Urban regeneration, 

listening to architects or not?

ZAO HZ x PRO-LAB

Shopping, or consumption, as a form of public activity, seems to be gradually infiltrating, or even replacing, every aspect of the city, in turn shaping space, influencing life, creating ideologies, and changing technology and invention. From towns, suburbs, streets and squares to stations, exhibition halls, schools and even the Internet, all spaces, whether real or imaginary, serve the mechanism and needs of consumerism.

The Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas (1896-1968) is one of the most famous architects in the world. Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas accurately predicted the arrival of this phenomenon as early as the end of the last century. Today, China is in the midst of such a phenomenon, with the majority of urban regeneration revolving around "commercial behavior," where consumption is like an infusion of living water that can revitalize a depressed community.

Do you spend money, time, energy, or mood?

Do we buy material goods, experiences, photos, or feelings?

Consumption's insatiable appetite for public space and people has made it the main way we experience our cities, but is this what urban regeneration is all about in the first place?

Event©ZAO Hangzhou

In response to this discussion, ZAO HZ, together with PRO-LAB, organized a salon sharing session with the theme of "Urban Regeneration - Listening to Architects? With the theme of "Urban Regeneration - Listening to Architects?", government officials, builders, architects, planners and interior designers were invited to share their experiments and applications of local urban regeneration in different professional contexts.

With the theme of "Public Space vs Consumerism", we will talk about the love-hate relationship between public space and consumerism in China, whether urban regeneration is driven by consumerism, or whether consumer behavior is driven by urban regeneration?

We will invite "Urban Lifers" - real Hangzhou citizens to ask questions about the design, and form an "Urban Observation Mission" with researchers, observers and lifers to discuss consumer behavior and urban life, We will discuss the relationship between consumer behavior, urban life, urban regeneration and public space.