Allmetropolis at Shenzhen Biennale 2011

Last week, our new exhibition Allmetropolis opened in the Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism & Architecture. The show, which is located in venue B10 in OCT Loft, shows a comparison of the urban areas of Shenzhen and Flevoland, the largest mainmade island in the world. The main argument of the project: what would happen if we turn Flevoland into a Special Economic Zone?
To be continued…

Team:
Concept & Research: Michiel Hulshof & Daan Roggeveen
Research assistance: Xia Yixuan
Translation: Song Xinlin, Amanda Wan
Concept graphic design: Job, Joris & Marieke Read the rest of this entry »

Allmetropolis: learning from China’s growth model

Starting Thursday 8 December, Go West Project will present a new research project during the Shenzhen/Hong Kong Biennale of Architecture. Central theme: What would happen if Europe created a Special Economic Zones following the Chinese model? To anwer that question, we compare two regions that started their urban growth at the end of the 1970s: one, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China, the other, the manmade island of Flevoland in the Netherlands.

Over the years, both urban regions have developed in a completely different manner. The New Towns in Flevoland has a population of 400,000, for large part commuters working in the Randstad and looking for a suburban living environment. Shenzhen, for its part, has grown into ‘the factory of the world’ with more than 10 million migrant workers from all over China.

In the exhibition Allmetropolis, Go West Project compares policy, economy, residential areas and future plans of the two regions. It then poses the question what would happen in Flevoland would implement China’s successful model for growth, meaning it would transform itself into a Special Economic Zone with preferential tax and other policies compared to the surrounding area.

This research project addresses consequences of current international developments where Europe is increasingly looking at China for financial help to solve the debt crisis. When Europe wants to attract Chinese investors, it’s not more than logical to have a close look at Chinese models for investment and growth.

Venue: B10, OCT, Nanshan, Shenzhen
Exhibition from 8 December 2011 – 18 February 2012

Go West in Shenzhen Biennale

The similarities between the Chinese city of Shenzhen and the Dutch Flevoland region with the city of Almere are stunning. Both areas started their urban development in the late 1970s: Shenzhen as a promising Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Almere as promising New Town on Flevoland, the world’s largest man-made island. Both are located in a river delta, adjacent to major international metropolises: Shenzhen near Hong Kong and Flevoland next to Amsterdam. In spite of these similarities, both urban areas developed in a completely different manner.

In the 2011 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Go West Project puts into perspective the economic, social, spatial and ecological developments of Shenzhen and Flevoland. This forms the starting point of a research that shows the possibilities and opportunities of using the Shenzhen model in a European context…

Chengdu Biennale: Special Artistic Zone

Cities are more than concrete and highways. A lot of emerging Chinese cities are now facing the choice how to program their buildings. As part of our contribution to the Chengdu Biennale 2011 we organized an event on October 2 where we invited around 50 specialists from the cultural field in Chengdu. In a tea session, 8 groups of people discussed the concept of the Special Artistic Zone.

Every group tried to describe what are the ultimate conditions for a cultural life in an emerging Chinese megacity. Throughout the evening there were small statements, ideas and a lot of discussion. We’re now gathering all the ideas that were produced in the event.

Special Artistic Zone

During the Chengdu Biennale, the Go West Project will present the ‘Special Artistic Zone’, a one-night event investigating the conditions for a cultural life in emerging megacities. Go West brings together key persons from the cultural field of the megacity Chengdu, by organizing an outdoor tea session on 2 October. Specialists from eight different disciplines will discuss subjects related to cultural life, in a relaxed and private atmosphere.

The main question on eight different tables: What conditions do emerging cities need, to develop a flourishing and profound cultural life?

By documenting how the evening and its discussions progress, Go West will grasp new insights and perspectives about cultural life in the contemporary city. Governments, real estate developers and architects can use the answers of this experiment, when striving to turn their city into a cultural hotspot – the ambition of so many cities in China, and the world for that matter.

And after all, the best ideas are exchanged over tea…

Booklet with taxi trips

In the exhibition 100 Days of Stories taxi drivers from all over China came to Shenzhen with their taxi. Along the way, they photographed their trips, leading to 6 intriguing photo series about the vast heart of China. We put together an excerpt of these photo series in an small booklet, creating a cross section of the country. Some more impressions here:

The movie: 100 Days of Stories

Chinese film maker Kevin Wang made a short documentary about our performance ’100 Days of Stories’ as part of the Shenzhen/ Hong Kong Architecture Biennale. You can watch the whole movie online now! See below:

Exhibition at Biennale until 23 January

Although the Performance of 100 Days of Stories is finished now, visitors of the Biennale can still visit our Exhibition booth. In this small exhibition you get an insight of the six cities the drivers are from. Moreover you see pictures of the trips the drivers made to Shenzhen. You can visit the Biennale Exhibition in the area under the South Civic Square, Shenzhen.Open till January 23, 2010!

Go West exhibition space in the SZ/HK Biennale

Designws.com – SZ / HK Biennale Of Urbanism \ Architecture

Go West Project contribution to the SZ/HK Biennale on designws.com:

Designws.com – Shenzhen & Hong Kong Biennale Of Urbanism \ Architecture.

Goodbye…

After 6 beautiful days, on December 11 it was time to say goodbye. We made some last pictures on the Civic square together, and then the drivers started their journeys back home. Another 10,000 kilometers in total…

Taxidrivers leaving

The drivers in front of the Civic Building and the Maurer Pavilion

Last supper

During the last night, the drivers offered us a great dinner in a very good Hunan restaurant in Shenzhen. Of course, there was also baijao involved..

Hohhot, Changsha and Wuhan driver enjoying Hunan dishes Read the rest of this entry »

Beach Boys

The taxi drivers turned out to be beach boys

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Driving exhibition

Thursday afternoon, we decided to take a small sight seeing tour through Shenzhen with the 6 taxis. We wanted to visit the beach with the team and the drivers. It took us a one hour drive through the city of Shenzhen. The taxi project became a driving exhibition. Visitors could view the exhibition from their cars in the traffic jam…City Mobilization!

Taxi’s lined up in front of Civic Square before leaving Read the rest of this entry »

Biennale visitors take taxi’s

During 6 days, the taxistand in front of the Civic Building was roaring with activity…

Passengers getting into Changsha taxi

Go West assistant Ada helping at the taxi stand

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Media like taxis

During the perfomance of 100 Days of Stories, the project got a lot of media attention. The taxi drivers became local heros!

Zhengzhou and Hohhot driver at radio station Read the rest of this entry »