Collage is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.
I came to ‘medium’ to use it like a memoir; A journal for the millions of narratives, & conceptions that cross my mind. & this Entry will be nothing but a throwback; A throwback two years ago, to when I had my first travel journey; It was the time when every moment was a manifestation of a lifelong dream finally coming true. I had to write this down, so that years from now I can find a document that can teleport me in space and time to the best time of my life, when I was dreaming with my eyes wide open.
Day Zero:
I can’t actually specify whether I call it day1 or day zero; I lost trace of time after almost 15 hours of direct flight, I was flying east, while the sun was going west, to catch up with each other’s exactly at the middle of the way.
We left when the sun was setting; It was the first time I get in a plane, I was overwhelmed and overexcited, not just about the idea of traveling to this ‘somewhere’ in the far eastern edge of the world, but for I was pursuing a dream that grew with me for almost ten years; I was going to have the final presentation for a project that I kept working on for exactly one year. Developing, and enhancing through nights followed by days of researching and consulting, and designing. It was more than just a sunset on the city I spent the first two decades of my life in, but it was the sunset of my life as it was, and the pursuit of another one that’s yet to emerge.
It was a collage of emotions, that I didn’t know which ends where, & which blended in, they all merged together to make something that was larger than the sum of its parts. Like interstellar nebulæ gathering stardust & ionized gases to give birth to an entirely new galaxy!
“Black holes are not the eternal prisons they were once thought”, Prof Hawking said in a speech in 2015. “If you feel you are trapped in a black hole, don’t give up. There is a way out.” that way out wouldn’t take people back to where they’d come from, he has said. Instead, they would reappear, but somewhere else — perhaps even in an alternative universe.
I remember reading this article, featuring Prof. Stephen Hawking, talking about the black Holes & the origins of the universe, & I remember how his words perfectly described the phase of my life that preceded this flight, when I felt like there was a black hole growing inside of me, sucking hope out of my soul, leaving me with nothingness. After a year-long endeavors leading to dead-ends and getting me in a never-ending series of sinuous loops. I clearly remember these words, cause they literally revived my will to live.
It was dark, now it’s sunrise!
Finally it was sunrise, somewhere between India & Tibet I guess! We were just 3 to 4 hours from landing… yeah that means we’re getting the closest to our destination, which we knew would be exotic and mysteriously strange; But we didn’t expect it to be that complex!
When we first arrived I think I saw on the cover of a magazine a picture of the tangling black street power cables (one of the most dominant features of the streets of Shanghai) with a headline saying: “Shanghai.. A City in conflict” & maybe that’s the perfect description for what I found in the couple of weeks I spent there.
Starting from the 14 metro lines, to the confusingly strong rains in the streets, everything was overwhelmingly beautiful & exotic, as if I landed in an entirely parallel universe. People were running to shelter from the showery rains, and blowing winds, & I got out of the metro station at the People Square (Main Square downtown) to stand in the middle, just looking up in awe and wonderment at that exotic planet I landed in.
But still nothing compares to the stunning view of the oriental pearl tower from a side street perpendicular to Shanghai main square/people’s square; that view literally froze me to behold, despite the (-2) degree, and the ‘showers’ of rains, it felt like I was in a comic book, or something out of Blade Runner’s world, the colors, & the lights amidst the rains; the dark empty wet streets, with this spire beacon.ing at the end of that long street -that I learned afterwards it was Fuzhou Lu- No doubt this street ‘Fuzhou Road’ has long been reputed as ‘Cultural Street’ or the books’ street in Shanghai!
Day1: A city with a million narratives
In our first morning in Shanghai, we went down to explore the ‘Cityscape’ & to get the image of the city; To set our compass for the few coming weeks we’re spending there. & what’s better than having music playing in the background for you while trying to resolve the mystery of the city’s narratives!
The closest main street from where we stayed; An arcaded street that goes directly to the main promenade of Shanghai (the Bund) was ‘Jin Ling’ road (or the musical instruments street — which we ironically related to its parallel in Cairo Shari’ Mohamed Ali’ known locally as shari’ al-fann, or the street of the arts -in fact when I think of it- I find out there’s many similarities between the two streets, the concept of the shophouses, the arcade in both streets is almost identical, & they both connect the downtown with the old city, & this takes me to something that stopped us, to behold from an urban background..
Bjarke Ingels (Danish architect) said: “Architecture is the canvas for the stories of our lives .. the City is never complete, it has a beginning but it has no end; it’s a work in progress, always waiting for new scenes to be added and new characters to move in .. ”
So, walking down the street of the arts, with Bjarke’s words echoing in my head — “Architecture is the canvas”, I couldn't prevent myself from thinking I’m walking amidst an artwork, some sort of collage artworks! It’s an urban collage!
As we approached the Bund, the buildings started to get taller & taller, the arcade reached its end, & the tiny shop-houses were replaced with high-rise towers, it was truly reflective to how the city is a work in progress like Bjarke said.
I can say that we found a shattered city, split in two halves, one racing towards modernity & futurism, while the other aiming to keep its sense of architectural & cultural identity.
Well, that was the picture from one perspective, my first raw perspective of the city. What about an alternative perspective? an alternative narrative maybe!
It wasn’t that long till I coincidentally met someone in the street, who not only guided me through the city, but also enlightened me about the urban layers that form the city of Shanghai; He explained to me how this collage was formed, & where to experience it & understand it the most. He wrote me the code to decipher the mysteries of the city! Mr. Chang I guess was the name! & he was an architect!! What are the odds of stumbling upon an architect while seeking to understand urban and architectural secrets of a new city, Yeah ‘Birds of feather’.. stumble upon each other!
As he walked me by from Nanjing road to Beijing road, then west towards the Suzhou Creek, he told me that since Shanghai was -& still- the financial center of China & this part of the world, it was strongly influenced by a variety of architectural styles, we were walking through the English quarter, with the Bund (waterfront) and it’s Historic financial and former banking institutions from where the British empire managed its operations in this part of the World, with several Art-Deco styled buildings, now turned to trendy Hotels, & Shopping malls.
Adjacent to it, east, the traditional Chinese royal Yuyuan gardens & the Chenghuangshen (City God temple), an array of shops, restaurants, tea-houses surrounding the temple and the gardens; When you enter this block of alleys you’ll instantly feel teleported to an entirely different era, you can actually feel how it seems like an oasis, oasis of urban tales preserved & kept in a different time frame; & amidst the fabric of the city, you can distinguish it from far away because of its striking imperial red color.
Mr. Chang took me to a tea-house, to go on narrating the tales of the city, while having rounds of green tea; He went on talking about the French concession south east. & the Japanese quarter on the southern west side of the city. & then across the Huangpu river there’s the Pudong, the bustling financial center of the city. Well, seems like we had a lot to discover in the following days!
For the three following days we didn’t have much time to explore, we had to finish our presentation, keep on rehearsing, & to focus mainly on the things we came here to get done. I’m not diving much in this, as it should have its own blog post.
Although I’m skipping the whole three days of rehearsing and presenting, because we mostly stayed indoors, observing this parallel universe, looming there in the background of our daily life, day and night beholding the city lights shifting from a far, agitating our sense of wonder, till we can get the chance to go check every corner of this world out there!
One thing I have to mention though, is that the venue of our final presentation was the Waterhouse hotel at South Bund, one of the finest examples of adaptive reuse of former Japanese army headquarters, like many other examples across the city, adaptive reuse and revitalization was an ongoing endeavor.
Adaptive reuse — Revitalization: New life for the old City
Collage art is something I like to regard as a form of adaptive reuse, as a form of Up-Cycling (Upcycling is referred to as creative reuse, when you reuse materials for making products of higher value — either in quality or in its environmental value). From architectural point of view, Shanghai is like an open book for examples of adaptive reuse.
“The greenest building is the one that is already built.” — Carl Elefante (AIA president)
Adaptive reuse is something that falls between historic preservation and demolition, it simply stands for giving new life for old/disused structures, environmental-wise that’s something of great impact, because of the emissions and resources wasted in the construction process of new buildings, when you can keep old structures, but adapt its interiors to fit for more beneficial usage, instead of just preserving it as a museum, or for the sake of preserving it with less economic value for its tenants. & It’s said that “there’s a blurred line between Adaptive reuse, Renovation, & Façadism.” But in either of these cases it’s something that help contribute to the value of the place, and preserve the narrative that these structures survived to tell!
“Architecture is a medium through which we can interpret dynamic human behavioral patterns over time.” — Rasem Badran (Architect)
In the words of Rasem Badran (Jordanian architect known for his humanitarian approach in design, who describes his architecture as a narrative of, or dialogue with a place in which he attempts to unravel its various layers of history & memory). He said: “Architecture can be described as a tool by which to measure time. It reflects values that relate to social structures & cultural environments, in addition to being a medium through which we can interpret dynamic human behavioral patterns over time. Time is especially legible in sensitive spaces that envelop diverse facilities in which material and spiritual activities are mixed, and in which repetitive events have carved out profound memories.”
Rasem refers to this narrative as a ‘dynamic process over time’ that seeks to reach the coexistence between human beings and the place they inhabit as a renewing, constantly changing process… that -in a way- is the core concept of revitalization of the existing fabrics of a city, to adapt with the ambitions and demands of a different time. To evolve. Yet, preserve its identity!
Revitalization or gentrification?
One fine morning, we went down to discover & stroll around another urban collage canvas we saw from our room up there; This time instead of walking towards the bund, we walked on the opposite direction, crossing the Shanghainese time square, reaching for Xintiandi — a two block commercial and residential district in Shanghai’s French Concession!
In his TEDx talk, shanghai-based American architect Benjamin T.Woods described his architectural approach for the redevelopment project of ‘Xintiandi’ — That’s one of the most vital places in Shanghai & entrance of the French concession in a similar way to Rasem’s narratives on place.
But to understand Woods’ design approach, and untangle the mysteries of this architectural style, we had to look up few definitions, in fact that’s what Woods’ himself did, by asking: “What is Chinese about Chinese architecture?”
He scribbled this question on the bottom to the left of his drawing for the redesign. This question directed his restoration and re-definition of the former lilong or lane-housing neighborhood of Xintiandi.
What is Chinese about Chinese architecture?
Few definitions
- The name Xintiandi (新天地) means “New Heaven and Earth” or “New World”. It refers to the adaptive reuse of historic buildings of the neighborhood while infusing western elements upon it. Combining new architecture with historic buildings: the Xintiandi complex is not only lauded by Shanghai natives, but also praised by architectural critics throughout the world. Architect Benjamin Wood’s innovative approach of urban design combines restoration, renovation and new construction of two city blocks in a historic Lon Tang. Hong Kong developer Vincent Lo financed the $150 million complex. As an active entertainment center, that includes a cinema complex, book stores, cafes and restaurants. Very often the restaurants adopt western style indoor and outdoor dining echoing the dichotomous nature of this urban development.
- The name Lilong · A longtang (弄堂 lòngtáng, Shanghainese: longdang) is a lane in Shanghai and, by extension, a community centred on a lane or several interconnected lanes. It is sometimes called lilong (里弄); the latter name incorporates the -li suffix often used in the name of residential developments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. the Shanghai longdang can either refers to the lanes that the houses face onto, or a group of houses connected by the lane. A large variety of housing styles are called “lilong residences” in Shanghai.
- Of these, the best known and most characteristic is the shikumen (石库门), two- or three-storey terrace houses with a wall and large gate in front of each dwelling. Other types include the more modern “new style lilong” (新式里弄); the simplified “Cantonese style lilong” (广式里弄); the high-end villa-like “garden lilong” (花园里弄); and the higher density “apartment lilong” (公寓里弄). Colloquially, they are referred to as “lilong houses” or, as an English translation, “lane houses”.
Gentrification? What’s this?
“Gentrification is a process of renovation of deteriorated urban neighborhoods by means of the influx of more affluent residents. This is a common and controversial topic in politics and in urban planning. While gentrification can improve the quality of a neighborhood, it also contributes to the forced relocation of current, established residents and businesses, causing them to move from a gentrified area, seeking lower cost housing and stores.”
Many would argue that what happened in Xintiandi was a form of Gentrification, & gentrification is bad! Well, most of urbanists regard it as a bad thing, but instead of wondering whether it’s good or bad, & get in a labyrinth of dilemmas. I like to ask other questions.
The important questions now for me could be this, Can urban regeneration happen without having such negative impacts on the social fabrics and lifestyles of a place? Can we have the pros of Gentrification, but eliminate or diminish its cons to the minimum possible? the answer is just few blocks away from Xintiandi!
Tianzifang.. Is the answer!
Tianzifang is another narrative, a narrative of resilience, a narrative of true example of revitalization and coexistence.
Tianzifang is a major tourist attraction in Shanghai, & is regarded as the arts & crafts district; this shikumen complex was named “Zhicheng Fang”, where “Zhicheng” meant “realization of ambition” while “Fang” meant “neighborhood”. Zhicheng Fang remained an ordinary residential neighborhood until the last quarter of the 20th century, when the cheap rent but convenient location attracted artists to set up studios there. Like almost all art districts across the world.
In 2001, the precinct was re-designated an artistic and creative quarter, drawing on its former popularity with artists. At the same time, the whole precinct was given the name “Tianzi Fang”, a pun on Tian Zifang, a figure from the ancient Chinese history, and often referred to as China’s earliest recorded artist.
In 2006 it was slated for demolition to make way for redevelopment. Opposition among local business owners and residents, as well as a famous artist Chen Yifei who had a studio in Tianzifang, in addition to a group submitted a proposal to the local government to preserve the Taikang Road area and its traditional architecture and ambience.
This narrative is repeated across many different places in the world, with the deindustrialization of major financial and industrial hubs in the Global North. Just like NYC Dumbo & most of the old docks of Europe, these places first became a haven for art galleries, then gradually shifted to be also centers for technology startups.
I wanna point out to something, the core concept of the project we were working on, and traveled all the way to Shanghai to present was the potentials of local-traditional-informal urban areas in the Global south to be design hubs, these almost autonomous communities have the labor, the ambition, the resources, and sometimes the skills, but lack the design basics, and lack the financial credentials; Before we travel to Shanghai, I almost knew nothing about the model of ‘tianzifang’.. For me, if I gained nothing but to wander across this set of labyrinthine alleyways, it would’ve been more than enough!
Tianzifang with its lanes is an open art gallery, with many outlets for small and medium businesses. & not to far from it, just two or three streets away, there’s an example for the thriving startup community rising in the area, in the site of an abandoned factory, that now became ‘the Bridge 8 Creative Cluster’.
I was walking on my own, just wandering without a specific destination in mind, and the building was so inviting for me to go and explore; So, I just kept climbing up its stairs, and take its elevator, crossing the bridge, and checking out the city from above.
“The Bridge 8 covers a wide range of fields, including architecture, interior design, fashion design, advertising, dining, consulting, and Film & TV production.”
For me, getting exposed to these concepts, was an eye-opening experience that opened new paths of research and design strategies ahead of, & it was a step in a journey of discovery. I’m wrapping it up here, and for my next chapter I’m going to re-explore the other side of shanghai, going across the river, to the soaring skyscrapers & Haven of minimal design!
On a side note: In urban planning, the term Brusselization is used to describe some forms of this phenomenon I call Urban Collage! Brusselization refers to “the indiscriminate and careless introduction of modern high-rise buildings into gentrified neighbourhoods” and has become a byword for “haphazard urban development and redevelopment” .. But the Collage I’m talking about is a greater umbrella.
+All pictures in this post are mine (Except for Benjamin Woods drafting sketches for Xintiandi) .. to find out more pictures, you’ll find my instagram account a similar form of collage! https://www.instagram.com/mostapha_taher/
