The intervention consists on creating a structure made of laminated wood so it is lighter. This structure will strenghthen the existing buildings and serve as foundation for a new complex of buildings that will “float” over the existing ones. This new complex will be a longitudinal structure that will twist and turn around the supporting structure, resembing a snake (in honor to Chinese mythology). The top will be crowned with a garden that will serve as place of recreation and also as a lung for the city. It will be covered by a fabric that will let it transpire so the vegetation is able to absorb the CO2 but at the same time protects the plants. This, along with the power of wood fiber to absorb CO2, will help significantly with the increasing pollution of the city.
Due to the fact that the facilities in the existing shikumen houses are very basic for today standards, the younger generations have moved to live in modern apartments, leaving the neighbourwood to be inhabited mostly by older locals who have been there all their lives.To attract a younger population back to the neighbourhood the project proposes a series of small student housing, which are affordable and would cause a process of gentrification that would revitalize Hongfu-Li.
Part of the lower floor of the existing buildings could be used to create small businesses within the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. This would serve as a way to revitalize the area and attract more people to the neighbourhood and create new employment.
The apartments will be boxes of 17 ’5 m2. Due to this small size all the fixtures and furniture will be hidden both under the floor and above the ceiling, this way they will only be taken out when needed, so the space will seem a lot bigger.The tables and shelves will be the ceiling itself, taken down, while the deeper furniture will be hidden in the space conformed by the beams of the outside structure.