A Dose of Chaos: The 7th Bi-City Biennale of UrbanismArchitecture

The end of 2017 was a busy time for Shenzhen, with the seventh edition of Bi-City Biennale of UrbanismArchitecture (UABB) unfolding at various venues throughout the city. Carrying the theme “Cities, Grow in Difference,” UABB was jointly curated by Hou Hanru alongside architects Liu Xiaodu and Meng Yan. The main exhibition is located in Nantou Old Town, with five satellite venues located at Luohu, Yantian, Longhua (Shangwei and Dalang) along with Guangming New District. On top of these, 13 other collateral exhibitions are being held all over the city. 

In the early 2000s, starchitect Rem Koolhaas led an in-depth study of “villages within cities” in the Pearl River Delta region; since then, this unique phenomenon of Chinese urbanization has been a topic of interest among architects and those engaged in international urban studies. UABB spotlights this occurrence—or spectacle—in a city that has grown at breakneck speed from a backwater town to a megacity with a population over 11 million in under 40 years. Such growth has led to urban planners failing to keep up, which is why some parts of Shenzhen are organized not unlike a small village. Nantou is one such example; its history can be traced back by 1700 years, and the neighborhood (or historic town) has been called the origin of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Ming dynasty (1368–1644) walls and small temples can still be found in the area, but most of Nantou is now where migrant workers live temporarily, and the streets are lined with street food shops, markets and butcher shops. Art would be the last thing you’d think of here.

• China