Fenmei Hu wins the Fleur Groenendijk Foundation 4th-quarter Prize with project Micro Space in Space101

Space101 is a new cultural space in Rotterdam’s Chinatown, located at 101 Diergaardesingel. Space101 implements different projects that are linked in some way to Chinese culture, Rotterdam or the West Kruiskade area. The projects are always accessible and yet profound. Current events are often the stimulant behind projects; personal stories are often the subject matter of exhibitions. Space101 works under the auspices of Belvedère in Katendrecht, but is free to manage its own programme. Part of Space101’s programme is a bi-monthly exhibition presenting the story of a Chinese-Rotterdam citizen and a topic that is important to him/her.

Plan

The exhibition planned for March-April 2017 covers the  story of Chunyang, an architect from China (Changchun, northern China) who received his Master’s from TU Delft and now works as an architect with the Rotterdam firm MLA+. His current project is a residential complex in the rapidly growing city of Shenzhen in China. Shenzhen is just a stone’s throw away from Hong Kong, just across the border. It’s a city growing so fast, it is bursting at the seams. It has an abundance of national and international factories that require increasingly more workers. The Lu Xian Dong project in Shenzhen is Chunyang’s first major project: an apartment complex with a surface area of 150,000 m2 and studio flats of a mere 18 m2. There is a demand for affordable housing for the new middle class, however small it may be. Property prices have skyrocketed.

Space101 will replicate a single studio space with the same dimensions, to give a feel for life in such a small space. Visitors will be able to walk around and the mini-museum will tell the story of Chunyang: who he is and where he comes from. How the Lu Xian Dong project came into being and its design will also be shown. A scale model will complete the story.