Shenzen City Local :
Hong Kong biennale 2009
Wuuf Village™ is a speculative
masterplan for Shenzhen's Villages
in the City that pushes back
against the big boy developers by
tapping into street-level consumer
trends. The Villages in the City are
errant, unique places that escape
the dictats of zealous municipal
regulators and muddy the city's
approved development vision of
office towers and shiny, high-end
condos. Meanwhile, lifestyles are
carefully controlled in the 'official'
city. Can the 'villagers' harness the
spending power of the urbanites to
expand their local service economy
and continue to resist top-down
developer buy out?
We worked with Melissa Appleton
of Post Works to fabricate a
different kind of developer
masterplan. Borrowing the identity
of Gordon Wu, one of Hong Kong's
most revered businessmen, we
showcased Wuuf Village™ on the
Gordon Wu CityLocal™ tradestand
curated by aberrant architecture at
the 2009 SZHK Biennale. The
project proposes a range of
franchise ventures that let
inhabitants of the ViCs take
advantage of the booming Chinese
dog-ownership market, especially
popular amongst the metropolis'
affluent but isolated, condo-bound
workforce. From wandering Pet-Pal
salesman to proprietor of the
towering Puppy Love Park, the
entrepreneurial villager can choose
a scale of operation to suit his
means and ambition.