# I picture blog
On April 13th, Future Visionary went to Shenzhen and held a new book sharing session and roundtable dialogue at the Qianqian Bookstore in the MixC of Shenzhen Bay. We wanted to talk about the power of the city's brand, but we didn't expect it to turn into a more in-depth discussion: how the bottom-up civil society forces shape the city, and the city in turn feeds us.
Tickets are now open for our final sharing session, join us.
Jingdezhen
Jingdezhen: Flowing people, shaping new clusters and spaces
Zhao Hui
Editor-in-chief of the Future Visionary Diagram and anchor of the podcast "Present Continuous Tense".
Just like shopping with the book "Introduction to Road Observation", our observation of Jingdezhen also starts with useless and interesting details. Mineral water bottles, newspapers for packing, "Made in Jingdezhen", Professor Street...... You can always find an entry point from the table of contents of the book.
City branding is a complex and pluralistic conclusion. Even if it is a city with a very strong pillar industry, the attributes are not single.
"Rediscovering Jingdezhen" will say that Jingdezhen has formed a close and distant industrial cluster from a small technical workshop to a centralized control of the imperial kiln factory, and then to state-owned and individual contracting. Another clue is that young people who are always looking for cooler, lower-cost plots, as well as artists who are "drifting" in the local area, have formed a new creative park.
In the development process of each industrial chain, there will be actual corresponding people in the city, whether it is the initiator of the community, the followers, or the people who actually do things, or even the government's solution. What we see is only a small part of it. After the publication of this mook, we found that there was a new change in Xianghu Lake in Jingdezhen, where there is a campus of the University of Ceramics. Many entrepreneurship starts from young students, so a large number of small workshops around Jingdezhen Ceramic University have been formed to attract a new batch of "Jingpiao" to pursue their dreams.
In Jingdezhen, we have seen the coexistence of the two industrial chains of industrial ceramics and creative ceramics. In different cities, different chains may take on different forms, and these chains constitute the new brand power of the city.
1
Sculpture porcelain factory
●The sculpture porcelain factory started as a ceramic sculpture. If you go over there, you'll see a lot of fairy sculptures basking in the sun on the road, being pushed by carts. You can see how the old and the new collide in the process of Jingdezhen's industrial development – old factories, old workers, and fairy sculptures on one side, and coffee shops, young people, and creative ceramics on the other. Why is this so? Go to the book to find out. Image Source | Mook "Rediscovering Jingdezhen", photography | Fabian Ong
2
Taoxichuan Cultural and Creative Block
● Taoxichuan is a creative park led by the government and Tao Cultural Tourism, which is transformed from a large state-owned porcelain factory. We were impressed by the museum, which has a complete overview of Jingdezhen's wave of industrialization. It has its own bazaar and is also a friendly place for architects, artists, designers, and entrepreneurs. Image Source | Taoxichuan Cultural and Creative Block
3
Sanbao International Pottery Village
● Sanbao Village is a good place to perch on the side of mountains and rivers, and in the early days, artists came there to create in a relatively secluded environment. Later, Sambaocun developed a comprehensive commercial complex with the ceramic industry as the core, that is, the "Sambaopong Art Center", which now gathers many famous artists. Image Source | Mook "Rediscovering Jingdezhen", photography | Pan Ling
Shenzhen
Shenzhen: "Wild Wisdom" in an Urban Village
Han Jing
Founder/Host Designer of ARCity Office
The urban village in Shenzhen is an important research object for our studio. Although every city has urban villages, Shenzhen's urban villages are very special, which supports Shenzhen's rapid urbanization from a small border town to a megalopolis, and in the process of growing up with the city, it is wrapped into the central area of the city, solving the problem of the government's inability to provide enough low-cost housing in the early days of the development of the special zone.
For urban villages, we want to protect not only historical sites, but also the "wild wisdom" of villagers. Because the space of urban villages is particularly crowded, this state of existence in the cracks has stimulated the primitive creativity of many residents. For example, a handshake building in the ancient city of Nantou (note: some buildings in the urban village are particularly close to each other, and you can shake hands with the neighbors of the next building by opening the window, hence the name "handshake building"), which is a typical self-built house built by villagers in the 80s of the 20th century. Therefore, we used this wild wisdom to insert a small staircase into the building as a public space.
In addition, what impressed me the most about Nantou Old Town was a longan tree that grew up on the site of the city wall. Nantou Ancient City is the oldest ancient city in Shenzhen, but because of historical reasons, the county government moved away, and the city wall collapsed because no one maintained it. When the villagers built new houses, they did not cut down the tree, but wrapped it in houses, and the longan tree actually bears fruit every year. Therefore, we protected this longan tree as a heritage tree, and partially removed the floor slab and gable of the room where it was located to bring sunlight and fresh air to the tree. In addition, we have hung a straight staircase on the exterior wall of the house, which was built on the site of the city wall, so that when you walk on the stairs, you will have the physical experience of climbing the city wall in the past.
Nantou Old Town renovated building
● The micro-updates and micro-transformations done by Qucheng Studio in the urban village of Nantou Ancient City are often based on the residents' own formulas to create an interesting enough logic to help this wild wisdom survive. The picture shows the "City Wall Heritage Workshop" next to the longan tree, and when you step on the stairs, you can walk to the platform and face the longan tree. Image Source | Fun City Studios
Hong Kong
Hong Kong: Not only Central, but also the growing power of the private sector
徐卓华(Erica Chui)
Chief Executive Officer, Urban Renewal Fund, Hong Kong
I come from an architectural background, and I have participated in historical conservation projects such as the Central Market and the Imperial Theatre. Around 2000, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed a proposal from the Tourism Commission to move the public transport interchange at the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui. This incident has caused a collective protest among the people in Hong Kong, and it has also caused a reflection of the times: what is our culture? What is Hong Kong? Who is Hong Kong? Everyone wants to make this city better, but what should be done?
There were some violent incidents at the Star Pier at that time, and everyone slowly learned that they should try to actively cooperate and communicate with the people. The redevelopment of the Central Market has also been affected by this trend. It first opened in 1842 and later became an important wet market in central Hong Kong before being closed due to the SARS outbreak in 2003. The renovation of the Central Market has taken nearly 20 years, involving various controversies among academics, the government and the civil society, and when it opened in 2021, the operating company, Chinachem Group, invited people from civil opposition groups to see it. The Central Market has now become a popular landmark with the main theme of "Citizens' Playground".
Now, I have transitioned from building to supporting private projects, working for the Urban Renewal Fund. This organization is a non-governmental organization (NGO) but receives government and private sponsorship. As long as you have ideas, everyone can apply for this fund. This year, we are also thinking about whether we can try some new directions in a semi-non-governmental and semi-official way, or let more social enterprises join in.
Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui
● In 2008, Hong Kong citizens set up a non-governmental organization called "Voices of Jianma" to explicitly oppose the relocation of the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Terminal Bus Terminus. In the face of strong opposition from the District Councils, conservation groups and local people, the Government relented in 2011 and rolled out the improvement plan. The Star Ferry Pier incident is regarded as a turning point in the germination of conservation awareness in Hong Kong. Image Source | Asia Times
Central Market
● Formerly known as the "Canton Market" in 1842, the Central Market was reopened in 2021 after a renovation, retaining the old Bauhaus-style building and introducing many merchants related to local culture, and is currently operated by the Chinachem Group. It is regarded as a conservation achievement in Hong Kong. Image Source | Slowood
See you in the courtyard of Beijing on April 27th!
There's also the opportunity to join us in the Urban Conversation.
In the future, we will visit Beijing to hold a final book sharing session in 27 courtyards.