Among all the cities in the world, Shenzhen (China) probably has been the fastest growing in the last thirty years: neighboring Hong Kong in the Pearl River Delta, what was a village of 30,000 in 1980 is now a conurbation of 17 million inhabitants. In this overwhelming process of urbanization, little of its history has been spared, and that is why the urban village of Nantou was elected as the main site of the next UABB, or Bi-City Biennale of Shenzhen / Hong Kong. Curated by art critic Hou Hanrou and architects Meng Yan and Liu Xiaodu, this year the event has the title of “Cities, Grow in Difference”.
Nantou is an organic enclave with hundreds of 10 or 15-story illegal buildings. From an invitation from the curators, Vazio S/A proposed an intervention in this neighborhood, or more precisely a playground in an abandoned building right in the center of the village (see red square in the photo below).
