by MAP Office [Gutierrez + Portefaix]

In the early 1980s, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region was transformed into a vast manufacturing hinterland for Hong Kong, as well as an experimental zone for China’s new economy. Massive foreign investments from the British colony boosted a region that aspired to become the fifth Asian dragon.

Established by entrepreneurs, a politics of laissez faire was successfully injected into local infrastructural projects. Joint ventures and private money propelled a leap that responded to the global economy and accession to WTO.



Guangshen Superhighway Market

The Superhighway corridor presents a linear cut through the urban fabric of factories and dormitories. It generates a public space occupied by the workers and designed for/by them. The Superhighway is extended by a 25 meters free zone serving the electric lines. Activities happening underneath are continued in this open space in the form of light appropriation: pools, bicycle park, storage, etc.


Studies