Architecture & Urban Design I – Urban Ecologies: Safari Hong Kong & Shenzhen

Related Staff : Juan Du

Supervisor: Juan Du

The Urban Ecologies Studio aims to confront conventional architectural design and city planning practices with alternative sustainable design strategies for the contemporary city.  The Safari Hong Kong & Shenzhen studio is a collaborative project with the Columbia University Urban Landscape Lab to conduct research and design projects that explore the urban ecosystems along public transit lines connecting Hong Kong and Shenzhen.  Understanding the systematic and ecological impact of such large scale infrastructure is crucial to comprehend the operations and performance of the two cities.

All works in the studio are explored and produced based on the concept of sustainability as a crossover between the Natural, Social, Economic, and the Constructed.  This design research methodology expands upon existing analysis and design techniques utilized within the field of architecture by introducing important understanding of urbanism from the knowledge fields such as landscape, geography, sociology, economics, and political science.

Based on the ecological mapping and field research, 6 stations each in Hong Kong and Shenzhen are selected for detailed mapping and drawings across the urban fabric surrounding the station.  The drawings should reveal visible and hidden relationships amongst districts that host plant life and wild life as well as densely (human) populated public spaces, buildings, and infrastructure.  The design projects negotiate conflicts of the environment, the social communities, and the economic costs and impacts of the proposals, with the agenda to create architectural projects that contributes to the urban environment in surprising and innovative ways.

For detailed information please visit http://www.safariszhk.org/