2013 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture

Through textual records that organise clusters of distinctive places at the margins into dense, sectional configurations, together with playful public participation and interaction, this work invites people to recognise, under contemporary conditions, the precious singularity and mutual interdependence of these places. It encourages them to join architects in using the power of their hands, their eyes and their friendships to attend to the conditions of existence, histories of growth and means of regeneration of these unique places. West-Line Studio’s way of working begins by reconsidering such clusters of singular places from a contemporary perspective.

Gu — a mysterious form of ecological sorcery passed down in the Miao regions of western China — suggests an approach to West-Line Studio: when practising in the West, adapt to local customs, counter poison with poison, and confront reality directly.

Visitors can learn interactively about Guizhou in western China — this place at the margins — and its clusters of distinctive sites. Through a planting-like act, inserting flowers, written wishes or seeds, they bring thought and vitality into these clusters and begin a meaningful process of cultivation. These abstract, densely organised configurations can then grow into a vivid and abundant forest of colour.

West-Line Studio · Haobo Wei, Jingsong Xie and Minghua Ou.

Entry B60 · Urban Border catalogue, pages 266–267 · 2013 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture.

The premise of “Urban Border” is the plurality of urban values.

Rapid urban development and urbanisation across the world express, to a considerable extent, a certain “mainstream” tendency and uniformity. Their other side is the neglect, or even concealment, of urban diversity, difference and particularity. “Border” can be understood in several ways: in sociological terms, it may refer to marginal urban spaces, groups and ways of life; in political terms, to changes in the organisation and distribution of public urban resources; and in terms of urban geography, to the limits of urban growth and the relationships between cities, and between cities and natural ecologies.

The 2013 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture takes “Urban Border” as its thematic direction, seeking to reveal the many possibilities of urban cultures, spaces and ways of life, as well as the questions they raise.

Catalogue section: Exploring the Social Boundary. Project statement and illustrations: pages 266–267. English translation from the original Chinese catalogue.