HUTONGISM Exhibition
January 17th 2019, Yale Architecture Gallery
INFORMAL CONSEQUENCES Lecture January 23rd 2019, Yale Architecture

CHINAS CHINAS IS A RESEARCH PROJECT BASED ON THE TYPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CHINESE SUPERMARKETS IN THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES. WITH EXPLORATORY MAPPING FROM THE STUDY OF VARIOUS CASES, A SERIES OF CATALOGS IS MADE. THEY IDENTIFY HOW THESE BUSINESSES ARE INSERTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS AND WITH DIFFERENT RESOURCES WITHIN THE URBAN FABRIC OF THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES. WE ARE INTERESTED IN DISTINGUISHING VARIANTS IN THE METHODS OF APPROPRIATION OF CHINESE BUSINESSES IN THE URBAN CONTEXT. THESE SUPERMARKETS ARE THE MOST VERSATILE EXAMPLES THAT DIRECTLY RESPOND TO AND CO-EXIST IN THE SOCIAL, TEMPORAL AND ECONOMIC DEMANDS OF TODAYS »PORTEÑA-SOCIETY«. THE ESSAY AIMS TO INVESTIGATE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, URBAN AND ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS OF BUENOS AIRES, BASED ON AN ANALYTICAL LOGIC DERIVING FROM THE STUDY OF THE PHENOMENON OF CHINESE SUPERMARKETS IN THE CITY. WE OPTED TO ANALYZE SHOPS IN ALL THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF BUENOS AIRES TO DEFINE AND CATALOG TYPOLOGIES GIVEN BY THE BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS WHERE THE SUPERMARKETS DECIDE TO INSERT THEMSELVES. THE VERSATILITY WITH WHICH THESE SCHEMES ARE INTENDED FOR COMMERCIAL USE IS THE STARTING POINT OF THE INVESTIGATION. WE DISTINGUISH PATTERNS OF HOW THEY OPERATE WITHIN THIS SYSTEM, USING RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES TO BE IMPLEMENTED INTO COMPLEX TRADE PRECINCTS OF THESE CHARACTERISTICS. UNDERSTANDING THIS SYSTEM, THAT IS DEVOID OF LARGE ANALYZES GIVEN ITS INFORMAL QUALITIES IN ITS MATERIAL SETS, IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE KEY TO SUCCESS. THE SUPERMARKETS COEXIST WITHIN THEIR CONTEXT. IN FACT THEY DO IT IN EACH ONE OF THEIR EXAMPLES, INSERTED IN EXISTING BUILDINGS IN THE MOST UNTHINKABLE CASES. CHINESE SUPERMARKETS UNDERSTAND THE CITY – THEY LIVE IN IT, IN ITS NEIGHBORHOODS, IN ITS BLOCKS, IN EACH OF ITS BUILDINGS AND ITS PEOPLE.








CITY WALKER Workshop
September 3rd 2018, Dongcheng Qu, Beijing, China



IN SEPTEMBER 2018, FLORA WAS INVITED TO CARRY OUT A WORKSHOP IN THE CITY OF BEIJING WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF WALKING CITIES, A SERIES OF ACTIVITIES IN CONTEXT OF THE HUTONGS DISTRICTS. IT WORKED ON AN OBSERVATIONAL CROSSING BETWEEN SUPERMARKETS IN HUTONGS AND CHINAS CHINAS PROJECT. THROUGH THIS COMPARATIVE EXCHANGE, TOGETHER WITH COLLEAGUES AND PARTICIPANTS FROM DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES, THE EXPLORATION FIELD WAS DETERMINED BOTH IN BUENOS AIRES AND IN BEIJING, DISCOVERING NEW INDICATIONS AND ANSWERS ON SIMILARITIES IN THE COLLECTIVE LINKS OF TWO DISTANT COMPANIES GIVEN BY THE TRADE UNIONS IN QUESTION . THE ACTIVITY CONCLUDES WITH MAPPING AND NIGHTWALK BY ONE OF THE HUTONGS OF THE QUIANMEN DISTRICT.




CREDITS


Buenos Aires, 2018/2019
Office: Lucía Legarreta, Carolina Cui Xiao, Natalia Fernández
Model: Josefina Ramírez
Graphic: ©Pierre Vanni - http://pierrevanni.tumblr.com/

This project has a grant and support from the Fondo Nacional de las Artes,

Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Ciencia y Tecnología de la Presidencia de la Nación.




Mark