Title: Hybrid City
Site: Shenzhen University
Credits: Director: Yuan Yitong
Background information
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, college students in Shenzhen had a rich extracurricular and cultural life. Their radius of activity is large enough because of the convenient urban transportation system.(Yang et al, 2020) However, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed all that. In order to ensure the safety of students, the government and schools have adopted strict control measures, such as strict closed control in schools, and extensive online courses for students. This has resulted in a smaller activity radius for college students in Shenzhen, and all activities can only be carried out in small student dormitories. (Ji et al., 2021) Therefore, the dormitory space has changed from the original single rest space to a multi-dimensional mixed space. The video shot this time mainly studies the changes in the space activities of Shenzhen university students’ dormitory before and after the epidemic, so as to explore the diversity of space. (Mcknight, 2010)
Research method
Before starting this task, I have learned some control policies before and after COVID-19 through media such as the news, the Internet, and newspapers. (Yin-Tong and Zang, 2015) analyzed and combined with their own reality, and finally determined their own focus—the spatial characteristics of Shenzhen university student dormitories before and after the epidemic. In order to better complete this shooting task, I went to my classmate’s dormitory in Shenzhen many times to observe. Through observation, the main content of shooting video, the video shooting method and the determination of camera shooting angle are conceived. (Signori and Gabriela, 2014)
Research Topics
This video mainly highlights the changes in the dormitory space characteristics caused by the epidemic by showing the activities in the student dormitory before and after the epidemic through the methods of memory and narrative. Specifically, before the epidemic, the dormitory space was often the most easily overlooked space, and students would not carry out too many activities related to study and sports in this space. (Douglas., 2001) They regard the dormitory space only as a place to rest. This space does not have much impact on their lives because they spend more time outside the classroom or school. However, after the outbreak of the epidemic, the school’s strict closure measures began to re-examine the dormitory space, re-endow this space with more functions, and carry out other activities besides rest. For example, online classes, doing sports, or even cooking, gatherings, etc. They turned the dormitory into a diverse and mixed space. (Kim, 2004)
Overview of video content
The video starts from before the outbreak, I got up on time at 7:00 every day, and then started some daily activities such as folding the quilt, washing, makeup, dressing and so on. Then I used the following camera to shoot the activity track of me going out to the bus station and then to the classroom. Then start shooting at night. After a day of study, I went back to the dormitory. The quilt on the bed, the shoes on the floor and the mirror on the table are all in their original positions. (Alper, 2007) I walked into the dormitory, changed my shoes, and started removing makeup, washing up…
The epidemic is coming
At this time, the camera began to switch to news clips when the epidemic occurred, and people were busy fighting the epidemic. This makes people feel hesitant, fearful, and hopeless. Makes it feel like the end of the world is coming. At this time, the school immediately took closed control measures and adopted online courses instead of offline courses. In order to avoid cross-infection among students, all students can only move around in the dormitory, including classes. At this time, the video shows various activities in the Shenzhen university dormitory under the closed campus, such as classes, sports, and chats. Through the changes in the content of activities in the student dormitory space before and after the epidemic, the use of building space and the changes in people’s lives due to the epidemic are shown. (Guo and Deng, 2013)
Reflection
Through the shooting of this video, I really felt the changes brought by the epidemic to different architectural spaces in the city. This kind of change is something we never expected before, and it will bring profound changes to the city and people’s life. It made me understand that the diversity of architectural spaces is often determined by changes in the surrounding environment. (High and Sundstrom, 1977)
Word count: 735
References
Yang, K. , Wang, L. , Li, F. , Chen, D. , X Li, & Qiu, C. , et al. (2020). The influence of preventive strategies on the covid-2019 epidemic in shenzhen, china. European Respiratory Journal, 55(5), 2000599.
Ji, H. , Tong, H. , Wang, J. , Yan, D. , & Kong, Y. . (2021). The effectiveness of travel restriction measures in alleviating the covid-19 epidemic: evidence from shenzhen, china. Environmental Geochemistry and Health(5).
Mcknight, C. . (2010). The personal construction of information space. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 51.
Douglas, W. , Obal, II, and, William, & H., et al. (2001). Measure-adaptive state-space construction. Performance Evaluation.
Kim, H. I. . (2004). Space efficiency in mixed-use high-rise building.. (Doctoral dissertation, Illinois Institute of Technology.).
Alper, M. . Making Space in the Makerspace: Building a Mixed-Ability Maker Culture.
Guo, J. . (2007). The demand of college students on dormitory space. Shanxi Architecture.
Yin-Tong, L. I. , & Zang, H. . (2015). University dormitory space optimization design. Art and Design.
Signori, & Gabriela. (2014). Cell or dormitory? monastic visions of space amidst the conflict of ideals. Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies, 3, 21-49.
Guo, H. , & Deng, M. . (2013). Research on the cognitive evaluation method of communication spaces in the dormitory buildings environment of universities. Applied Mechanics and Materials.
Yuan Yitong
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Hi Yitong! Your film is primarily shot in the first person, making me feel very involved. In addition, when shooting the changes in the dormitory before and after the epidemic, you inserted a piece of news to connect, which makes the overall content of the video very smooth. Finally, thanks to your video, I have better understood that the diversity of architectural space is often determined by changes in the surrounding environment, and the soul of architectural space is usually given by humankind.
You showed the difference in experience before and during the pandemic clearly. Perhaps you can make finer spatial observations about the dormitory space and go deeper into understanding how it was utilised in the context of the pandemic. The inclusion of scenes showing zoom and other forms of IT is interesting, reminding me of Boyer’s reading on CyberCities. Did you also manage to interview some of these students who stay in the domitory? The context could also be clearer e.g. were there restrictions related to going in/out? Did the dormitories allow visits?