2013 (5th) Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen)

Entering the Value Factory   By  Ole Bouman

As the Creative Director of the Fifth Shenzhen/Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen), I am proud to present the "Value Factory" to you all.

The biennale lasts only three months, but the Value Factory was conceived and designed with a longer-term mission from the very beginning. It fulfills the original intention of the biennale: to act as a catalyst for urban development and to set the tone for the city's future. This is also the reason why the venue for this biennale is located in Shekou District, and an abandoned glass factory was chosen as the main venue. This factory, which at first glance seems to have lost its value, can now be said to have had its value saved.

Our team achieved this goal through 10 steps, which you will discover or encounter during your visit. Allow me to guide you through the path first.

Let's start with this factory in Shekou. Thirty years ago, Yuan Geng seized the opportunity to launch a socio-economic experiment in Shekou, turning Shekou into China's first industrial park and vigorously promoting social and political reforms. The Guangdong Float Glass Factory, as one of the results of his experiment, mass-produced float glass for the construction of modern China. This factory not only witnessed the glory of Shekou but also contributed to the new face of Chinese cities.

Today, Shekou will once again become a testing ground for exploring the future of the Pearl River Delta region and even the whole of China. However, the charm of this experimental heritage has not faded with time. We have highlighted its existing strengths at a relatively economical cost. For individual designers, "non-action" is often easily regarded as minimalism in aesthetics or personal laziness. Therefore, we have gathered a team of about 15 young architects from around the world to jointly implement the concept of "non-action." They jointly exert creativity, abandon personal labels, and stimulate value in the "Value Factory Pairing": sharing wisdom and jointly transforming industry into culture.

Once the glass factory is preserved and its quality is highlighted, it is time to choose the "residents" of the factory. We have selected some international institutions that are clear in their goals, constantly strive for progress, and hope to achieve something in China. We call them "Value Factory Project Partners." These include universities, museums, architectural centers, design brands, and companies, etc., which understand each other while exploring the texture of industrial architecture. They do not have time to create a brand-new environment for themselves through new buildings; everything is created on-site to create value directly. As a whole, they will demonstrate the future positioning of the Value Factory.

Guiding a biennale means facing a lot of challenges, and I guess that's why you were invited. The location is remote, the time is urgent, the competition is fierce, and there is also a hope to present a solid good exhibition for Shenzhen, the surrounding areas, and the entire design community. Without years of experience, it is impossible to achieve these difficulties. Moreover, all of this will not end with the closing of the biennale. The creativity presented in front of us will continue to shine in the future. This is the latest appearance of the "Value Factory Studio," and we warmly welcome everyone to join and are very willing to answer your questions and serve you wholeheartedly. We hope to keep the Value Factory as a real sample for the future and continue to operate.

From writing the curatorial introduction about China and even the world to polishing a door handle; from discovering the neglected beauty, generating new forms and wonderful experiences, from observing the Shenzhen city skyline against the backdrop of Hong Kong and the sea and thinking about its future, to paying attention to technical details and communicating face-to-face with people... The entire project provides a unique learning opportunity for creative leaders. We hope to share this experience in the form of courses with students from various disciplines, and for this, we have established the "Value Factory Academy."

No matter how much we hope to turn the Value Factory into a booster for urban change, we are always very clear that what we are organizing first is an exhibition. You can transform buildings, set up new management roles, establish schools and offices, but most importantly, you need to establish the "Value Factory Public Program." So, please actively participate in our many activities: performances, seminars, dances, fashion shows, lectures, dramas, harvest festivals, or you can also enjoy the delicious food and wine made from the ingredients we grow ourselves.

Dear audience, the above is the 9 works we have done in the Value Factory. We believe that they will be presented to you one by one as you explore the Value Factory. But before that, you still need to go through the greenway from the urban area to the edge and experience the various potentials of the Shekou Industrial Zone. The Value Factory hopes to reshape the power of architecture by activating spaces such as workshops, warehouses, silos, and green spaces. On the way here, you will find that there are more and more opportunities opening up to creativity and courage.

In the Value Factory:

We produce value, we create culture;

People here can deeply experience the eternity of architecture, communicate with each other, and share together.

China and the world are connected here, mirroring each other. This is a big stage for experiments.

The Fifth Shenzhen/Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen) is the first appearance of the Value Factory. This is a test run and a test of practice. With great honor, I invite you to appreciate its debut.

Interpreting the Urban Border from Multiple Historical Perspectives  

By Li Xiangning, Jeffrey Johnson

Cities can be interpreted by different professions. Multi-perspective reading provides a variety of rich narratives. There is no single story and method in the literature. Regarding the theme of "Urban Border," we will explore the "boundaries" from different perspectives and hope to explore a city that includes both physical space and sociological and cultural meanings through this biennale. This dual relationship is more reflected in Chinese: the term "border" more often reflects the concept of a boundary when compounded, and this boundary is both the physical boundary, territory, and division of the city and the differences of various subcultures and identity recognition. When we split the border, it actually highlights the meaning of "border" beyond the boundary and difference emphasized by the word itself, which is more about the relationship, connection, and the opportunity between each other.

We attempt to re-emphasize the importance of research in the context of architecture and design, focusing on interpretation at this Shenzhen Biennale. The exhibition will evoke interpretations of the past, present, and even the future through the display of literature and urban images, projects, experimental attempts, and texts. In today's globalization, we witness the complex "border" situation and hope to define the future "border" as a carrier that can activate creativity and inspiration, promote vibrant interaction and communication. The border gradually shifts towards multiple morphological and ideological levels, and these shifts provide new developmental characteristics for the border.

This exhibition will conceptualize from a real "boundary" to reading the city from multiple historical perspectives, exploring the borders of contemporary urban form from a historical perspective. Many cities at home and abroad have city walls, and even if the city walls have collapsed, new borders will be formed under the influence of various factors such as economy, culture, politics, and geography. Today, we can see a variety of border states: "border cities" located between urban and rural areas, acting as thick boundaries; some cities are divided into two due to reasons such as war, belief, and politics; some old industrial areas that once represented the urban-rural boundary in both spatial and economic terms have been reborn and are now full of new vitality; some strictly controlled, distinctive enclaves are hidden in the city; more and more closed communities appear between the city and the suburbs; some cities, such as Shenzhen, are designated as free trade ports or special economic zones, relying on border control as a local feature, and at the same time freely expanding through the global network; Foucault's "heterotopia," which stands alone in the city... We will invite exhibitors from various disciplines such as architects, planners, sociologists, artists, and photographers to critically present the urban borders in various states through numerous case studies, films, multimedia, practical projects, and field investigations. Case studies will explore the roots of the formation of borders, the effects they bring, and the impact on urban public space, exploring the reality of marginalized spaces and urban-rural borders. We attempt to present the identification that crosses space and culture at the same time through the concept of "border," that is, while accepting the reality of division and difference, we also explore the possibility of repairing and mending these differences.