City Design (MA)
Xinbei Li
Xinbei is an MA City Design graduate with a background in landscape architecture. Previously she graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering from Southeast University, China, in 2018. Her degree project is about modern urban environmental governance and the public landscape.
While at the RCA, she participated in and experienced the city we live in and its public space from different dimensions. These investigations made her think about using architectural interventions to stimulate the balance of society and bring well-being to more groups. It also laid the foundation for her later analysis and design. Her research focuses on future work and life patterns and social structure issues. Her work examines the history and related spaces and its operating mechanism behind these topics to question the boundaries of the workspace and living environment today. In doing so, her work aims to provide space for people from different groups and promote social activities.
In addition, she is keen on community activities and has planned several cross-cultural events. In early 2020, she was elected as the Chinese Students and Scholars Association's Vice President in the RCA.
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Throughout her MA, Xinbei has continuously explored other ways to understand the relationship between architecture and the city. She attempts to escape from the shackles brought by architectural education, and constantly tries to observe and think about social issues from different dimensions. Therefore, she is looking forward to conducting her future research and practice in an interdisciplinary approach.
Additionally, she believes that urban design is a creative activity involving everyone, designers and non-professionals in the whole society. Urban designers should be the coordinators of multiple interests and values, and should no longer position themselves as spokespersons of political capital or technical elites.
The Evolution of Work and the Worker
The Evolving Contradictions - Intergenerational Issues
The Evolving Contradictions - Workers' Daily Montage — How to stimulate people to escape from the constraints of time and space have inspired my conception of space montage, that is, in a limited time and space, through the combination of editing of different scenes, to give users a space experience of different dimensions. Then insert a modular unit as a keyframe into the existing living space, which may provide more possibilities for creating the space needed in the future. People of different identities can change this flexible plug-in according to their own needs, which will also encourage interaction among neighbors.
Neighbourhood As Montage stems from a reflection on the ways of contemporary working and living. It proposes a new urban lifestyle in the future. It attempts to integrate the order of space through the concept of Montage to create a new type of social gathering model for enhancing the inclusiveness and collaboration of intergenerational groups.
Based on the research, the project critically explored the limitations of space and time implied by various urban spaces, as well as the difficulties that it brings to workers in the transformation of social identity. Additionally, it responds to the population and unemployed issues.
The proposes a utopian story called Workers’ Republic-a future city full of solidarity-by implanting flexible and variable city plugins in the existing neighbourhood as an intervention, changing people’s lifestyles and cultivating collective consciousness. This story formed by the three stages of implementing design from different scales.
Based on the research, the project critically explored the limitations of space and time implied by various urban spaces, as well as the difficulties that it brings to workers in the transformation of social identity. Additionally, it responds to the population and unemployed issues.
The proposes a utopian story called Workers’ Republic-a future city full of solidarity-by implanting flexible and variable city plugins in the existing neighbourhood as an intervention, changing people’s lifestyles and cultivating collective consciousness. This story formed by the three stages of implementing design from different scales.
Size:
2 months
The "SPARK" - The Urban Plugin for All the Workers
The "SPARK" - Direction for Use
The "SPARK" - Set of Possibilities
The first stage is to provide residents with modular space and its combination suggestions to meet different needs. The urban plug-in named "Spark", as an extension to the family space, can be grafted onto the existing housing space, expanding more private areas. It also attached such an instruction when residents received spark. Spark refers to the "mortise and tenon joint" method in traditional Chinese architecture in structure, making it extremely flexible. In addition, the plug-in's energy can be self-sufficient by using a solar system on its roof and has network equipment.
People can convert it into a variety of self-use living or working spaces according to their needs. The appearance and layout are completely determined by people’s personalities. Such Flexible facilities are the performance of personal identity. each individual has their own architecture. Everyone's personality is visible and diverse in this community.
People can convert it into a variety of self-use living or working spaces according to their needs. The appearance and layout are completely determined by people’s personalities. Such Flexible facilities are the performance of personal identity. each individual has their own architecture. Everyone's personality is visible and diverse in this community.
The "SPARK" - Transportation System
Combined SPARKs - Instant Activities in the Neighborhood
Combined SPARKs - MATRIX
The Workers' Republic - Neighborhood Scale — The Spectacle formed by Working Cooperatively
"Spark" provides the possibility to constantly meet people's needs. It can be transported and combined through techniques, and residents can form more public spaces according to their wishes, such as spaces for meetings, speeches and performances. These activities also provide opportunities for the unemployed in the community, and the interaction between neighbors is constantly increased.
The combined "spark" provides a platform for variable needs. It stimulates people's imagination for spaces and constantly encourages people to create new spaces to meet their demands. These cooperative spaces are presenting the negotiation of the collective spirit.
The combined "spark" provides a platform for variable needs. It stimulates people's imagination for spaces and constantly encourages people to create new spaces to meet their demands. These cooperative spaces are presenting the negotiation of the collective spirit.
The Workers' Republic - The Spectacle in the City Scale — The Self-Governance Formed by Neighborhoods
The "Spark", as a trigger, arouses people's collective consciousness. People gradually incorporate the concept of shared life into their own vision of neighbourhood life. The previous two stages cultivated people's enthusiasm for community participation. To some extent, this has also prompted people's democratic discussion of public space. The ground floor of the existing housing space could become a shared space for the neighbourhoods. People exchange experiences, share knowledge, and share life here.
The Unchained Ground, as the arena of people's emancipation, makes the space that once formed by combined Sparks more accessible. Residents are the main decision-makers who define whether the first floor of the housing will participate in the transformation of community shared facilities. The democratic participation of residents will be a catalyst for the vitality of the neighborhood.
The Unchained Ground, as the arena of people's emancipation, makes the space that once formed by combined Sparks more accessible. Residents are the main decision-makers who define whether the first floor of the housing will participate in the transformation of community shared facilities. The democratic participation of residents will be a catalyst for the vitality of the neighborhood.
A Part of the City: Neglected Voices
London is a ‘music power station’, and a coveted place to be if you’re a busker. The street performances help up-and-coming artists to showcase their talent, as well as to perform in front of larger audience. London seemingly gives buskers a vast space, and what might appear as unlimited possibilities.
In this project I would like to mediate the challenges that up-and-coming artists face in their attempt to become street performers in London. Although they might seem open and easily accessible, both the streets of London and the London Underground are in fact highly regulated spaces, where one is required to have a licence to be able to perform. Process for obtaining one is long and arduous, and some boroughs, such as Camden, have made busking illegal and have even introduced high fines for performing without a licence.
In contrast to this, project ‘Play me, I’m yours’ introduced by a UK artist Luke Jerram in 2012, brought 1,500 pianos to the streets of 50 cities across the globe, from New York to Florence. In London, there are only 5 such pianos, and they are free to use by anyone.
To provoke people's attention to the issue above I have made a short film, where I also take part in some of the street performances.
In this project I would like to mediate the challenges that up-and-coming artists face in their attempt to become street performers in London. Although they might seem open and easily accessible, both the streets of London and the London Underground are in fact highly regulated spaces, where one is required to have a licence to be able to perform. Process for obtaining one is long and arduous, and some boroughs, such as Camden, have made busking illegal and have even introduced high fines for performing without a licence.
In contrast to this, project ‘Play me, I’m yours’ introduced by a UK artist Luke Jerram in 2012, brought 1,500 pianos to the streets of 50 cities across the globe, from New York to Florence. In London, there are only 5 such pianos, and they are free to use by anyone.
To provoke people's attention to the issue above I have made a short film, where I also take part in some of the street performances.