A MODEL CITY AND OTHER MODELS: An exhibition by drdharchitects.

In December 2009 drdharchitects participated in the Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale 2009. Responding to the theme of ‘City Mobilisation’, our proposal sought to address the individual and collective lives of the inhabitants and future inhabitants of the World’s big cities.

With the help of local school children from Shenzhen, we proposed the creation of a miniature city made of clay. Ten workshops were organised in local schools where 500 children between the ages of 7-11, participated in the making of the clay houses. Every uniquely different house was painted with a white glaze, giving an “ivory white” appearance that reinforced the collective identity of the model city.

The exhibition could have many meanings, suggesting either an absence or the potential for craft in the making of the contemporary city. With the help of the school children of Shenzhen, our exhibit sought to critique and explore the delicate, but necessary balance between the universal and the particular.

The exhibition is accompanied by a selection of models and photographs of the practice’s work.