Urban village is a unique phenomenon emerged during the past 3 decades from the rapid urbanization process in Shenzhen, one of China’s fastest growing cities. Under the theme "Cities, Grow in Difference", the electronics factory in Shangwei Village, Shenzhen was selected to be renovated into the primary exhibition venue for the 2017 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture of Shenzhen/Hong Kong(SZHKUABB2017).
With nothing of explicit beauty or note, the factory’s deteriorated mosaic walls, corrugated metal panels, enamel factory lamp, industrial roll-up doors and so on “formed part of a materials palette synonymous with obsolete factories in China’s urban hamlets(FRAME)” ; Unfortunately, these elements together with the village industrial buildings themselves are often seen cheap, temporary and dated nowadays, often some of the first to be removed during the urban renewal process.
The project studies the factory as a prototype for countless such industrial buildings commonly seen in urban villages, and explored smart, practical regeneration strategies that could be applied to the typology at large.
Through recording, extracting and reconstructing before innovatively restoring and recycling the typical architectural and interior elements, the design aims at bringing out both the contemporary and nostalgic sides of the elements while providing practical architectural solution for the exhibition venue as well as a community social hub.