Living Chinatown - Familiar Unfamiliar

Abstract

Over the last two centuries, San Francisco Chinatown’s resistance towards architectural change has resulted in the identity of the neighborhood becoming increasingly misaligned with the present – a place losing its sense of purpose and serving as a shelter rather than a home. What were once distinctive elements within the city have now become fixed iconography, more destructive towards immigrants’ dreams than an image of opportunity and rebirth. Without the freedom of an evolving identity in buildings, existing Chinatown architecture will only perpetuate the fatigue in the built environment. It becomes critical to ask: how do we design buildings that are sensitive to the cultures of those who inhabit them? How can we move beyond the shells of previous architectural tropes and towards a more dynamic vessel? Though we have typically considered façade preservation synonymous with honoring cultural identity, many residents create their own communities within these exterior walls. This thesis proposes two residential buildings that demonstrate a new attitude towards a transformed Chinatown; one that prioritizes the people living and working there and respects the connection between past and future. These humble spaces express deep cultural values and the vitality of the people they house through contextual responses, innovative structural strategies, material sensibilities, and ultimately evocative atmospheres. These animate frames call for an urban change and a shift from the ornament to activity; from iconography to a framing of energy. A constant transformation and an architecture that adds to the air that we breathe. Amidst the growing redundancy and formulas of familiar cities, the two interventions aim to respond to the sincere imperative to prioritize cultural identity in the postulation of tomorrow’s world.