The notion of buying architecture : a proposition of strategic architecture for urban economic contexts

Abstract

How can an urban redevelopment be the best thing that has ever happened to a proposed site and to its residents who have lived there before the development? With lack of appreciation for how re-development projects could affect the existing urban structure and its values at different levels, the projects create new "real estate products" responding to increased land value and expose old residents to new living environments. Eventually, the residents who cannot afford the housing price difference are pushed to move out of their communities or even forcefully evicted. This thesis starts by acknowledging that there is a huge gap understanding of the value of land, communal life, and architecture between development-involved constituencies such as investors (developers), architects, and current residents. With this awareness, and finding an urban site expecting huge development in the Shanghai Warehouse district, this thesis focuses on proposing architectural strategies that are intended to mitigate the extreme gap by providing diverse levels of urban spaces which consumers at different income levels could buy and share in.