundamental to cities and our civilization.
Through relicfying sites of local community value, my research attempts to preserve and celebrate neglected local communities by mythologizing them. From mythmaking to extracting symbols, the essay seeks to revive the communities by revoking interest and appreciation towards the communities, proposing to rekindle the forgotten value of preserving their diversity and individuality.
The Livingroom
The Livingroom is an outdoor congress of benches surrounding a coffee table at the centre, proudly sitting in the front garden of a ground-level flat, facing the courtyard of the estate. The living room is elevated on a platform, so one sitting within could participate in the events unfolding in the estate at eye level, facilitating democratic communications between the community members. Although quiet, the courtyard and the ring of gardens framing it has an engaging atmosphere. Spaces such as the Livingroom are common across the estate, while residents can often be seen visiting each other’s gardens.
The Livingroom Abstracted
I see the living room as a piece of a puzzle to the overall composition of the communal courtyard. Therefore, the relic made from the Livingroom is also imagined to be a part that can participate in a larger conversation. This relic focuses on the environment of gathering and communication.
The Garden
Tucked away and overgrown with vegetation, the garden provides a quiet retreat for the residents of its corresponding flat. In the inner corner, a simple red chair is placed, and the well-kept trainers underneath hint at the care and love the resident has for the place. However, the garden is never far from the outer world. Peeking over the side wall and looking beyond, the bustle of the canal and its enjoyers are within instant reach.
The Garden Abstracted
The garden is a retreat that is still very much connected to the outer world. In the abstracted relic, I wish to capture the duality of the site and the choice it offers. Interacting with the piece, one is able to define their own relationship with the outer world.
The Pitch
The Pitch is a community football pitch at Sufford Estate, hidden on the backside of the Broadway Market. Although no more than 50 meters away from the market, the pitch is a whole other world. An atmosphere of passion and joy when the local kids play in it, an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity when it is left empty.
The Pitch Abstracted
The Abstraction of the pitch focuses on the original football pitch’s ability to facilitate immersive atmospheres. The wall of the pitch creates an enclosure that prevents the sound on the outside while focusing and multiplies the energy within. A place of concentration and meditation.
The Stall
The stall is a local pottery shop at Broadway Market. Many people from outside of the area come to the market to set up their stalls, but it is also a place for local vendors. The owners have been running the stall for seven years, and it has been getting busier every year. Huge flows of people pass through the market, but seldom do they stop by and see what the stall has to offer.
The Stall Abstracted
The abstracted stall is a medium for exchange and communication. While both sides of the relic could be engaged from, the middle could be inhabited by a mediator that facilitates the conversion. Much like how the original stalls are run by their vendors, the mood and tone of the relic would be defined by their mediators.
The Billboard
A vibrant house site at the corner of the neighbourhood, not far from London Fields. The walls of the houses are decorated with the various signs, banners, objects, and colours the owner found. No further information is found on the reasons behind the decorations, but the house has become a mode of expression. A similar method is used across the neighbourhood, but it is crystallized as the billboard here.
The Billboard Abstracted
The relic abstracted from the billboard is straightforward in its function: to advertise. The two walls of the relic project their contents to the spectators beyond, drawing attention and intrigue to the community it strives to celebrate. The StoreThe Store is a café nestled between the football pitch and the swimming pool at London Fields. The café is open to both sides of the park, at once facing the parkgoers and the swimmers. From the dry side of the park, one can peek in