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Architects: Mur Mur Lab
- Area: 30 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:WDi
Text description provided by the architects. Kangding Road is an old street in Shanghai's Jing'an district. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was famous for its small factories and alleyways. Today these small factories have gradually moved out, but the commercial atmosphere of the bustling market remains. "The Others" has an unusual place. It is a narrow strip of two rooms along the street. The wide one is 3 meters and the narrow one is only 1.5 meters. Limited by the brick and concrete structure of the old house, they are connected only by a doorway at the end. For this strange site, the "balcony" is the urban reference we found.
The balcony often is in the most illicit close place of the space, it is the end of dimensional streamline; But because it is open to the outside world, it has a strong public experience. During the COVID-19 pandemic, balconies have become the newly public social Spaces in the city, as people are unable to go outside due to home quarantine. Italians also hold interesting "balcony concerts". The juxtapositing of private and public urban balconies was also our first impression of the site.
The juxtaposed rectangular Spaces enter from the wide side, pass through the hole at the end, and then turn around to the outside at the narrow end. Here, the bustling city spreads out before your eyes, but the raised ground and lowered roof confine you as if you were out of touch with your surroundings. A black flat steel plate serves as both the handrail and the tabletop. Here, still on the first floor, but above the city. It is a charming city balcony on the experience.
People sitting on benches, people around the bar, people taking pictures in Dali's room, people standing on the balcony. They love the nooks and crannies, but they don't know about the "city balcony" and the hard thinking behind it. But it doesn't matter, either. Like "a tree shakes another tree, or a cloud pushes another cloud," our memories awaken the memories of their bodies. Space becomes a metaphor, which is connected behind, it is eternal life. On a daily afternoon, I hope you can walk in here, stand on the balcony, and have a simple drink.
