GSAPP Studio-X is collaborating with University of Hong Kong architecture students on concepts for the pedestrianization of Des Voeux Road in Hong Kong Central. Central is one of the densest and most congested urban areas in the world, and one of the districts in Hong Kong with the poorest air quality. Commissioned by the DVRC Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of organisations advocating for the transformation of Des Voeux Road Central into a pedestrian and tram precinct, this project investigates strategies for creating a new type of linear, catalytic public space in Hong Kong.

In one of the most rapidly urbanizing regions in the world, how has the superblock shaped the urban landscape of the PRD? With its unique history of large-scale urban development, especially during the past three decades, the PRD provides an abundant source of superblock projects for research and analysis. Hong Kong, with its influences rooted in a colonial past and with Great Britain, provided early models of superblock development that were easily adapted in the emerging cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan, and for new growth of historical cities like Guangzhou.

GSAPP Advanced Studio VI Spring 2012 "Megablock to Agri-Block" (studio critic Jeffrey Johnson with studio assistant Jin Zhe) was exhibited as part of China in Flux: Mapping the Middle Zone, in Shenzhen, China, Curated by Gary Paige, Director, American Academy in China, USC School of Architecture.

Exhibition Venue:
AVIC Legend Co., Ltd.
Factory Hall, 2 Building, Shahe Industry District, Qiaoxiang Rd., Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

Exhibition Dates: July 23 - August 31, 2015

Studio-X BJ / Shenzhen 2015 Summer Workshop
Pingdi Low-carbon City
Directed by GSAPP faculty: Jeffrey Johnson + Adam Frampton
In collaboration with Shenzhen Design Center and Future + and Shenzhen University

Future of the Museum in China - Research Team with Artist/Activist Ai Weiwei

The 2013 China Megacities Lab Summer Workshops kick off in Beijing. The wokshops will run from July 24 - August 3, 2013. The Future of the Museum in China Workshop in collaboration with Studio Pei-Zhu will continue to develop research conducted over the past year on the state of the museum building boom in China. Reframe: Public Spaces for New Gonghua City is a joint workshop with Central Academy of Fine Arts and Urbanus that will focus on defining criteria for public space in a new urban development northwest of Beijing.

Photo from powerstationofart.org

China Megacities Lab's research on the Future of the Museum in China is currently exhibited at the Powerstation of Art, in Shanghai, as part of the exhibition "Spectacle," curated by ZHANG Ming, BU Bing, ZHANG Jiajing.