This mixed-use building is strategically organized to reverse the dynamics of the “gilded ghetto”. A shared wall between residential and commercial zones exploits legal loopholes. The effect is auxiliary spaces in each unit for storage and sleeping without impacting the cost of the unit. The commercial spaces include a bathhouse, library, and a series of hole-in the wall style restaurants that can be accessed by the residents.
Rather than add to the lineage of buildings attempting to capture the ever changing essence of authentic Chinese architecture, the building’s formal language takes cues from the playful layering of Chinatown’s elders’ fashion and vernacular architectural façade strategies. Occupants will continually flow between indoor and outdoor layers of space. The façade is designed to be a sculptural mural that can be changed by the community’s artists and architects when they desire. The represented façade is only one solution for what this form could become.
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