The Gray Box

2024 // Academic Work

adaptive-reuse / cultural / retail / public space / historical building / gallery​​​

Observation to Annotation

Figure ground as a method of reading and analyzing the urban fabric of the city opens new possibilities and insight. While effective in mapping public spaces in Western cities, it lacks clarity when applied to Eastern Asian cities. “A city with no plaza,” said Kisho

Kurakawa, means that the street carry out the function as the public space where activity and interaction happens.

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Annotation to Experimentation

This project explores the possibilities of Asian Urbanism through reading and annotation. We focused on the sequence of activities and their interactions that shape the city, particularly human behavior in relation to public space. A city with an imaginary "plaza," or what we call the "gray" area, is central to our research.

The "gray" area is where we concentrate our study, examining its relevance and influence on humans and urban space. This results in a rich and diverse urban space within the city, making it unique and special. We aim to amplify this space and integrate it into various scales of urbanism and architecture.

Masterplan Axonometric

Thus, we introduce the "gray" area and the "gray" box. This is our manifesto for the future of Asian urbanism, opening new possibilities that maximize regional diversity and sustainable urban spaces.