Qiyu Qin - Dissertation

SITE AS A BATTLEGROUND: REINVENTING COLLECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN CHINA

Qiyu Qin

Dissertation May 2021

Taught Master of Philosophy in Architecture and Urban Design (Projective Cities) 2019/20 Architectural Association Graduate School

ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE SCHOOL PROGRAMMES

COVERSHEET FOR SUBMISSION 2019-20

PROGRAMME: MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design (Projective Cities) STUDENT NAME(S): Qiyu Qin SUBMISSION TITLE: SITE AS A BATTLEGROUND: REINVENTING COLLECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN CHINA COURSE TITLE: THESIS-STUDIO COURSE TUTOR: Platon Issaias, Hamed Khosravi DECLARATION:

“I certify that this piece of work is entirely my/our own and that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of others is duly acknowledged.”

Signature of Student(s):

Qiyu Qin

Date: 28th May 2021

Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to thank all those who helped me during my time at the AA. Thanks my tutors dr. Platon Issaias, dr. Hamed Khosravi, dr. Doreen Bernath, Cristina Gamboa, and Raül Avilla-Royo for their consistent advice and challenging conversations. I would like to especially express my thanks to dr. Doreen Bernath for her dedicated support and enthusiastic assistance all the time.

I would like to thank all friends and colleagues in Projective Cities and China for their great encouragement and confidence in me. They have put considerable time into endless discussions with me, helping me to develop this project from many aspects. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my beloved family for their loving considerations and supports all through these years.

With many thanks to the AA for supporting me with bursaries.

Finally, thanks to all participants in China that agreed to engage in this research and the people who helped me throughout the process. Without them, the research would not have been possible.

This dissertation is dedicated to you. Thank you all.

Contents

Abstract

04

Introduction

07

Chapter I Understanding the Construction Industry

12

1.1 On the global perspective

16

1.2 Demonstration of power: Collective equipments

26

1.3 Focusing on the Chinese context

29

Chapter II Battles on the Construction Site

32

2.1 Capital: The controller of the game

35

2.2 The workers: Subjects dominated by the capital

38

Chapter III Rethinking the system

60

3.1 The construction site as a type

64

3.2 Challenging the dominant players in construction

72

3.3 Challenging the day-to-day conditions, facilities and urban context of construction sites

74

Chapter IV Reinventing Collective Equipments

82

4.1 Research on ‘collective equipments’ for workers

86

4.2 Towards new modularity, temporality and forms of collective living

100

4.3 Alternative ways to inhabit a space

107

01

Chapter V Living on the Construction Site

114

5.1 Analysis of the three sites

117

5.2 Bridging the gap between the reality and the ideal

126

5.3 Building for dignity

135

Conclusion

142

Bibliography

145

02

03

Abstract The construction industry is a field that requires the synthesis of a diverse range of inputs, traversing processes of intellectual creation and manual effort. Construction as a process is essential for the city, yet one of its most crucial factors, the construction site, where knowledge and ideas are realised, has long been neglected in formal architectural studies.

The recurrent presence of construction sites and the questions they raise in relation to labour, architecture and the urban fabric, have seldom been considered as a formal element of urbanisation and this has resulted in a lack of formal investigation of these elements in architectural discourse. This dissertation endeavours to investigate these neglected questions by combining global perspectives and the specific context of contemporary China. Moreover, the gap in the literature is further addressed through the exploration of a series of multi-disciplinary studies, theories and design tests on various scales and sites and in various forms. By embracing the full meaning of ‘constructing the city’, this dissertation reveals the neglected potential of recognising construction sites as an essential part of urban processes and the life of the city and its citizens.

Thanks to the current flexible employment conditions favoured by the construction industry, an increasing share of workers in the global market is employed via various subcontractors and temporary employment agencies and work across borders. These workers, variously known as informal, precarious, or irregular, enable cities to exploit a cheap and flexible labour force. Informal migrant workers in the construction industry are a structural feature of capitalist accumulation and have always existed in China and worldwide. Construction workers in China, consist mainly of migrant workers and have long been subordinated and often exploited by the construction industry driven by the capitalist economy. Although in recent years, the central government has provided certain top-down rules in an attempt to force the industry to improve the dire situation of construction workers on construction sites and their risky working environment, chaotic living situation and vulnerable position but the rigid structure of the industry continues to make disempower workers. This dissertation argues that government and state-owned enterprises, as well as developers and contractors, must be obliged to protect underprivileged workers and top-down policies from the government are insufficient to improve the treatment of construction workers by construction groups. Instead, the dissertation explores parallel forms of bottom-up and collaborative mechanisms to ensure not only the safety and welfare of workers on site but also to provide them with further opportunities and collective resources in terms of their care, skills exchange, finances, education, family support, ability to form communities and productive relationship with the city before the establishment of a construction site and after work is the project is complete.

Looking at the construction site in the urban context, the construction project itself can be considered the ‘collective equipments’ of the city, generating more production relationships than temporary production instruments. Critical insights arising from the analysis of current on-site conditions in the contemporary Chinese construction industry provide the basis of

04

a series of design propositions exploring and testing possible new forms of ‘collective equipments’ to empower workers. The reinvention defines new social and political agendas for workers and at the same time, brings new values, relationships, engagement and employment to the construction site in relation to the city. By offering more possibilities and ‘types’ for buildings utilised by workers on the construction site, the research challenges the association of construction sites with new infrastructure and ultimately counters the idea of the building as a product and the commodification of urban typologies.

05

06

Introduction When architects discuss their architectural projects, it is rare for them to mention in any detail what happened on the construction site where the project materialised through labour. Although various forms of research and practice have attempted to put construction processes at the forefront of architectural thinking, the important implications of construction, especially regarding the exploitation of labour and other questions embodied on the construction site in relation to architecture, the industry and the city, have not been openly and fully addressed. According to Pier Vittorio Aureli,1 the reason for this is that labour in the construction industry is ubiquitous and as such, it is ‘invisible’. Of course, labour is visible in different forms of work activities; however, it is ‘not something that can be contained by a specific action, typology or subject’.2 In Aureli’s words: ‘labour is omnipresent but elusive in terms of its representation’.3 Even if the worker’s ability to produce is everywhere, it is still difficult to speak about the relevance of labour as the fundamental basis of society without representation. This dilemma has ultimately become a problem that touches the way we talk about labour and how we, as architects, make it visible.

To respond to this issue and formally address other questions, we can apply our talents and the character of our work as architects to build platforms and appropriate ways to discuss and represent labour within the architectural framework. Construction is deemed a ‘productive force’ in and of the city, and the construction site is the apparatus that can endow invisible labour with physical substance. Therefore, to fill the gap in the architectural discourse and fully discuss the issue of labour, this thesis begins by establishing a global perspective to understand the industry under contemporary urban conditions before focusing on the specific context of contemporary China’s construction sector. It presents not only the rigid structure of the industry but also the practical, real-world environment. The dissertation traces the history of the industry’s development and illustrates the evolution of different working models, including contracting, bidding and deployment protocols.

Additionally, the dissertation mines workers’ day-to-day on-site working practices and living conditions using the social media platform TikTok and conducts online and inperson questionnaire surveys to gather pertinent data. Most importantly, this thesis reveals the exploitation and battles between different parties in the construction industry, including architects, investors, contractors and construction workers. Exploratory research, investigation and architectural design tests provide insights into crucial factors and bring the two most critical subjects, workers and capital, into the discussion. By doing this, additional layers are added to the discussion of labour and the study of labour regarding reproduction, care, domesticity, self-building, apprenticeships, sustainability and social relationships is expanded.

Another insight into labour concerns construction itself. Whether it involves building, renovation or demolition, construction as a process is an essential part of the urbanisation of the city and the long history and recurrence of construction sites are embedded in the urban fabric. Due to the transient and instrumental nature of construction, the impact of its

07

1 Pier Vittorio Aureli, ‘History, Architecture and Labour: A Program for Research’ in Asymmetric Labors: The Economy of Architecture in Theory and Practice, ed. by Aaron Cayer, Peggy Deamer, Sben Korsh, Eric Peterson, and Manuel Shvartzberg (New York: The Architecture Lobby, 2016), pp. 157-161.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

constituent parts has neither been identified nor formally studied. The construction site, where the productive action takes place, has thus become abnormal in urban life despite its ubiquity. Looking at construction sites in the urban context and how they are formally articulated, it is evident that they can create more productive relationships and be more than a temporary factory that only exists for a specific period. As required by the rise in the demand for mixed-use, reused, repaired and sustainable buildings to meet urgent environmental, social and economic needs, construction sites are increasingly pluralised to accommodate the processes of repair, maintenance, retrofitting, self-building, collaborative adaptation and responsible deconstruction. We are living in and alongside construction sites more than ever before and all for the better. However, this recognition of the city as the varied dynamics of construction is a force of the decommodification of our built environment, which the capitalist system attempts to sideline. This phenomenon is interesting in relation to contemporary debates on the environmental crisis and the need to understand the built environment through the concept of ‘ecologies’. Thus, this research raises new questions concerning the relationship between labour and ecologies that have seldom been discussed before and explores the meaning of commodifying labour and how employment markets are currently becoming more attentive to workers As a multifaceted form of labour, construction is indeed the ‘collective equipments’ of the city. It is not simply the temporary productive activities that lead to an agreed outcome but a substantial compound with a much bigger influence on urban conditions and its location. It integrates labour, education, technologies, the environment, policies, domestic realities, production and reproduction, which can all be seen in the development of labour employment models in the Chinese construction industry and on many construction sites. Workers are a crucial element in the construction network with construction sites becoming the platform that brings together a range of roles and relationships. The issues of urban resources, material cycles, the community and skill changes are all part of this platform, forming unique ‘collective equipments’ for cities. In that sense, improving our understanding of construction and construction sites can help us articulate urbanisation through the study of construction and its critical elements.

Since 2009, China has been the world’s largest construction market. While the industry has created an unprecedented volume of building projects within a short period, it has also sown the seeds of conflict. As the construction industry boomed, millions of less skilled, less educated migrant ‘peasant workers’ ‘liberated’ from agricultural work were absorbed into this business, working and living on small and big construction sites across the country.

Driven by the capitalist economy, workers were settled on the site, which was equipped with all kinds of living facilities, and were expected to live in temporary collective facilities.

Within this specific territory, different forms of productive forces, activities, tools and devices were integrated into the ‘collective equipments’ for workers, projecting the power of labour. The general approach of deploying the construction site and related protocols for the architectural discourse. Thus, the construction site, with its distinct spatial and political agendas has become a territorial demonstration of power that can also be interpreted as

08

sustained yet mobile territorial equipment for production. In recent years, in response to increasing pressure, the central government has provided certain top-down rules in an attempt to force the industry to put into practice certain remedial measures to improve the dire situation of construction workers on sites and their risky working environment, chaotic living situation and vulnerable position but the rigid structure of the industry continues to disempower workers.

To shift the focus to the capital side, among all the participants of the construction sector, state-owned construction groups in China, funded entirely by the central and local governments, have always possessed the highest quality resources in the industry. Thanks to the funds, opportunities and human resources these institutions enjoy, they can not only undertake and accomplish every single project they are awarded but also manage to retain their dominant position in the industry. However, the benefits rapidly acquired by construction groups have been gained at the cost of the labour force. The industry, backed by the state and driven by profit, has so far not been required to take responsibility for the well-being of workers and provide equipment in their service. Based on the terrible reality of the workers’ situation, this dissertation argues that it is vital for state-owned enterprises and contractors, who hold abundant funds, power and resources, to make the first move and protect the disenfranchised worker. To this end, a new proposal to create rational production protocols and a safe and well-organised environment for people working and living onsite can be put on the table. Furthermore, a new project aiming to reinvent ‘collective equipments’ to empower workers will be generated and within such a framework, a new social, political and architectural agenda will be introduced. Offering much better welfare, position and possibilities for workers can benefit not only the workers themselves but also the construction process, project and industry and the city as a whole.

The notion of ‘collective equipments’1 comes from Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Félix Guattari’s philosophical model for the city: ‘The Equipments of Power’. Decades on, in the monograph of Collective Equipment of Power: the Road and the City2, Simone Brott adds another layer of critique on the idea of ‘collective equipments’, defining the term are always ‘in the plural form as the city is always multiple’3. This dissertation attempts to expand the role of the construction site in the architectural discourse through the philosophical notion of the ‘collective equipments of power.’ Realising the potential of a construction site as collective equipments for the city supports the need to offer alternative ways for construction workers to live and work on sites. This is explored in the design proposition through new deployment patterns, adaptable spatial modules, flexible thresholds and shared facilities. Learning from case studies, the new ‘types’ attempt to create a flexible form that can be developed beyond the time, scale and singular construction project. In the urban context, the project aims to break the separation between the isolated construction site and the city and connect parties in and beyond the industry. It takes the social agenda as a guiding principle and intends to produce different forms of collectivity, programmes construction and workers’ working and living conditions on the site in the metropolis can be transformed via the architectural design.

09

1 Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and François Fourquet, ‘Equipments of Power: Towns, Territories and Collective Equipments’, in Foucault Live: Michel Foucault Collected Interviews, 1961-1984, ed. by Sylvère Lotringer and trans. (New York: Semiotext(e), 1996), pp. 105-112.

2 Simone Brott, ‘Collective Equipment of Power: the Road and the City’, Thresholds, 2012, No. 40, SOCIO- (2012), pp. 47-54.

3 Ibid.

Aside from empowering workers and offering them greater possibilities, the proposed project also addresses much broader insights, including business, employment, the engagement of different roles, connections between the site and the city and transactions on sites in relation to the city and offers several layers of collective equipments to the industry and the city beyond what is required by workers. The project takes three different sites across China as testing grounds. The three sites have their own characteristics, scales and narrative and thus within the project, construction time, scale and other criteria change and the program, space and framework vary accordingly. In practical terms, integrating the developer’s concerns and the worker’s interests is a big challenge. On the one hand, thinking from the contractor’s perspective, financial and efficiency demands will shape the outline of the project to a large extent. On the other hand, to offer workers more possibilities in terms of their work and life on sites, more ‘types’ must be formed within this specific framework. Overall, radical attempts at a change spearheaded by dominant players in the construction industry must be delivered not only because they can improve our understanding of construction as an entirety and its supplementary elements, developing the idea of ‘construction type’, but also because they can also benefit the participants in the industry, the sector itself and even the city.

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11

Chapter I

“

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

Since construction is a transformative industry, what determines the outcome of work is not the simple presence of options and opportunities but rather the actual linkages established behind their selection and the relationship of power among the actors making these determinations.

”

—Paolo Tombesi, What Do We Mean By Building Design?

12

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

As an essential part of urbanisation, construction is omnipresent in the city. Architectural discourse, especially since the Industrial Revolution and Modernism, has been quite interested in and at times even obsessed with the ‘constructional’ aspect of architecture in terms of materials, methods, systems, aesthetics, tectonics and so on. However, as a legitimate part of the architectural project, the specific question of the construction site and its constituent elements are seldom mentioned in the academic literature. Although it is a normal and necessary part of creating our urban fabric, the construction site is consistently overlooked in our discussion of urbanisation. The site of construction execution has not been considered a domain of architecture with the issues of labour, the deployment of the site and the complicated internal relationships within a construction project all being overlooked.

The first chapter of this dissertation explores the construction industry to reveal crucial factors that have been neglected by architecture and opens the discussion on the problems embedded in the industry. Starting from a broad perspective, the global context, this chapter introduces crucial structural problems and the precarious conditions of the industry in the global market. It then focuses on the specific context of the contemporary Chinese construction industry and identifies how power is demonstrated in this industry: ‘collective equipments’, which are the key focus of the research, reinvention and design conducted in this study. To begin this multi-disciplinary study, this chapter thus sheds light on the issues of labour, the construction site, workers’ conditions and construction itself through reference to the existing literature and theoretical frameworks.

13

GLOBAL LABOR LEXICON

Guest Worker Permit: Legal document provided to a migrant

Who Builds Your Architecture?, ‘A Critical Field Guide’, 2017.

construction worker by a host country that allows the person to work for a specific period of time. While every worker is issued

Abscond: The act of a worker who leaves a contract position

a permit, some employers and sponsors do not issue them to

without the permission of an employer and/or sponsor.

workers to prevent the worker from absconding.

Construction Contract: A legally binding contract between

Host Country/Sending Country: The sending country is the

a client and a general contractor. These contracts differ

country of origin for migrant workers; the host country is the

depending upon the agreed method of construction services

country where the migrant worker has secured a job contract

delivery, which can also be influenced by the type of contract

and has been issued a guest worker permit. Because migrant

negotiated for architectural services. Contracts are negotiated

workers are not citizens of the host country their rights to

to minimize risk and liability.

protest poor treatment is limited if not prohibited.

Contract for Architect’s Services: A legally binding contract

International Labor Law: Internationally agreed upon laws that

between two parties, typically a client and an architectural

govern the rights and duties of labor practices—employees,

practice. These contracts differ depending upon the agreed

employers, trade unions, and workplace conditions. The

method of architectural services delivery, which can also be

International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Trade

influenced by the type of contract negotiated for construction

Organization (WTO) are the two bodies that oversee labor

services. Contracts are negotiated to minimize risk and liability.

reform. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is

Global Architectural Practice: Architectural firms are

a consortium of trade unions that seeks to preserve the rights

increasingly hired by international clients to work on projects in

of workers to unionize.

another country. Different laws, economic structures, language,

Job Contract: Migrant construction workers sign contracts with

and labor practices—along with questions of transparency

recruitment agents or employers. These contracts, written

and trust—can make building in other coun- tries a challenge.

in multiple languages, are filed with government agencies

Some firms have set up offices in multiple countries to more

to ensure that the agreements are honored. It is common

easily pursue international contracts.

for brokers or employers to routinely break the contract

Global Construction Company: Large transnational con-

stipulations. These violations are rarely prosecuted in either

struction companies that provide a range of services for

the host or sending country.

architectural and engineering services, resource extraction,

Kafala Sponsorship System: A system of sponsorship that

infrastructural development, facilities management, and

monitors migrant workers in many of the Gulf countries. A

residential and commercial development. The five largest

worker is sponsored by an employer in the host country who

construction companies are VINCI (France); Grupo ACS

has oversight over that worker’s legal and visa status. Often,

(Spain); Bechtel (US); Hochtief (Germany); and Skanska

workers cannot change jobs without the permission of their

(Sweden).

sponsor, which has made the system ripe for exploitation. The

Global Supply Chain: The organization and movement of

application of the kafala system differs by country and recently

goods from manufacturers and suppliers to customers around

there have been many calls for reform.

the world. In large building projects the construction industry’s

Labor Recruitment: Workers secure employment through

global supply chain can bring together many different material

recruitment agents and brokers who represent the type of

and labor suppliers—building materials,

work and level of pay available. Workers sign job contracts for

construction equipment, migrant construction workers, design

a specific type of employment abroad. Workers may arrive,

consultants, and subcontractors to job sites. Construction

however, to the host country and discover the type of work

managers and architects may not have full knowledge of all

they will be doing may be different and the salary may be less

sources and site conditions.

than promised in the signed contract.

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Recruitment Fees: Workers’ families pay brokers’ recruit- ment

has fueled migration. The ILO estimates there are 175 million

fees and often take on debt charged at high interest rates in

migrant workers globally, but exact numbers in the construction

order to do so. This debt must be repaid even if the migrant

sector are unknown.

worker is not paid by the employer, is injured on the job site, or dies while in the host country.

Remittances: Transfer of money that construction workers send home to families. Remittances are typically used to supplement other forms of income and help pay for daily expenses, including education. Remittances might also be used towards speculative ends in the sending country.

Risk and Liability: Clients, contractors, and architects minimize the likelihood of legal responsibilities that might arise through accidents, inaccurate information, fraud, and theft in a building project in order to reduce the chance of lawsuits.

Specialization: The work of architects has become increasingly specialized. Tasks that might once have been done by one person are now distributed to an array of consultants with expertise in a specific area of design and construction.

Subcontractor: A contractor that takes on part of another contractor’s construction contract. The proliferation of the subcontracting process on large building projects has facilitated the abuse of migrant construction workers due to lack of accountability of the main parties involved in the construction contract.

Worker Camp: Enclosed areas that provide housing for migrant construction workers. Run by companies and rented to contractors, these camps are often built outside of major cities.

Sometimes they are constructed near the job site. Private transportation companies are hired to shuttle workers to and from the jobsite. Migrant workers often spend as long as three hours a day traveling between the work site and worker camp.

Worker Migration: Globalization has increased the number of people migrating in search of work, particularly in the construction sector. Seeking better pay, workers may migrate internally with a nation or migrate externally to another country (transnational migration). With the growth of large building projects that draw on an international consortium of companies and firms, the need for large numbers of construction workers

15

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

1.1 On the global perspective Construction is a crucial industry worldwide. It is the physical result of incredible feats of human intelligence and forms a substantial part of the world in which we live: the built environment. Construction not only produces a great number of facilities that accommodate a wide variety of human activities but also creates a huge and complex network that connects concrete infrastructure with social relationships. The importance of this sector is associated both with its size and its role in economic development all around the world.

In an increasingly globalised world, this integrated industry has already grown into an international market that has a huge impact on the global economy. In most countries, construction is the largest industrial employer and it accounts for approximately 7% of total employment worldwide. A significant proportion of this employment is for those construction companies that adopt global business strategies and benefit from the global market. Although the construction industry helps to stimulate the prosperity of our world, it is also a highly competitive industry that embodies numerous problems.

There are those architects that argue for particular modes of construction as part of their design language and processes. Moreover, some architects contribute to journals about construction but mostly in relation to the general framework of construction as an industry and matters of engineering rather than the materialisation of design on a specific site by means of a set of labour protocols. Consequently, the relationship between the construction site and architecture and crucial unanswered questions remain to be explored and fully discussed in architectural studies.

How can we bridge the perceived split between the discipline of architecture and the production of the construction industry, which includes various roles, practices and day-to-day conditions specifically on the construction site? Over the past few years, an interdisciplinary research group called Who Builds Your Architecture? (WBYA?) 1 has been examining the links between the labour of architects, contractors, subcontractors and construction workers in the context of building within the global supply chains of the construction industry. WBYA? has organised a series of workshops and public forums, taken part in panels and lectures, developed visualisations and maps and written essays to probe and understand the complex set of relationships that exist between architects and architecture in the global construction industry. Their work offers unique insights into globalised workforce issues, mainly migrant construction labour, encouraging more people to look into this topic. WBYA?’s studies reveal both notable and invisible problems embedded in the construction industry, investigates different subjects on the global market, and to an extent, fills the gap in the formal architecture studies on construction. To continue, this research elaborates on research on the global perspective, expanding the study by addressing a range of topics and identifying various issues buried in this hierarchical industry.

1 Who Builds Your Architecture? (WBYA?) it is an interdisciplinary advocacy group that examines the links between labour, architecture and the global networks that form around building buildings. From workers’ rights to construction practices to design processes to new technologies WBYA? uses forums such as biennials and publications as av platform to investigates the role of architecture and architects in promoting fair working conditions and sustainable building practices at building sites worldwide.

See www.whobuilds.org

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The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

Fig. 1.1 The movement of workers to 685,000 MIGRANT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN QATAR

45,000,000 INTERNAL MIGRANT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN CHINA

construction site in different countries.

In many countries, construction workers are migrates from rural areas moving within a nation or across borders. They are primarily leaving agriculture for the construction industry.

BEIJING

For example, in China, the movement from

SYRIA HUNAN

LEBANON

rural farms to urban construction sites is

IRAN PALESTINE

JORDAN

HUBEI

SICHUAN

PAKISTAN

taking place entirely within national borders.

NEPAL EGYPT

Qatar is the most extreme example of workers

QATAR BANGLADESH

U.A.E.

GUANGDONG

SHENZHEN

crossing national borders for employment,

INDIA

with migrants as 99 percent of the country’s PHILIPPINES

SUDAN

private labor sector. The movement of workers to construction sites worldwide often involves

SRI LANKA

unregulated protocols, including recruitment and circulation, and workers’ struggles and debts.

500,000 MIGRANT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN U.A.E.

1. How Do Workers Migrate to the Construction Site?

19

$1,700,000,000 2013 GROSS BILLING FOR INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS FOR US BASED ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

Fig. 1.2 The design construction networks.

L a rg e a r c h i t e c t u r a l p r o j e c t s o f t e n c o n n e c t international trade, economics, and sport. The design and construction of such large projects also involve a highly collaborative and often widely dispersed

SKANSKA LAING O’ROURKE ROYAL BAM GROUP BALFOUR BEATTY

group of clients, financiers, architects, engineers,

OLYMPSTROY

HOCHTIEF

FOSTERS + PARTNERS

OMA

consultants, manufacturers, contractors, and workers

ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS HDR ARCHITECTURE KIEWIT

GENSLER

FW FOWLE ARCHITECTS

PERKINS & WILL

BECHTEL CH2M

ARCADIS

AECOM

POPULOUS

KPF

EISENMAN ARCHITECTS

HOK

RAFAEL VINOLY ARCHITECTS

SOM

SHOP

HEINTGES

THORTON TOMASETTI

HILL INTERNATIONAL

JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC.

ATELIERS JEAN NOUVEL SOCHI WINTER GAMES MASTER PLAN

BOURGUES CONSTRUCTION

HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER

VINCI

SHANGHAI CONST. GROUP JEWEL OF THE CREEK

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QATAR

PING AN FINANCE CENTER GUANGDONG OLYMPIC STADIUM

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

SAADIYAT PERFORMING ARTS ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM

HUAWEI DATA CENTER

ARABTEC

sizing and manufacturing standards, and disciplinary frameworks, almost every aspect of the design and

BOTSWANA INNOVATION HUB

construction process can be quantified and organized

3.5 Building Materials

WHAT ARE MATERIAL NETWORKS? Construction materials are manufactured in many different places around the world.

Globally, projects use steel from China, gypsum board from the United States, Architects / Consultants and glass from Germany. Each material Construction Companies needs to be accounted for and coordinatConstruction Sites ed across BIM technologies and finally assembled by workers onsite.

110,000,000 INFORMAL CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WORLDWIDE (2007)

3. What are Design Construction Networks?

SIL IC A

CR

SIL IC O

E ET

ST

QATAR PETROLEUM DISTRICT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

needs to be accounted for and coordinat- ed across

AGC

SHANGHAI TOWER

G LA Z EE ING L

N CO

BURJ KHALIFA

C O N C AZ RE IN TE G EE L

L EE ST ING GLAZ CONCRETE

All Source: Who builds your Architecture?, Who builds your architecture? A critical field guide

STEEL

(2017).

BOTSWANA INNOVATION HUB

Raw Material Import Building Component Export

ST EE L AZ IN G

R

E ET

17

C

3. What are Design Construction Networks?

GL

N

Construction Sites

O C

Building Component Import

onsite.

GUANGDONG OLYMPIC STADIUM HUAWEI DATA CENTER

MINERA CHINALCO PERU

Raw Material Export

BIM technologies and finally assembled by workers

PING AN FINANCE CENTER

GL

LOUVRE ABU DHABI SAADIYAT PERFORMING ARTS

E ON EST M LIM U IN H UM AS AL DA SO

ALUMINUM

BUSINESS BAY

ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM

CON CRE TE GLAZING

AL UM I

GY PB OA RD

GY PB OA RD GL AS S

GY PB OA RD

JEWEL OF THE CREEK

NYU ABU DHABI

HAYS GOVERNMENT CENTER

RAW MATERIAL PROCESSING

CHINA

GLASS L TEE DE S IRON ORE PIG IRON

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QATAR

IRAN

POSCO STEEL

ST

CR UD ES PIG IRO TEEL N IRON OR E

RETE CONC G IN AZ GL L EE ST

States, and glass from Germany. Each material

CNBM

BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM CCTV

L EE ST E RE UD NO CR IRO IRON PIG

PA PE R

DEHGHANI TRADING

HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER

NEW BUILDING MATERIAL PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

CRU

CO NC R GL AZIN ETE STEEL G

SOCHI WINTER GAMES MASTER PLAN

use steel from China, gypsum board from the United

S

ARCELORMITTAL

CR ET GLAZ E ING STEEL

M NU

A LIC SI NE TO ES LIM H A AS SOD

GY PS UM

different places around the world. Globally, projects

T EN ON MP CO

CARDINALS STADIUM

LIMESTONE UM MIN ALU H AS DA SO CA LI SI

PIG IRO N

CO N

CE ME NT

N

Fig. 1.3 The material networks Construction materials are manufactured in many

W TS EN ON MP CO

PAPE R GY PS UM

LAFARGEHOLCIM

G Y UM PS

UM

E.U.

B

NG DI UI

TS

TS EN ON NT MP ME CO CE

M SU YP G

CORNING

CRUD E ST EE L

IRON O RE

KNAUF

GLASS

LAFARGE NORTH AMERICA

ST EE L

L AL

ST EE

C RU D AL UM E S T IN PIG U E IRO M EL N IRON ORE

GEORGIA-PACIFIC

CO NC R GL AZIN ETE STEE G L

CU RT AI N

L

SAINT-GOBAIN

PS GY

.

41

CUR TAI NW AL LC OM PO NE N

USG

standards, and global legal and trade agreements.

Through shared software platforms, international

MINERA CHINALCO PERU

USA

these actors must coordinate and work together through efficient technological platforms, established

CITIC

BURJ KHALIFA QATAR PETROLEUM DISTRICT

LOUVRE ABU DHABI

HAYS GOVERNMENT CENTER

GUANGDONG CONST. GROUP

BUSINESS BAY

NYU ABU DHABI

CARDINALS STADIUM

SAMSUNG

SHANGHAI TOWER

HERZOG & DE MUERON

HKS INC.

GEHRY AND PARTNERS

BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM CCTV

CCC

GROUPO ACS

who construct a fully realised project. Many of

HYUNDAI

49

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

Engrained Hierarchy For an industry that requires close collaboration between groups and individuals, outcomes are always the result of joint efforts made by diverse stakeholders. To cite an example, participation in an architectural project involves the design architect, the architect of record, the construction manager, contractors, subcontractors, construction workers, and so on and so forth. From conceptual design to actual build, the collaborative mechanism of construction transforms an abstract idea into practice and connects roles at various different levels. Under this cooperative process, creations accomplished by an assembly of professionals are presented as a whole and showcase the combined efforts of all participants. Yet, the structure of the work of those in different roles is fundamentally hierarchical. Moreover, the labour that is embedded in this hierarchical system and hidden in the combined work ethos is performed on distinct fields and itself further structured in sub-hierarchies. Such a unique working framework places each role in a distributed position and structures people’s work and participation hierarchically.

A series of construction documents are used to bridge knowledge gaps and ensure the continuation of production. These crucial documents consist of drawings of plans, sections and details and play an important role across every link of the chain. Architects, who are away from the construction site for much of the time, are responsible for preparing these documents, while the contractors and subcontractors are increasingly responsible for the day-to-day conditions and progress on the site. Construction managers translate these documents into practical steps for workers, which sometimes requires the use of multiple languages and approaches. At the end of the line are the workers who complete specific tasks as part of their daily work to achieve a construction project.

Problems of division of labour The hierarchical structure of this industry defines the same structure of work between the involved actors—architects, engineers, consultants, contractors and subcontractors, which also brings the problem of division of labour. In Who Builds Your Architecture?, Laura D. Dixit, Kadambri Baxi, Jordan Carver, and Mabel O. Wilson claims ‘on the typical construction site for a large-scale architectural project, labour is performed on a divided field and structured by a series of contractural relationships.’1 On the construction site, the

1 Laura D. Dixit, Kadambri Baxi, Jordan

organization of labour embodies such strict framework—‘contractors overseeing the work

Carver, and Mabel O. Wilson, ‘Who builds your

of subcontractors, who are in turn responsible for vendors and suppliers, which responds to temporal pressures that demand models of efficiency to realize ever-fast construction

Architecture’, in Asymmetric Labors: The Economy of Architecture in Theory and Practice, ed. by Aaron Cayer, Peggy Deamer, Sben Korsh, Eric

schedules.’ Such hierarchies, they argue, ‘are enabled and reinforced by the professional

Peterson, and Manuel Shvartzberg (New York: The

training that begins in architecture schools and continues in offices.’ 3

Architecture Lobby, 2016), pp. 37-42.

2

Global capitalism has expanded the scale of such division and formed a huge supply chain that consists of a vast network of manufacturers, suppliers, builders, professionals and many

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

18

billion USD. The map below shows the architecture and engineering firms that oversaw construction of the new airSome of the largest architecture projects currently under port as well as the home countries of the migrant workers construction in the Persian Gulf region are airports. These who worked on the project.

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry sites, once completed, serve multiple functions: they bring With the expansion, the airport footprint makes up twotourists to the region, they are seen as strategic nodes that thirds of the city of Doha. The airport terminals contain support economic growth, and they are also part of the hotels, exercise facilities, spas, and even art exhibitions; the transportation network that connects migrant workers to terminal amenities are one of the ways airports in the reconstruction sites. gion compete with one another and develop a global brand The Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar is one closely connected to other strategies for economic growth. of a number of airports in the Gulf that has recently undergone a major expansion. Planning for the project began in 2003 and the expansion cost has been approximately 15.5

TRANSNATIONAL BUILDING PROJECT

Engineer BURO HAPPOLD

Construction Manager

Architect

Construction

Contractor

HOK

TAV CONSTRUCTION

TAISEI CORPORATION

BECHTEL LEBANON

SYRIA

PALESTINE

JORDAN

IRAN PAKISTAN

EGYPT

NEPAL BANGLADESH

SUDAN

PHILIPPINES

Architecture Network Migrant Workers Construction Site

14

15

DO MIGRANT E?

nt workers who are ctural projects for 2022 World Cup in al areas in sending his general category of ess spaces, each with ms, elevations from sea s. Some of the villages e leaving are below e paddy fields are culkers are leaving from on the foothills of the

tion networks that coners from villages to the eave for host countries e, either. The process of art by walking for hours asphalted road that an urban center. Or it aveling along a waterting to other means of each the departure city. or leaving a rural area, k with labor brokers nnected to manpower ncies. Workers borrow ration fees from monillages and pay brokers o urban areas. om migrant workers are eas where their families n of the remittances are o brokers and recruitmigrant worker dies road, the family might money after a period of the recruitment debt ut any income from e family can only reoney if the worker has 19 gal migration channels.

Client

Fig. 1.4 (up) The map shows the architecture and engineering firms that oversaw construction of the new airport as well as the home countries of the migrant workers who worked on the project.

Architect

Source: Who builds your Architecture?, Who builds your architecture? A

Contractor

critical field guide (2017).

Fig. 1.5 (Below) The diagram shows the transportation networks that connect migrant workers from villages to the cities where they leave for

Subcontractor

host countries..

Source: Who builds your Architecture?, Who builds your architecture? A critical field guide (2017).

WBYA? investigates on the migration process of construction workers

Host country recruitment agency

Sending country recruitment agency

from villages to the cities or foreign countries, and their research introduces a general precarious position of migrant workers in the industry: ‘The process of migration could start by walking for hours or days to a dirt or asphalted road that has a bus route to an urban center.

Or it could entail first traveling along a waterway before connecting to other means of transportation to reach the departure city. In preparation for leaving a rural area, most migrants work with labor brokers who are usually connected to manpower or recruitment agencies. Workers

Brokers

borrow money for the migration fees from moneylenders in their villages and pay brokers before they travel to urban areas. Remittances from migrant workers are sent to the rural areas where their families live. A large portion of the remittances are used to pay debts to brokers

Migrant Workers

and recruitment agencies. If a migrant worker dies while employed

Moneylenders

abroad, the family might receive insurance money after a period of time, while paying the recruitment debt and interest without any income from abroad.’

Top to bottom, left to right: Rural areas that workers leave—rice paddy fields in Kerala, India. Waterway in Kerala, India. Agriculture in Nepal. Hill roads in Nepal.

Village beside a road (and bus route) in Nepal. All im-

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

other actors. This has led to the atomisation and dispersion of the fields related to the division of labour, from design to the construction of the building, and the contracts and agreements that bind them. Although this organisation of labour realises the high production efficiency and intensiveness demanded by construction schedules, it also fragments the relationship between the different stakeholders of a construction project. The petrification of labour, resulting from the continued exploitation of migratory workers in particular, with vastly different skills and qualifications creates an underclass that is underrepresented politically. This population is facing dangerous working conditions that are only worsening.

We can understand specific actors’ practices and working systems from the way in which work is structured in the construction industry. Compared with other more influential roles in this industry, such as those of architects, engineers, construction managers, contractors and subcontractors, construction workers have never been the focus of architectural theory or study. Little research has been done on understanding the day-to-day conditions and practices on the construction site, which is an important component of every construction project. For a long time, there has been a gap in the architectural discourse concerning construction. We routinely fail to recognise the importance of the direct creators of the built environment, the building process and construction as a process in relation to the city; instead, we see the construction site uniquely as a territory for production, treat people working there as cogs in a wheel or see construction as an aberration to be endured until the finished product can be delivered.

The abstracted workforce: Capitalised subjects Since the 1970s, the liberalisation of economies has propelled the movement of capital and labour to new markets around the world. The globalised connections of production have spawned economic lifelines and structured an increasingly flexible labour market that links different regions and nations together worldwide. Given this trend, the number of those seeking employment in other parts of the world has increased exponentially but from a capitalist point of view, these workers appear to be disempowered actors who passively accept exploitative employment relations. The exploitation and abuse of labour by unsavoury employers and predatory recruitment networks to maximise profit are achieved by reducing workers’ wages and increasing their work hours.

The construction industry takes advantage of labour trends by contracting short-term and informal workers from abroad. In most European countries, migrant workers form an important share of the construction workforce. Firms recruit migrants to solve local labour shortages and to reduce labour costs (Fellini et al., 2007). Labour-intensive business activities are subcontracted to competitive and/or specialised construction companies and temporary work agencies. This increasingly takes place within a cross-border context through ‘competitive subcontracting’ aimed at lowering costs (Bosch, 2012: 19). Migrant

20

women, and children to a particular city or region. This isolation and lack of political agency also stifles political reforms Understanding Of The Construction Industry that would open the The host nations to more immigration. It also blocks the creation of immigrant communities that would form outside the purview of the current limited employment contracts.

Fig. 1.6 (up) Worker dormitory, NYUAD. Courtesy of Gulf Labor.

Worker dormitory, NYUAD. Courtesy of Gulf Labor.

Fig. 1.7 (below) Al Khor worker camp, Qatar. Qatari officials report the camp can accommodate up to 6,000 workers. Image from Wikimapia.

26

Source: Who builds your Architecture?, Who builds your architecture? A critical field guide (2017).

27

ONDITIONS IN R’S HOUSING?

r camps house e away from their p” is the name given many parts of the an house thousands rately separated that house local is located a far city, workers will be

CCC-Teyseer Camp Recreation Room

dormitories that g, and bathing facile will sometimes reas. There can be dings that house Industrial City in up to 50,000 workstatus in countries re minorities create reas within the

nstructed and mainthat lease out dormihen a contractor or need a group of men herefore, a camp ifferent teams of who are on different m schedules. camps in the UAE, t as necessary spacmodation, ablution, edical, laundry, recnagement. Because ly owned, maintes facilities can be nt. If the contracting ts bills, electricity minated, along with in these instances eratures and lack of

Safety Training Center

Junior Mess Hall Senior Mess Hall

Labor Mess Hall Electrical Maintenance Workshop

Al Khor worker camp, Qatar. Qatari officials report the camp can accommodate up to 6,000 workers. Image from Wikimapia.

21

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

Camp

Cluster

Dormitory

Room

Made in china: $40-70 / square meter.

24 men

E HOUSING UNITS ND ARRANGED WITHIN

dormitory are bathing clude showers, sinks, and r food preparation and e often housed in other e. Indoor recreational areas door areas are shared beormitory buildings. Probmmodations range from elivery services, unsanitary throoms, and lack of mainaning services. Electricity ages, exposed sewage, existent air conditioning oblems plaguing many Poor sewer and sanitation lso create unlivable condis.

−+12 '

Type 1.

Shenzhen, China. Migrant workers living on site are not included in the total migrant worker count.

Type 2.

For rent: fully furnished labor camp at Al Khor, Qatar for 800 members $1000/month.

Type 3.

1 Billion USD workers’ city Barwa Al-Baraha in Qatar will house 53,000 migrant workers when completed.

8 men

Wifi Laundry room Air conditioning Shared TV viewing areas No alcohol No cooking

−+14 '

for the dormitories consist s along a single or doubleEach room will have a leeps two workers. Rooms ral bunk beds. The overmen with stacked bunk ry style rooms designed n four is also common

38 ’

designed to provide areas ccommodations, which rmitory-style buildings. Ofngs are prefabricated units t to the site. As human ave documented, workers vercrowded accommodaequate spaces to socialize,

130 rooms per dormitory

6 men

live?

33

30M² TYPICAL AREA PER PERSON MICRO UNIT

6M² TYPICAL AREA PER PERSON WORKER’S CITY

10M² TYPICAL AREA PER PERSON RURAL FARM HOUSE

Fig. 1.8 Accommodations designed for the migrant workers worldwide.

Source: Who builds your

30M² TYPICAL AREA PER PERSON ONE BEDROOM

2. Where do workers live?

1M² TYPICAL AREA PER PERSON LABOR CAMP

Architecture?, Who builds your

1M² TYPICAL AREA PER PERSON ON SITE WORKER HOUSING

architecture? A critical field guide (2017).

29

22

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

construction workers often face unscrupulous conduct by recruitment firms, subcontractors and employment agencies. Such labour procurement practices, which are ideal for oneoff work contracts and the site-specific nature of building projects, reinforces the effects of accumulative employment relations. Except for some large companies that manage the entire building project and source manual labour from other firms, construction tends to be dominated by small firms with limited fixed capital (Bosch, 2012: 16). This, combined with the temporary nature of construction work, discourages the development of stable employment relations (Bosch, 2012; Forde et al., 2009). According to Lisa Berntsen 1, ‘although employment relations are fluid, subcontractors and temporary employment agencies do (try to) establish longer-term relationships with contractors that hire their services. In turn, the workers are often contracted or managed multiple times by specific companies during their careers.’

The social contracts that emerged during the 20th century varied across countries in substance and enforcement but all shared, at the very least, an expressed commitment to holding capital responsible for de-commodifying workers’ productive and reproductive labour in the form of minimum wages, job security, work contracts and in some cases healthcare and old-age benefits. In turn for the formal recognition of work and attached benefits, workers provided their labour. The state was held responsible for enforcing the contract between capital and labour. According to Rina Agarwala2, ‘while the struggles and social contracts of the twentieth century did much to improve the lives of millions of workers, they also failed in two important ways.’ First, ‘they excluded a vast majority of the workforce that capital employed outside the purview and protection of legal regulations.’

Secondly, ‘they have not proven to be sustainable.’ Rina argues that these workers, variously known as informal, precarious or irregular, enabled capital to exploit a cheap and flexible labour force that could ultimately subsidise its protected, formal workers. Others known as contract or casual workers were directly involved in capitalist production but were hired through sub-contractors and operated in unregulated workplaces.

Precarious living conditions One of the most pressing issues faced by migrant construction labour is their living

1

conditions. On poorly managed jobsites, migrant workers are repeatedly exposed

Work, Employment & Society , Vol. 30, No. 3 (JUNE

to dangerous working conditions and many live in poorly maintained, substandard

2016), pp. 472-488

accommodations located in sprawling ‘workers’ camps’ or industrial districts. Construction companies and subcontractors seeking to limit expenditure often construct these camps on the outskirts of the city far from job sites or, in some cases, on the construction site and house thousands of workers in accommodation that lacks basic amenities for workers’ food,

Lisa Berntsen, ‘Reworking labour practices’,

2 Rina Agarwala, ‘Informal Workers' Struggles in Eight Countries’, The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol. 20, No. 2 (SPRING / SUMMER 2014), pp. 251-263

hygiene and security/privacy needs. According to WBYA?3, ‘the Worker Camps [are] often

3 Who builds your Architecture?, Who builds your

built outside the city limits [and] migrant construction workers—shut out of the public

architecture? A critical field guide (2017).

spaces that architects and urban theorists claim are vital to a robust urban life—are isolated

23

See www.whobuilds.org

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

from the civic and social spheres of local residents.’ The camps consist of dormitory buildings of varying size and quality that provide workers with minimal spaces for socialising and rest. The establishment of workers’ camps segregates a large population of men outside the civic and economic life of the city that they are constructing. Transportation is typically only available via a company bus, limiting workers’ access to social facilities, as well as key human services such as embassies and consulates. This separation produces a dual effect, preventing workers from integrating into the social and cultural life of the host city or country and restraining their political agency, stifling political reforms that would open the host nations to more immigration. The isolation of the workers’ camp also blocks the creation of immigrant communities that would fall outside the purview of the current limited employment contracts. WBYA? claims that migrant worker housing should be a design consideration when dealing with the administration of a project and site, a statement that reflects the intention of this study. Based on the global investigation they launched, WBYA? asks several questions specifically concerning construction workers’ challenging living conditions in the urban context: How can architects use their knowledge and skills to address workers’ housing rights?

How can the unique position of the architect be used to help guide housing decisions from design and construction to logistics and implementation?

Rather than thinking about housing as an offsite problem, is it something that can be thought of as an integral part of how the jobsite is planned?

By using a set of predetermined and/or modular housing units, can best practices be established to bring housing conditions within the jurisdiction of a design project?

How could the design of the unit, dormitory, cluster and camp be thought about holistically and in relation to the jobsite and the city?

How can the architect make recommendations and provide resources to help guide housing policy onsite?

24

VEL E TO Y?

to the jobsuch as ities, and hubassy), workonstruction ontracted by hey are not a orkers at the any’s schedrs for bus ar location.

ESS BASIC ND LEGAL

adiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.

Human Rights Watch,

he sponsoravailable re any proborts, workers er to access is offered on l problems st be handled rs are typiemittances ators for a fee This transel to the city esy of Samer re money to implement-

ment of each worker ing many of

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

How do workers travel from camp to job site to other parts of 2.4 Human Services

HOW DO WORKERS ACCESS BASIC HOW DO WORKERS ACCESS BASIC FINANCIAL, AND LEGAL MEDICAL,MEDICAL, FINANCIAL, AND LEGAL SERVICES? SERVICES? the city?

In order to get from the camp to the job- site and to any other 2.4 Human Services

2.3 Buses

HOW DO WORKERS TRAVEL FROM CAMP TO JOB SITE TO OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY? In order to get from the camp to the jobsite and to any other amenity such as shopping, offsite leisure activities, and human services (such as an embassy), workers rely on buses run by the construction company or a company subcontracted by them. These buses, because they are not a form of mass transit, leave workers at the will of the construction company’s schedule. Workers can wait for hours for bus service to and from a particular location.

amenity such as shopping, offsite leisure activities, and human

services (such as an embassy), workers rely on buses run by the

Workers wait for buses in Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.

Courtesy of Samer Muscati, Human Rights Watch, 2011.

Workers wait for buses in Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.

Courtesy of Samer Muscati, Human Rights Watch, 2011.

2.4 Human Services

HOW DO WORKERS ACCESS BASIC MEDICAL, FINANCIAL, AND LEGAL SERVICES? Workers leaving jobsite in UAE. Courtesy of Samer AccessHuman to an Rights embassy or2011. to the sponsorMuscati, Watch,

ing agent will not typically be available at the worker camp. If there are any problems with contracts or passports, workers have to leave the camp in order to access social services. Medical care is offered on site at many camps. Any legal problems and most banking needs must be handled away from the camps. Workers are typically paid in cash and send remittances through money transfer operators for a fee back to their home countries. This transaction requires that they travel to the city 2. Where do workers live? or an area where they can wire money to their families. In 2015, Qatar implemented electronic payment for all workers to ensure timely payment of wages. The program requires each worker have a bank account, something many of them lack.

Migrant worker living in Doha, Qatar. Courtesy of Sam Tarling, Human Rights Watch, 2012.

construction company or a company subcontracted by them. These Access to an embassy or to the sponsorbuses, because they are not a form of mass transit, leave workers at ing agent will not typically be available at the worker camp. If there are any probthe will of the construction company’s schedule. Workers can wait lems with contracts or passports, workers have to leavefor the camp order to access hours forin bus service to and from a particular location.

Migrant worker living in Doha, Qatar. Courtesy of Sam social services. Medical care is offered on Tarling, HumanWho Rightsbuilds Watch, 2012. your Who builds your Architecture?, site at many Source: camps. Any legal problems

Access to an embassy or to the sponsoring agent will not typically be available at the worker camp. If there are any proband most banking needsA must be field handled architecture? critical guide (2017). away from the camps. Workers are typiwith contracts or passports, workers cally paid inlems cash and send remittances through money transfer operators for a fee to leave back to theirhave home countries.

This trans-the camp in order to access action requires that they travel to the Fig. 1.9 Workers wait for city buses in Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. social Medical care is offered on or an area where they canservices. wire money to Courtesy SamerimplementMuscati, Human Rights Watch, 2011. their families.

In 2015,ofQatar atformany camps. Any legal problems ed electronicsite payment all workers to ensure timely payment of banking needs Workerseach leaving jobsite in UAE. Courtesymust of Samer be handled Fig. 1.10most wages. The and program requires worker have a bank account, something many of Muscati, Human Rights Watch, 2011. them lack. away from the camps. Workers are typically paid in cash and send remittances through money transfer operators for a fee back to their home countries. This transaction requires that they travel to the city or an area where they can wire money to ` their families. In 2015, Qatar implemented electronic payment for all How do workers access basic medical, financial, and legal workers to ensure timely payment of services?

Access to an embassy or to the sponsoring agent will not wages.

The program requires each worker typically be available at the worker camp. If there are any have a bank account, something many of problems with contracts or passports, workers have to leave them lack. the camp in order to access social services. Medical care Money transfer operator in Doha. Courtesy of Jordan Carver, WBYA?, 2013.

is offered on site at many camps. Any legal problems and most banking needs must be handled away from the camps.

Workers are typically paid in cash and send remittances through money transfer operators for a fee back to their home countries. This transaction requires that they travel to the city or an area where they can wire money to their families. In 2015, Qatar implemented electronic payment for all workers

Migrant worker living in Doha, Qatar. Courtesy of Sam Tarling, Human Rights Watch, 2012.

to ensure timely payment of wages. The program requires each worker have a bank account, something many of them lack.

Source: Who builds your Architecture?, Who builds your architecture? A critical field guide (2017).

Fig. 1.1 Migrant worker living in Doha, Qatar. Courtesy of Sam Tarling, Human Rights Watch, 2012.

Fig. 1.12 Money transfer operator in Doha. Courtesy of Jordan Carver, WBYA?, 2013.

Money transfer operator in Doha. Courtesy of Jordan Carver, WBYA?, 2013.

35

25

35

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

1.2 Demonstration of power: Collective equipments Learning from the experience of WBYA?, this study tries to expand the creative direction supported by existing research and investigates the problems embedded in the construction industry, in particular, workers’ living conditions on construction sites. It continues the study of building new relationships between architectural projects and novel interventions for workers and asks new questions about these interventions and relationships in more specific contexts. First, the role of the construction site, which has long been neglected in formal studies, is reconsidered and a multi-disciplinary approach is adopted to identify the characteristics of the construction site and explore claims regarding on-site conditions.

The construction site carries intrinsic conflicts between different roles. Nonetheless, this distinct space, which is equipped with not only a great variety of productive facilities but also a powerful workforce, can also become the platform for the resolution of these conflicts. A construction site is normally regarded as the place where building and dismantling occur simultaneously across a particular timeline. Yet, far more important than that, this unique space contains distinct spatial, social, and political agendas and can also be understood as the territorial demonstration of power. Within a specific territory, different types of productive force, activities, tools and devices come together, projecting the power of labour. The collective resources on sites, including living amenities, heavy and light devices and other infrastructure, are always integrated as an entirety, acting as a productive compound. This dynamic creation that not only empowers workers but also accommodates them can also be interpreted as temporary ‘collective equipments’ on the construction site.

The notion of ‘collective equipments’1 comes from the philosophical conception of the ‘equipments of power’ introduced by Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in the 1970s. This philosophical model for the city not only contributed to the imaginaire urbaine of France after May 1968 but also directly contributed to urban policy for deprived neighbourhoods in Paris.2 As described in the English translation by Lysa Hochroth, ‘collective equipments’ is in the ungrammatical plural form as it captures Guattari’s and Deleuze’s notion that the city is always multiple. For Deleuze, ‘collective equipments’ constitute ‘structures of investment, structures of public service, and structures of assistance or pseudo assistance’ that antagonistic relationships may give rise to.3 Simone Brott adds a further explanation: ‘it consists in aggregate structures such as highways, schools, and city buildings’.4 In Foucault’s thinking, ‘the roadway’, as an exemplar of ‘collective equipments’. The roadway synthesises three functions in the one piece of equipment: to produce production; to produce demand; and to normalise, to adjust the production of production and the production of demand.5 In this way, ‘subjects are physically encoded and embedded within capital itself’.6 The second component of ‘equipments of power’ opens the discussion on the matter of productive force, which is the city itself. For Guattari, ‘the city is a spatial projection, a form of reterritorialisation, of blockage’. Although all equipment in the ‘despotic city’ is anti-

1 Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and François Fourquet, ‘Equipments of Power: Towns, Territories and Collective Equipments’, in Foucault Live: Michel Foucault Collected Interviews, 1961-1984, ed. by Sylvère Lotringer and trans. By Lysa Hochroth and John Johnston (New York: Semiotext(e), 1996), pp. 105-112.

2 In 1972 CERFI held a seminar, Généalogie des équipements collectifs: les équipements du pouvoir, as part of its contract with the Ministry of Urbanism to investigate urban questions such as, What is urban? What is desire in the city? What are power relations in public services in cities? A transcript of the intoxicating, four-way discussion between Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, François Fourquet, and Guattari appeared in Recherches 13, and was later published as ‘Equipments of Power: Towns, Territories and Collective Equipments’. Brott, Simone, ‘Collective Equipment of Power: the Road and the City’, Thresholds, 2012, No. 40, SOCIO(2012), pp. 47-54.

3 Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and François Fourquet, ‘Equipments of Power: Towns, Territories and Collective Equipments’, in Foucault Live: Michel Foucault Collected Interviews, 1961-1984, ed. by Sylvère Lotringer and trans. By Lysa Hochroth and John Johnston (New York: Semiotext(e), 1996), p. 105.

4 Ibid., p. 106.

5 Ibid., p. 106.

6 Liane Mozère, “Foucault et le CERFI: Actualité et instantanés,” in Le Portique: Revue de philosophie et de sciences humaines (2004).

26

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

productive due to ‘overcoding’ that seeks to master or freeze productive fluxes, the city will always fight back, acting like the activated fluxes, the collective equipments, and will always ‘hold something that, by its very nature, cannot be held’. In Guattari’s mind, ‘the ruction of the collective equipments is to produce the socius, the city’.1 In Foucault’s theory of the ‘specialisation’ of knowledge and power, architecture is not a signifier of power but of the techné, a set of techniques for practising ‘social organisation’.2 Deleuze, Guattari and Foucault develop the idea of architecture as ‘equipment’ and substitute the prevailing postmodernist discourse of architecture as ‘the space of representation’ with the agencements collectif, collective arrangements or ‘machines’ for the creative generation of subjectivity.3 The construction site proposals presented here share essentially the same characteristics and functions as the philosophical concept of ‘collective equipments’ in terms of productive function, relationship with the city and genealogical implications. As a synthesis of elements, ‘collective equipments’ are more than equipment to empower the workers; they are more about productive relations, business, employment and engagement of different participants. The proposals are thus put forward not only for the sake of workers but also for that of construction groups, the neighbourhood, the industry and the city as a whole.

The understanding of ‘collective equipments’ can be extended in another respect relating to the city. Construction as a process always exists in the city, and as one of the essential components of urbanisation, construction impacts a city’s development in a variety of ways to the points that we understand urbanisation through the means of construction. It is construction that literally builds the city and all of the built environment, and it is so multifaceted that it incorporates numerous productive actions, whether it is the creation of new buildings, the reuse of existing building stock, renovation or demolition. Hence, construction itself can be considered as part of the ‘collective equipments’ of the city alongside what construction produces. This novel understanding of construction opens up the dynamic and reveal new possibilities regarding the potential and limitations of construction as a necessary part of our urban fabric.

Drawing on the inspirational work of some of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers, work that builds a bridge between architecture and philosophy, this dissertation also attempts to broaden the idea of ‘equipments of power’ and address the notion of ‘collective equipments’ in the architectural discourse. Moreover, this study will bring the core subjects of this research, such as workers, construction activities, production devices and temporary

1 Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and François Fourquet, ‘Equipments of Power: Towns, Territories and Collective Equipments’, in Foucault Live: Michel Foucault Collected Interviews, 1961-1984, ed. by Sylvère Lotringer and trans. By Lysa Hochroth and John Johnston (New York: Semiotext(e), 1996), p. 111.

facilities, into the philosophical narrative from the architect’s perspective. By addressing

2 Michel Foucault and Paul Rabinow, Space,

these two substantial discourses simultaneously, critical analysis and homologous

Knowledge, and Power, trans. by Christian Hubert,

terminology can be adapted for and brought into the architectural field. subsequently, this

Skyline (March 1982).

integrated methodology can also be used to develop a theoretical guide and a structure for the design project.

27

3 Simone Brott, ‘Deleuze and the Intercessors,’ Log, no. 19, (Winter 2010)

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

Photography: Noah Sheldon: Shanghai Tower

28

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

1.3 Focusing on the Chinese context The system of construction, which is meticulous, systematic and potentially beneficial, is largely not understood. The hierarchical structure and diverse participation and social relationships of the construction sector, as well as the processes, activities and protocols of construction work, construction workers’ precarious living conditions and the issue of labour are all crucial factors for the industry. However, they have long been neglected and have become notable forgotten aspects of the theories and research on the construction industry and the academic exploration of architectural fields. Therefore, this dissertation adopts various research methodologies to fill the gap and offer new insights regarding these complex issues.

First, in contrast to the many studies that take a global perspective, the study adopts a more specific, narrow scope to explore a more specific context. Construction has been instrumental to the radical and rapid urban development of modern China. Since 2009 and 30 years after China’s Reform and Opening program, China has become the world’s largest construction market, accounting for over half of the world’s construction volume, half of the world’s concrete consumption, and a third of the world’s steel consumption. In China, world-class metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai were built in just decades, spearheading immense national economic growth. Although the industry’s extraordinary joint efforts created unprecedented developments of vast volume in a short period, it also planted the seeds of various conflicts, most of which are embodied in the contradictory situation of the construction site. Questions raised by WBYA? are not only global phenomena, but they also exist in vast localised areas. Based on the Chinese situation, this research endeavours to add new layers to the studies on construction in the architectural discourse and identifies more forgotten factors, roles, and problems in this realm. Focusing on the Chinese context, it opens a series of discussions about China’s construction industry and explores them in a narrow context. Then, it suggests new proposals particularly in design by addressing different disciplines. From the architect’s point of view, it reframes the issues identified as part of an architectural narrative and represents them in architectural work. Moreover, the dissertation combines theoretical research with design testing and offers a multi-layered study with both academic and practical implications.

29

The Understanding Of The Construction Industry

Conclusion Starting from the global perspective, this dissertation continues the study of the construction industry by learning from extant research and literature and then applies these lessons to a more specific context. It addresses the issues identified, including hierarchy, the division of labour, skills and trade’, security and welfare, the migrant workforce and exploitation and labour in the context of China and defines the focus of the dissertation through its research and proposition. The multi-layered study brings different discourses into the same narrative and critically investigates questions from the architect’s point of view. It explores specific questions in terms of the industry’s structure, participation, social relationships, protocols, working and living conditions and the issue of the construction site to gain insights into collective resources for construction workers.

In the Chinese context, studies that reveal neglected factors and bring new theoretical considerations into the practical environment can contribute to the implementation of new knowledge on construction sites. The concept of placing construction workers at the centre of design projects when dealing with construction projects and sites has rarely been discussed in this competitive industry that relentlessly seeks efficiency and profits.

The unique act of positioning the construction site in a formal architectural study rather than viewing it as a transient presence in the urban fabric also creates new possibilities for research on the industry regarding labour, production and the city. Therefore, as a starting point, this chapter provides a concrete platform from which to discuss more complex questions.

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Chapter II

“

Battles on the Construction Site

Workers’ rights and safety should be a pivotal point for any sustainability discussion: the environment is not just the air, ground, and water, but the people with whom we work and live.

”

— Ann Lui, Sustainability of Workers’ Rights

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Battles On The Construction Site

Thirty years after China’s Reform and Opening Up policy was enacted, China has the largest construction industry worldwide, bringing together various participants, labour and capital. Thanks to the flourishing development of the construction industry, metropolises, infrastructure and all kinds of buildings have been built in just decades. Although enormous things have been achieved in a short period, conflicts have also emerged. The most notable is the exploitation of migrant workers employed on the construction site. Driven by the capitalist economy, construction workers are always the most vulnerable participants in the construction industry and struggle to thrive in a risky and chaotic work and living environment.

Expanding on the global perspective, in this chapter, the study articulates the key polemic of capital and the worker, under the board heading of which problems of hierarchy, division, calculation, disembodied skills, the state of exception of sites in the city, the precarious lives of workers (with all risks borne by them under the prevailing system) are also introduced.

The research continues the study of these particular problems, taking it from a broad scope to the more specific context of the Chinese construction industry and opens the discussion on issues related to the construction site and other relevant subjects. It identifies two prominent players in the industry, capital and the workers, and reveals the battles between them across the history of the industry’s development before introducing the contemporary situation on the construction site in terms of working and living conditions for workers.

The principal research methodologies applied in this research are online research, including a questionnaire survey, research on TikTok and one-on-one investigations on the research subjects. These forms of investigation, made during a time when the world is experiencing a pandemic, are achieved using new technology and media from which we can gain a much clearer understanding of the everyday situation on small and large construction sites in China. Moreover, through analytical research, the historical problems embedded in the industry, plight of construction workers, continuing battles on the site and invisible issues are all presented.

33

Battles On The Construction Site

2.1 Capital: The controller of the game Construction has been instrumental to the radical and rapid urban development of modern China. Since 2009 and 30 years after China’s Reform and Opening program, China has become the world’s largest construction market, accounting for over half of the world’s construction volume, half of the world’s concrete consumption and a third of the world’s steel consumption. In China, world-class metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai have been built in just decades, spearheading immense national economic growth. However, when the industry created unprecedented developments of vast volume in such a short period, it also planted the seeds of various conflicts, most of which are embodied in the contradictory situation of the construction site.

In China’s hierarchical construction industry, representatives of the state engage with the client, the contractor, the subcontractor and other subordinate institutions. On behalf of the state, construction groups seeking efficiency and speed tend to make work decisions based on the principle of maximising profits and interests. A construction project is a long process full of uncertainty; nevertheless, against the backdrop of a range of unpredictable factors, the two crucial elements of this process—the on-site workers and the construction site— remain relatively steady. For a project under construction, controlling these two key factors is the most effective way to control the production and the project itself. To achieve the construction groups’ and clients’ goals, certain rules and procedures have been generated to promote the efficiency and speed of construction.

1 After 1949, in order to build a new socialist regime, China’s central government established a large number of state-owned enterprises to occupy and control the market in the whole country. Under the unified management of the planned economy period, the labour resource-the number, form, and employment methods are all directly controlled and distributed by the state through administrative means. At that time, everyone who worked in state-owned enterprises or departments could gain a life tenure occupation. When the state formally employs a labourer, he or she would form a life-long employment relationship with the department or company, and later his or her position could even be continually occupied by his or her children after retirement.

During this specific period, there were only state-owned construction enterprises in the construction industry, and these companies were only allowed to use permanent rather than temporary workers to conduct the construction work.

2 The Reform Period, accompanied by a discourse of modernity, paradoxically brought an end to the ‘socialist’ and ‘modern’ practices of the construction industry in China. The former socialist structure of the construction sector was thus radically transformed during that time. The year 1978 marked the beginning of the end of the planned

The first of these rules is related to the workers. At the very beginning of the development of the construction industry in China, many contractors and developers provided workers

economy and the resumption of the bidding and contract system in the construction industry. The reform objectives set for the construction industry included restructuring the

with their daily necessities on the construction site, such as dormitories and meals. They

industry’s administrative system, opening construction

used this welfare provision as a tool to control the workers and further control production.

establishing a competitive bidding system, and improving

Although the temporary, informal shelters, meals and other provisions offered to workers were of terrible quality, these facilities were still an effective way for the state to dominate low-skilled labour, successfully keeping workers within a specific territory and adhering to rigorous rules and strict schedule. Consequently, this scheme has remained and is common practice in the industry.

markets, granting autonomy to state-owned enterprises, project management skills. The states established a series of regulations that officially introduced contract labour, broke the restriction of permanent employment mode, and gradually allowed temporary labour to emerge in the construction industry. By the late 1990s, the restructuring of the capital-labour relationship in the industry was almost complete. While this series of dramatic changes arguably increased efficiency and productivity in construction projects, direct results were the emergences of the ‘middle

Implementing a structural employment framework is another way to exert control over workers. The Chinese construction industry’s labour employment system has experienced three distinct periods. This system has evolved from the ‘life tenure employment mode’ to the ‘labour contracting’ model and finally to the ‘subcontracting system’. The central

manager’ (Baogongtou) and the subcontracting labour management.

3 In 2001, the central government formally divided the qualifications of construction enterprises into three hierarchies: general contractor, professional subcontractor,

government has shaped the industry step by step and made it highly hierarchical and

and labour-supplied subcontractor. For enterprises with

standardised. Moreover, in modern China, advancements in technology allow comprehensive

all contracted projects independently or sign a contract with

surveillance. The intelligent systems now used on construction sites, such as BIM, can document workers’ day-to-day progress and workload, record attendance and monitor their health, making it possible to exert control over every worker on site. Gradually, this overarching power has taken control of every step of production and has created

35

general contracting qualifications, they can either conduct a professional subcontractor, only carry out the main body of a project. This move mainly aimed to legalise the ‘middle manager’ organisation and protect the interests of migrant workers. Thus the multi-tiered labour subcontracting system gradually replaced the illegal ‘middle manager’, standardising and ordering the labour employment and labour market of the construction industry

Battles On The Construction Site

an environment in which strict adherence to timelines is the guiding principle. This has contributed to the evident exploitation of labour and has cast the state as a greedy, irresponsible and manipulative player in the construction industry.

However, over the past several years, the central government has introduced a series of laws and protocols to regulate the construction industry. Under this increasing regulatory pressure, construction enterprises have started to change and improve their approaches to management. As a result, the position of workers has been significantly improved, and their rights and experiences are now being considered by construction groups, especially in relation to the living conditions on-site. With the development and standardisation of the industry, the central government has gradually taken on a greater share of the responsibility to protect workers. Nevertheless, the state still plays the dominant role in the industry and is the ultimate decision-maker on all issues and small, incremental improvements in living conditions are simply not enough. Instead, a greater effort should be made to push the limits of a rigid system and improve the current situation for both participants in this industry and the industry itself.

36

Battles On The Construction Site

2.2 The workers: Subjects dominated by the capital Identifying exploitation The rapid urbanisation of China over the past several decades has created a significant number of precarious and informal jobs in cities most of which are filled by a floating population coming from less-developed areas. The vast gap between urban and rural areas in China has driven more and more migrant workers from work in agricultural production to the city where they serve as temporary and informal manual workers in various sectors. The construction industry accommodates nearly one-third of migrant workers. Since late 2004, nearly 90% of the migrant population in China work in the construction industry. Working on large and small construction sites across the country, approximately 40 million migrant workers have now left their home and settled in big cities, trying to become new urban citizens. The overwhelming majority of these individuals are low-skilled, less-educated ‘peasant workers’ who will be lucky to have received any extended, formal education or specialised vocational training. Moreover, due to the rigorous Hukou system, most migrant workers are excluded from obtaining official urban resident status and thus access to many public benefits provided by local authorities, including education, health care and pensions.

Of all the sectors of the Chinese market, construction work has always been considered the lowest prestige jobs, and the construction industry is regarded as the dirtiest, most tiring and most dangerous field. Since most temporary workers on construction sites have no official labour contracts, they have to depend on labour subcontractors or labour service companies and endure abominable working and living conditions with no insurance and no safety regulations in place. People working in this industry often have to work excessive overtime and are subject to physical exhaustion and risks. They are only provided with sufficient facilities, food and living necessities to meet their basic needs and in some cases, they are not even paid monthly as stipulated by law.

Migrant workers are often exploited by the construction industry driven by the demands of the capitalist economy. In recent years, responding to pressure, the central government has provided certain top-down rules to force the industry to put into practice some remedial measures to improve the dire situation of construction workers on construction sites.

However, the risky working environment, chaotic living situation and subordinate position of these workers, as well as the rigid structure of the industry continues to leave workers in the construction industry highly vulnerable.

Materialising labour through day-to-day practice Ph o t o g r a p h y ( p a g e 3 7): No a h S h e l d o n :

In the past several decades, laws issued by the central government have significantly

Shanghai Tower. The migrant workers look

decreased informal labour organisations’ illegal activities and formally legalised many

completely different through the lens of

essential rights of migrant workers. Furthermore, to regulate the industry’s labour

professional photographer from the way they work on the construction sites.

38

Battles On The Construction Site

Chart 1: The number of peasant workers and migrant workers from 2008 to 2018

Chart 2: The growth rate of pesant and migrant workers from 2008 to 2018

Chart 3: The average monthly income condition of migrant workers from 2008 to 2018

39

Battles On The Construction Site

Table 1: Ages of migrant workers from 2014 to 2018

Table 2: The distribution of migrant workers in each industry from 2017 to 2018

40

Battles On The Construction Site

employment system, the central government has established additional protocols and rules and demanded that construction groups improve how they employ, manage and coordinate their labour. The laws state that only qualified workers who pass prescribed tests after receiving proper training can work on construction sites, the working and living environment on sites must meet the regulatory standards and the employers must satisfy workers’ fundamental needs and rights. This has led to the emergence of the labour service company. Permitted by law, the labour service company is responsible for recruiting, training and managing construction workers to ultimately provide a workforce for contractors. The company also needs to take care of their workers on-site, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of working and living conditions during construction.

After receiving a request for their services from the contractor or subcontractor, the labour service company will start to arrange the recruitment and training of staff and will then deliver the workers to the construction site where they will assume their work duties. Due to the dynamic nature of construction, the need for equipment and skills on-site changes over time and across the building process. The individuals employed to undertake different tasks and work with various equipment at different stages also varies accordingly. In that sense, work on-site can be both constant and temporary. Those who stay on-site throughout the construction process, such as professionals (engineers and managers) and logistics teams, undertake relatively repetitive work over a very long time. In contrast, workers who possess specific skills may only be needed for a short period.

The build speed is always one of the most critical factors of concern for developers. In most cases, the construction period demanded by the client is relatively short and thus the production schedule is extremely tight. This puts workers under increasing pressure to do overtime to the point where they may have almost no days off except in the case of inclement weather. Although Chinese law stipulates that the working day consists of eight hours including breaks, in most cases, construction workers have no choice but to continuously work for eight to ten hours. On construction sites around the country, things are more complicated than one may imagine.

Living and working on-site Throughout the history of the Chinese construction industry, the informality and temporality of construction work and unified management system have been a powerful way to employ large numbers of casual labourers. Especially when workers are engaged without a contract or insurance, most construction groups require workers to follow protocols and rules that govern how workers live and work on-site. This is intended to control and ensure the safety of all aspects of a worker’s duties. In most cases, workers are required to live on the construction site together with their workmates. Enforced on-site living ensures workers can accomplish their work on time, maximising efficiency. Even though

42

43

Battles On The Construction Site

it is an effective way to deal with practical questions on construction sites, this solution also introduces numerous problems concerning, for example, mixed-sex living conditions, privacy issues and cramped living environments. Due to a lack of space, workers of different sexes live together in narrow dormitory rooms that usually have to accommodate four to eight people. Sometimes, workers’ families also live with them in the dormitory. It is hard to imagine several families living in a 20m² room. The privacy issue is another problem of on-site living. When the small room is split into sections to house more people, privacy is sacrificed.

The law now prohibits informal recruitment with the labour service company formally assuming the responsibility for organising and managing the workforce. The addition of temporary on-site facilities, such as office huts, construction workshops, warehouses, workers’ dormitories, communal bathrooms and canteens, ensures that workers can deal with all their daily need on the construction site. This allows workers to live on-site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Although the living/working environment is generally of poor quality, in some cases even terrible, most construction workers still choose to live on-site to reduce living costs and commuting time.

In recent years, additional rules and regulations have been introduced by government institutions to ensure construction workers enjoy a much better living environment on the construction site. Nonetheless, the problems inherent in the industry still exist on small and large construction sites across the country, affecting most construction workers living on these sites.

Pioneering research methodologies for a new age When this research was proposed, the world was experiencing a pandemic, making already challenging remote study even more difficult, especially regarding research on individual subjects. By that time, a great number of online resources were open to the public and thanks to these resources, researchers have remote access to many materials and documents and have managed to continue their studies. The internet connects the world and builds an invisible bridge to bring people together. Online platforms can reach beyond geographical distance to become effective vehicles for sharing research and investigations.

Given this situation, this study uses the internet and social media platforms as the main channels to conduct the investigation. First, a questionnaire survey for construction workers was launched both online and in person to learn more about this workforce. The survey captures data on the participants’ demographic information, such as their sex, age and location, their working situation, such as their skill types and working hours, their living situation, such as their accommodation, location and general living environment, and their opinions on having activities and events on the construction site. Three hundred andfifty participants working across China filled in the questionnaire. Most were male construction

44

Battles On The Construction Site

Fig 2.1 The report of questionnaire survey.

Draw by the author.

45

Battles On The Construction Site

46

47

Battles On The Construction Site

workers aged from 18 to 40. According to the results, the majority of the participants preferred to live on-site, however, they had the option to live in the city while working on the site, for example, by renting apartments or temporary accommodation or building informal shelters near the workplace. Despite this preference and driven by the capitalist economy, temporary on-site facilities for workers only provide basic shelter and are accompanied by a variety of problems. Enforced collective living within a specific territory restricts workers in a range of ways First, a group of people must share a single dormitory unit, with minimal separation of the sexes or protection of one’s privacy. In many cases, households or family life cannot be fulfilled on the construction site. Overall, workers must sacrifice a great deal of their dignity in these restricted, temporarily living situations.

The results of the questionnaire survey reveal several hidden facts about the construction industry. The survey includes 350 participants working across the country, in which male workers account for 74.5% of the respondents with female workers accounting for 25.5%.

This gender inequality is typical in the industry. Although most of the participants were married, they still chose to live on-site, eating, washing and sleeping with their workmates instead of living with their families. As previously stated, the shortage of adequate space meant that several workers had to share one dormitory room. Moreover, due to the lack of necessary equipment for medical treatments, most participants stated that they preferred to leave the site to look for professional medical help when they needed it, either from a private pharmacy or public hospital. In terms of the social events held on the site, it was reported that more collective learning activities were held than recreational activities.

Workers were also found to enjoy collective activities organised by the construction groups more than spontaneous events.

In addition to the survey administered to construction workers, research on TikTok has helped the researcher to learn more about the life of construction workers on-site as individuals. TikTok is an application that allows users to post short videos. Users can upload short videos recording their daily lives, presenting their works, or sharing their interests with others. This easily accessed application offers people a great opportunity to present their life and mood to others by posting their everyday routines online, making every ordinary individual count in this constantly changing era. In the short films posted by construction workers, despite the varying quality, audiences can witness the goingson on the construction site. Studying this TikTok footage provides a unique perspective on construction workers and an opportunity to investigate their work-life situation in situ.

This will extend the existing literature in this area to better represent this largely invisible workforce.

Gathering data from this popular social media platform starts by collecting diverse short videos under the hashtag ‘#constructionsites’ that present different construction skills and equipment use on construction sites. These videos also provide a record of the workers’ daily life on construction sites and thus their working conditions. Sub-categories related to the construction site are also searched, including ‘#constructionworkers’,

Fig 2.2 Tik Tok

48

Battles On The Construction Site

‘#canteensontheconstructionsite’, ‘#dormitoriesontheconstructionsite’ to provide a fuller picture of the current on-site life of construction workers in China.

In three case studies on construction workers currently working on different construction sites, this study traces the life of workers on-site life through the videos they post on TikTok and presents their lives in a series of architectural collages and architectural drawings. By doing this, their intangible day-to-day life and the invisible labour embedded in their daily practices are transformed into visual work. Mr Ren, one of the subjects of this study, is a polishing worker in Dalian. He is also a migrant worker from a rural area in Henan Province and now works on a construction site in another city. He explained that he usually goes back to his parents’ home over the holidays and busy farming seasons to help his parents finish the farming work. Otherwise, he lives on the construction site with his workmates.

Ordinarily, he has meals in the canteen on-site and sometimes he eats out with friends.

Apart from recording his working practices, Mr Ren also shot videos showing his interests and the activities he pursues in his leisure time, such as reading, shopping and doing the housework. Audiences can witness how he lives and works on the construction site as a polishing worker and his everyday life as a migrant worker in the city. Based on the videos Mr Ren has posted on TikTok and all the information he has provided, a series of diagrams and drawings are made to illustrate his experiences and everyday life.

49

Battles On The Construction Site

Fig 2.3 One-to-one research on construction workers in China: Mr Jun. Draw by the author.

50

Battles On The Construction Site

Fig 2.4 One-to-one research on construction workers in China: Ms Ren. Draw by the author.

51

Battles On The Construction Site

Fig 2.4 One-to-one research on construction workers in China: Mr Ren (the main research subject). Draw by the author.

52

Battles On The Construction Site

the first floor

courtyard

bathroom

stairs kitchen

bedroom

Dalian, Liaoning Province, China

living room

bedroom

Parents’ house in the rural Zhengzhou

Rural area of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China n’

ratio

‘mig

‘peasant’

53

Battles On The Construction Site

Learning

Daily practice: working

salary sheet

Move to a new dormitory room

working equipment

‘polishing w

orker’

Living in the worker’s dormitory

meals

Having lunch in the dormitory

54

Battles On The Construction Site

1F

farm work

GF

housework

Parents’ house in the rural Zhengzhou

5m

go back hom e: tra vel to

rur al ar ea en Zh of

ut for work: travel to Da go o lian

gz

ho

Working on the site

0.5m

Daily working equipment

55

1m

u

Battles On The Construction Site

Daily life sleeping

entertaining

eating

learning

washing colthes

Dormitory room 1m

the g on livin

ctive dormitory site: colle

u t t o e a t:

ting on

Go o

5m

rant stau t re ee str

eat alone in the on-site canteen

Ea

A new dorimitory room

5m

n ee nt

the site: worker’s

ca

move to a new dormitory

Daily meals 1m

eat alone in the street restraunt

eat in the on-site canteen with workmates Worker’s canteen

eat in the street restraunt with workmaites 0.5m

56

Battles On The Construction Site

Conclusion To a great extent, the constant battles between the two critical parties on the construction site reveal the conflicts buried in the Chinese construction industry. This chapter reveals such contradictions to progress the study of issues of the construction site and begins a deeper discussion on this topic and the problems on sites through analysis and the in-depth investigation of the real-world environment and formal architectural studies. Dominated by construction groups, disenfranchised construction workers struggling in a risky and chaotic environment are the most vulnerable parties in the industry, while those with capital hold all the resources and power. On the site, the subordinated workers are not only exploiting but also challenging lives. The real situation can be seen vividly in the investigation of TikTok and field survey conducted by the study in which the everyday life and opinions of the subjects are presented through videos, photos and comments. Additionally, through the analysis and critiques conducted in this research, the relationships between crucial parties, general production practices in the industry and invisible conflicts are illustrated.

This chapter is a significant part of a deliberate research strategy that leads to new insights into construction sites from the perspective of ‘invisible’ construction workers using new communication technology and social media. These new research method, redolent of the modern age and especially valuable during the pandemic, add new layers to this study and at the same time contribute new knowledge in the formal study of the commodified subjects of on-site workers and their challenging living situation. Furthermore, this approach makes a significant contribution to the redefinition of subjectivity, belonging and collectivity, power relationships and socio-economic processes, all of which are crucial to establishing new collective equipments with the workers at their centre.

In the Chinese context, supplementary facilities and equipment provided on construction sites share the same characteristics across the country and constitute key elements of workers’ work and life. Poorly maintained, substandard accommodation lacking basic amenities, proper hygiene facilities and reliable climate control on the construction site forces workers to live a collective lifestyle with many others under poor conditions. Thus, the dissertation argues that it is vital to empower workers to not only offer them a much better living environment but also more alternative ways to control their lives and protect themselves against their precarious living conditions.

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58

59

Chapter III

“

Rethinking The System

The increasing complexity of infrastructural technologies along has required general contractors and others on the technical side to take responsibility for design decisions.

Design functions are more and more divided up and assigned to specialized locations, many of them all outside the professional firm, and some of them deep within the artisanal trade structure.

”

—Andrew Ross, ‘Foreword’, Building(in) the Future

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Rethinking The System

After revealing the conflicts between different roles on the construction site, the dissertation shifts the focus to the capital side to explore the rigid structure of the contemporary Chinese construction industry. China’s construction industry features distinct regulations and rules.

Although the standardisation and formalisation requested by the central government in recent years have greatly improved the position of construction workers, the system and its protocols remain favourable to the capitalist side. After illustrating the systematic process of construction in different circumstances, the dissertation argues that it is the obligation of government and state-owned enterprises, developers and contractors to protect vulnerable workers and treat them better. It is not enough for the government to implement topdown policies obliging construction groups to create a better environment for workers, the government should be more engaged in proposing new political agendas, creating collaborative mechanisms and offering collective resources for workers.

Apart from revealing problems in the rigid system of construction, this chapter also identifies the construction site as a typological question and presents thorough research on the deployment protocols for the construction site. Drawing on research on the construction site discussed in the previous chapters, the study continues to challenge the current conditions faced by workers, including limited equipment on-site and restricted relationships between the site and the city. Furthermore, the idea of creating collective equipments for workers to empower them in their battles on the construction site is introduced. To broaden the scope of the investigation, the study extends the argument by interpreting the construction site itself as among the collective equipments of the city. This reveals a new point of view that bridges the divide between philosophical and architectural dilemmas and is manifested in the following design project.

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62

Rethinking The System

63

Rethinking The System

3.1 The construction site as a type As the central government has reformed the management and employment system, it has also continually introduced additional legislation governing the specifics of construction work. Moreover, in cooperation with leading construction groups, the government has created a deployment paradigm to establish mandatory construction protocols to control day-to-day practices on the construction site. Consequently, ‘The Design of Organising Construction Work’ was introduced to the industry. This protocol framework is intended to consist of a series of technical and economic documents that comprehensively expound on how to conduct construction work within a specific project. It is compiled by construction groups, mainly the contractor, in the preparation phase of a project and aims to guide the construction work towards completion. It is a detailed report that describes the construction process and essential knowledge to allow the contractor to deploy, manage and control a project. These detailed instruments contain precise theoretical instructions, scientific data, employment and organisation strategies and deployment patterns for the construction site to explicitly guide the work of construction groups throughout a project, from preparation to deployment, organisation, employment, construction and completion.

Generally speaking, ‘The Design of Organising Construction Work’ consists of six key parts: 1. Preliminary preparation and specific implementation of the construction project.

2. Protocols, structures and organisation of on-site construction and managerial work.

3. The deployment plans for the construction site.

4. The mechanism to control, manage and coordinate working and living activities during the construction process.

5. The allocation and use of all resources, including finances, materials,facilities, devices, labour and other productive forces.

6. The management, safety and quality control network.

‘The Design of Organising Construction Work’ synthesises explicit protocols and the aims of the construction project to govern both production and living activities on the construction site. Thanks to this framework, contractors can form a thorough strategic plan for a project based on its unique characteristics, property, construction environment and onsite conditions. For an architectural project, how to deploy and plan the construction site, which is described in the documents, is the foundation of the construction work. Deploying a construction site includes taking the actions of planning, building and managing.

Fundamentally, a construction site is formed by two main parts: the production area where productive construction activities take place and the service area where the temporary living

Fig. 3.1 (page 63) Examples of ‘ The Design of Organising Construction Work’ documents.

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Rethinking The System

facilities, on-site office and warehouse are located in. Although the scale and some details may vary with the project, there are general rules that govern these elements across different types of projects. For example, all the production activities, work equipment, and fieldwork are conducted in the production area, while the office huts, warehouse and temporary living facilities are separated from the production activities to lower health and safety risks.

The deployment of a construction site for an architectural project is achieved through the following steps: 1. Decide the location of the project and the site.

2. Define the production area and service area.

3. Coordinate heavy machines (e.g. tower cranes) with other on-site devices and equipment.

4. Determine the locations of field workshops, the operating area and the material stacking area.

5. Frame the main road on the periphery of the production area and the service area and connect the site with the city.

6. Divide the service area into working space, where the office huts and warehouse will be accommodated, and workers’ living space, which will contain the temporary living facilities, including the dormitory, canteen, bathrooms, and toilet block.

7. Deploy a temporary water and electricity supply on-site.

Once the site is established, professionals, including engineers and on-site managers who are responsible for managerial work, arrive to guide the on-site construction work in line with the agreed-upon schedules and protocols. Later, the design, arrangement and deployment of construction sites, collective facilities, as well as production processes gradually cohere to create a unique mechanism and holistic building system for a project.

This further develops into a distinctive ‘type’ with distinct spatial characteristics acting as a paradigmatic model in the construction industry.

After that, more and more projects and practices are performed under the influence of this typical construction model. The increasing examples of construction processes not only enriches the variety of construction projects but also makes it possible to introduce the concept of construction as a ‘type’. More importantly, identifying and developing types of construction can be useful to the industry as well as the city. The theories and literature addressed by Aldo Rossi provide substantial evidence to support such claims. In his book The Architecture of the City, Aldo Rossi interprets the notion of ‘type’ in the urban context and presents his understanding of type from a broader perspective: the fundamental relationship between the type and the city. In Rossi’s words, the idea of type is ‘something that is permanent and complex, a logical principle that is prior to form and that constitutes it.

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Rethinking The System

Fig. 3.2 Examples of built architectural projects (Public Buildings).

N

0

10m

Hsiang-ya Medical College of Central South University New Campus Teaching Centre Construction Deployment Plan N

0

10m

Crane radius

Project under construction

Hsiang-ya Medical College of Central South University New Campus

On-stie processing area

Existing building

Temporary structure

Construction equipment

Enclosed wall

Electrical circuit

Tower crane

Water network

N

0

10m

ent

Construction Deployment Plan

Project under construction

Cra

On-stie processing area

Exis

Temporary structure

Con

Enclosed wall

Elec

Tower crane

Wat

China Central Television (CCTV) Audio-visual Archive Construction Deployment Plan

Project under construction

Crane radius

On-stie processing area

Existing building

Temporary structure

Construction equipment

Enclosed wall

Electrical circuit

Tower crane

Water network

N

0

10m

Hsiang-ya Medical College of Central South University New Campus Teaching Centre Construction Deployment Plan N

0

Project under construction

10m

Crane radius

Hsiang-ya Medical College of Central South University New Campus Construction Deployment Plan

On-stie processing area

Existing building

Temporary structure

Construction equipment

Enclosed wall

Electrical circuit

Tower crane

Water network Project under construction

Cra

On-stie processing area

Exis

Temporary structure

Con

Enclosed wall

Ele

Tower crane

Wa

N

0

10m

Hsiang-ya Medical College of Central South University New Campus Teaching Centre Construction Deployment Plan

Project under construction

Crane radius

On-stie processing area

Existing building

Temporary structure

Construction equipment

Enclosed wall

Electrical circuit

N

0

10m

66

China Central Television (CCTV) Audio-visual Arch

TransformGate- Store house 10m2 10m2

Woods stacking area10m2

Carpentry huts 100m2

Rebars stacking

On-site processing huts 250m2

Rocks stacking area 80m2 10m2

Pump&ele

Rocks stacking area

80m System Rethinking The 2

Metal materials stacking area 10m2

10m2

Formworks and scaffolding stacking area 10m2

10m2

L=30m

QTZ25 Rocks stacking area 80m2

Sands stacking area 10m2

TransformRebars stacking

2 On-site processing Sands huts 250m stacking area 10m2

10m2

10m2

10m2

Bricks stacking area 10m2

Pump&ele

Finieshed Bricks Processing brick works stacking area stacking 10m2 Rocksarea 10m2 area 80m2

Bricks stacking area 10m2

Metal materials stacking area Formworks and scaffolding stacking area 10m2 10m2 Toilet ShowerTea room Rest Canteen10m2 10m2 room2 10m2 room2 10m 10m

10m2

Bricks stacking area

Bricks stacking area 10m2

10m2

Fig. 3.3 Examples of built architectural projects

10m2 Dormitory 280m2

(Public Buildings).

Warehouse 10m2

Warehouse10m2

Office 10m2

Sands stacking area 10m2

N

0

5m

Bricks stacking area 10m2

Finieshed ng brick works stacking area 10m2

No.1 Building ofBricks Seongnam High School Bricks stacking area

stacking area

10m2

10m Construction Deployment Plan

N

2

0

Dormitory 280m2

Transform-

king

Warehouse10m2

Office 10m2

5m

Warehouse 10m2

Fujian Medical University New Campus Office Building

Project under construction

Electrical circuit

On-stie processing area

Scaffolding

Formworks and scaffolding stacking area Bricks stacking area

Temporary structure

Water network

Stones stacking area

Enclosed wall

Concrete mixer

Sands stacking area

Tower crane

Mortar mixer

Metal materials stacking area

Crane radius

Light equipment

Cement mixer

Construction Deployment Plan

g of Seongnam High School Rocks stacking area 80m2

uction Deployment Plan 10m2

10m2

affolding

Formworks and scaffoldingFinished rebar stacking area stacking area Bricks stacking area

10m ter network

Stones stacking area

Sands ctrical circuit stacking area 10m2 Bricks stacking area 2

Bricks

Sands stacking area

rtar mixer

Metal materials stacking area

se10m2

Warehouse

10m ht equipment

Cement mixer

ished rebar stacking a

Rebar stacking area

2

Formworks processing

Project under construction

Rebar processing area

On-stie processing area

10m2

Mortar mixer

Tower crane

Rocks stacking area 80m2

Light euqipment

Gate- Store house 10m2 10m2

Woods stacking area10m2

10m2

Carpentry huts 100m2

Toilet ShowerTea room Rest 10m2 room2 10m2 room2 10m 10m L=30m

Metal materials stacking area 10m2

Formworks and s

D

Canteen10m2

0

5m

Transform-

Finieshed Bricks Processing brick works stacking 2 Bricks stacking area area On-site processing huts 250m 2 area 10m 10m2 10m2

10m2

Finieshed Bricks Processing brick works stacking area area 10m2 10m2

Bricks stacking area 10m2

N

Crane radius

Sands stacking area 10m2

10m2

Electrical circuit

QTZ25

Temporary structure

On-site processing huts 250m2

Water network

Formworks processing

10m2

Crane radius

Sands stacking area 10m2

Car wash

L=30m

Tower crane

Light euqipment Carpentry huts 100m2

Enclosed wall

Rocks stacking area 80m2

Concrete mixer

QTZ25

Mortar mixer

Construction Deployment Plan structure Woods stacking area10m2

2

Rocks stacking area 80m2

Fujian Medical University New Campus Office Building Temporary Gate- Store house 10m2 10m2

N

No.1 Building of Se

Rebars stacking

Pump&ele

Bricks stacking area 10m Construction D 2

5m

Rocks stacking area 80m2

Fujian Medical University New Campus Office Building

Project under construction On-stie processing area

Woods stacking area10m2

Gate- Store house 10m2 10m2

Temporary structure

Metal materials stacking area 10m2

0

Rocks stacking area 80m2

Rebar processing area

Formworks 10m processing

2

Electrical circuit Bricks stacking area

Mortar mixer

On-site processing huts 250m Tower crane

10m2

Crane radius

Rocks stacking area

Finieshed Bricks Processing brick works stacking area area 10m2 10m2 TransformRebars stacking

2

QTZ25

Bricks stacking area

5mMetal materials stacking area

10m2

Pump&ele

L=30m

On-stie processing area Rocks stacking

Scaffolding

Temporary structure

Water network

Stones stacking

Enclosed wall

Concrete mixer

Sands stacking a

Mortar mixer

Metal materials s

Light equipment

Cement mixer

Finished rebar stacking area

Rebar stacking a

10m2

stacking

2

Toilet ShowerTea room Rest 10m2 room2 10m2 room2 10m 10m

Bricks stacking area 10m2

Bricks stacking area 10m2

Finieshed Bricks Processing brick works stacking area area 10m2 10m2

Bricks stacking area

Project under construction

2

Scaffolding

On-stie processing area Canteen10m2

Dormitory 280m2

N

0

Bricks stacking area

Electrical circuit 10m

10m2

5m

Office 10m2

Warehouse10m2

Warehouse10m2

2

Warehouse 10m2

Formworks and scaffolding stacking area Bricks stacking area

Water network

Stones stacking area

Enclosed wall

Concrete mixer

Sands stacking area

Tower crane

Mortar mixer

Metal materials stacking area

Crane radius

Light equipment

Cement mixer

Finished rebar stacking area

Rebar stacking area

Temporary structure

No.1 Building of Seongnam High School Construction Deployment Plan

Project under construction

Electrical circuit

On-stie processing area

Scaffolding

Formworks and scaffolding stacking area Bricks stacking area

Temporary structure

Water network

Stones stacking area

Enclosed wall

Concrete mixer

Sands stacking area

Tower crane

Mortar mixer

Metal materials stacking area

Warehouse 10m2

10m2

area 10m Construction Deployment Plan

10m2

Light equip

Finished Formworks andres area stacking area Bricks stacking a

Crane radius

10m2

Mortar mixe

Electrical circuit Office 10m

No.1Tower Building of Seongnam High School crane Sands

Sands stacking area 10m2

Concrete m

stacking area 10m2

Project under construction Dormitory 280m

Formworks and scaffolding stacking area 10m2

Rocks stacking area 80m2

Water netw

Bricks stacking area 10m2

10m2

Crane radius

area 80m2

0

10m2

Tower crane

2

Canteen10m2

N

2

Sands stacking area 10m2

Construction Deployment Plan

Electrical ci

Scaffolding

On-stie processing area

5m

Enclosed wall

Water network

Toilet ShowerTea room Rest 10m2 room2 10m2 room2 10m 10m

Office 1

10m2

L=30m

Temporary structure

10m2

10m2

No.1 Building of Seongnam High School Bricks

Sands stacking area 10m2

Enclosed wall 80m

Formworks and scaffolding stacking area 10m2

Project under construction

N

Car wash

Carpentry huts 100m2

Rocks stacking area 80m2

Dormitory 280m2

Canteen10m2

10m2

Concrete mixer

Light euqipment

10m2

10m2

Toilet ShowerTea room Rest 10m2 room2 10m2 room2 10m 10m

QTZ25

Construction Deployment Plan

67

10mprocessing Rebar area

10m2

On-stie processing area

Enclosed wall

0

Car wash

10m2

stackingmixer area ncrete 10m 2

area Concrete mixer 80m 2

5m

Rebar stacking area

Carpentry huts 100m2

Rocks stacking

Project under construction

N

0

Woods stacking area10m2

Gate- Store house 10m2 10m2

Pump&ele

N

0

5m

Fujian Medical University New

Construction Deplo

Project under construction On-stie processing

Concrete mixer Rebar processing area

1#

4# Gate

T Processing area

Rethinking The System

Formwork storage

Carpentry hut (5X20m)

Formworks stacking area (25X30m)

3/

3#

Rebar processing (12X35m)

Dormitory (existing building)

Laboratory (5X4.8m)

Dormitory (5X20m)

L=

/

L=

60

m

F0

5#

Processin area

Garbage station (5X10m)

Original Garbage station

(5X4m)

Office (43.2X6.2m)

B

B 23

Warehouse

H3/36B L=60m

H3/3 6B L=60 m

1# Gate

36

4#

2#

m

50

H

Dormitory (5X26m)

1#

Fig. 3.4 Examples of built architectural projects (Residential Buildings).

N

0

Formwork stacking ar (25X30m

10m

3#

3# Gate

4# Gate

L

3/

36

B

L=

60

4#

m

11F/-5F

1# Gate

B Project under construction 23 0/ F

5#

Office (43.2X6.2m)

On-stieProcessing processing area

Original Garbage 63F Building Foot Print station m2 Building Area m2

Name

Temporary structure

1

Office

268

536

Concrete

2

Warehouse

150

150

Light-weight brick

3

Carpentry hut

200

200

Light-weight brick

4

Dormitory

230

460

Prefab plate

5

Laboratory

24

24

Light-weight brick

6

Toilet

60

60

Light-weight brick

7

N Garbage 0 station 10m

40

40

Light-weight brick

Sum

972

1232

Tower crane 1#

Crane radius Existing building

Gatehouse

L=

N

/2

=6

0m

F0

5#

Processing area

F0/23B L=50m

1#

Dormitory (5X26m)

Building F

Office

2

2

Warehouse

1

3

Carpentry hut

2

4

Dormitory

Tower crane

5

Laboratory

6

Toilet

Crane radius

7

Garbage station

Building K in Vanke City Campus

11F/-5F

Construction Deployment Plan

Sum

Existing building 0

Project u

10m

On-stie

L=55m

San Li He Dwelling Rebuild Project

QTZ63

63F

Tempora

11F/-5F

Construction Deployment Plan

Enclose

Tower cr

Project under construction

Crane ra

On-stie processing area

Number

Name

Building Foot Print m2

Building Area m2

Structure material

Temporary structure

1

Office

268

536

Concrete

2

Warehouse

150

150

Light-weight brick

Enclosed wall

3

Carpentry hut

200

200

Light-weight brick

4

Dormitory

230

460

Prefab plate

Tower crane

5

Laboratory

24

24

Light-weight brick

6

Toilet

60

60

Light-weight brick

Crane radius

7

Garbage station

40

Sum

972

Existing building

Office

2#

Sports 40 Court

Existing

Gatehouse

Light-weight Sportsbrick Court

1232

Dormitory

Dormitory

N

Batrhrrom

# Gate

Carpentry hut (5X20m)

Formworks stacking area (25X30m)

Garbage station (5X10m)

m

50

3B

(5X4m)

Formwork storage

Dormitory (5X20m)

Name

1

Enclosed wall

Transformer

GarWarehouse bage Carpentry hut (5X15m) station (5X20m) (5X4m)

ea

Laboratory (5X4.8m)

laundry

0

10m

nsformer

(5X4m)

Carpentry hut

Dormitory (5X20m)

Building K in Vanke City Campus Construction Deployment Plan

Garbage station (5X10m)

Gar-

Laboratory (5X4.8m)

11F/-5F

Warehouse

H3/36B L=60m

Warehouse

Rebar processing (12X35m) Dormitory (5X26m)

L=55m 63F

QTZ63 11F/-5F

Project under construction On-stie processing area

elling Rebuild Project

Temporary structure

n Deployment Plan

Gatehouse

Garbage

Name

Building Foot Print m2

Building Area m2

1

Office

268

536

Concrete

2

Warehouse

150

150

Light-weight brick

3

Carpentry hut

200

200

Light-weight brick

4

Dormitory

230

460

Prefab plate

5

Laboratory

24

24

Light-weight brick

6

Toilet

60

60

Light-weight brick

7

Garbage station

40

40

Light-weight brick

Sum

972

1232

Sports Court

Sports Court

Dormitory

Dormitory

Enclosed wall

N

Batrhrrom

Office

Number

laundry

Number

Temporary structure

Warehouse

Toilet

Dormitory (existing building)

Dormitory

On-stie processing area

H3/36B L=60m

H3/3 6B L=60 m

3# Gate

Dormitory

Batrhrrom

Office

Project under construction

Rebar processing (12X35m)

Dormitory (5X26m)

Construction Deployment Plan Sports Court

2#

Original Garbage station

Dormitory (5X20m)

(5X4.8m)

Sports Court

3#

Office (43.2X6.2m)

Laboratory QTZ63 11F/-5F

San Li He Dwelling Rebuild Project

Carpentry hut (5X20m)

Formworks stacking area (25X30m)

1# Gate

Dormitory Structurebuilding) material (existing

Number

Enclosed wall

Rebar processing (12X35m)

L=55m

F0/23B L=50m

area

H3/36B L=60m

0 =5

m

m

H

Construction Deployment Plan

L=60

Formwork storage

2#

San Li He Dwelling Rebuild Project

Transformer

GarWarehouse bage Carpentry hut (5X15m) station (5X20m) (5X4m)

Processing area

H3/3 6B

Toilet

Tower crane

laundry

0

10m

Structure material

Crane radius Existing building

Building K in Vanke City Campus Construction Deployment Plan

Project under construction On-stie processing area Temporary structure Enclosed wall Tower crane

68

Rethinking The System

A Construction Site Design Case of a library project

Fig. 3.5 Steps of deploying a construction site.

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Rethinking The System

’ From his point of view, type is not an isolated element within the city but a constitutive part of it. The urban artefact is, therefore, a fragment of the city that can be understood from its physical and historical (memory and experience) elements. According to Rossi, the architectural type emanates from the concept of the urban artefact and its unique relationship to the distribution of building parts, physical structure, shape, location, geography, history and connection to the dynamics of the city. Rossi’s interpretations can be linked to Quatremère de Quincy’s definition of ‘type’ as formless and ‘more or less vague ... operat[ing] in time ... like a nucleus collecting variations of forms in time ... a multiplicity of variations.’

Type, therefore, is a typical element; something constant that defines and gives form to a particular and unrepeatable urban condition. As such, a new relationship between the construction site, which has long been separated from the urban context and the city, and other roles in the urban narrative, can be structured. Most importantly, the design project is envisaged as a process in itself regarding implementation, participation and anticipated variations rather than a direct solution for the problems of construction in the urban context. The consequences of conceptualising the construction site as type is that work onsite through the new organisation of collective equipments will result in a different kind of project and architecture for the city. Introducing an evolving and multifaceted process enables the project to generate new social value, engagement and cooperation across a broader scope. Furthermore, the production of construction and workers’ working and living issues on the site can be transformed via architectural work.

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Rethinking The System

Fig. 3.6 Three main contracting models for architectural projects in China.

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Rethinking The System

3.2 Challenging the dominant players in construction Among all the participants in the construction industry, the state-owned construction groups, which are supported by the central and local governments, have always possessed the industry’s highest quality resources. Compared with the private groups, state-owned organisations have the most extensive experience, the highest levels of qualification and the most substantial support directly from the investor, who is sometimes the government itself.

Among the various contract models utilised in China’s construction industry are the general contracting model (project delivery model),1 project management consultant model (PMC),2 and engineering procurement construction model (EPC).3 construction groups can decide which to adopt based on the project’s characteristics. However, due to the contracting protocol of architectural projects in China, projects financed with public funds must be undertaken by agencies, such as contractors and consultants, to lower risks or even shift responsibilities.

Since most of the public projects launched by the government are large-scale, expensive and sometimes complex projects, all aspects of these projects must be appropriately orchestrated. As such, almost all important public projects are assigned to experienced, highly qualified, state-owned construction enterprises. Moreover, other large projects which are subject to an open bidding process are won by these same powerful competitors. Thanks to the capital and human resources they have, these organisations can not only undertake and accomplish every project they are awarded but also manage to maintain the industry’s dominant position in the market. Moreover, due to the high investment they can access and profits they receive, they can dedicate more funds to deploying the construction site and improve the quality and efficiency of various aspects of a project.

This dissertation challenges the dominant players in the construction industry and argues that state-owned enterprises, as well as developers and contractors, must be obliged to protect underprivileged workers. Importantly, it is not enough to implement top-down policies to oblige construction groups to treat their workers better. Far beyond but also in parallel with that approach, this dissertation aims to develop bottom-up and collaborative mechanisms to provide workers with more opportunities and collective resources in terms of skills exchange, education and family support and forming communities and productive relationships with the city before their work on a site. By doing this, this study will enrich our understanding of ‘labour’ and at the same time extend the study of reproductive labour, selfbuilding, apprenticeships, sustainability and social relationships.

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Rethinking The System

Fig. 3.7 The current labour resources mechanism in Chinese construction industry.

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Rethinking The System

3.3 Challenging the day-to-day conditions, facilities and urban context of construction sites Over the past few years, the central government’s continuing top-down approach and program of standardisation have considerably changed the situation on the construction site. Yet, considering the aforementioned living and working conditions on the site, the exhausting manual work involved, the risks of the site and the chaotic living environment still leave construction workers in a subordinate position. Additionally, the current deployment patterns and ways of employing labour on sites are riddled with problems and subject to the conflicts inherent in controlling labour and maximising production efficiency and speed.

The infrastructure of the site, especially the temporary living facilities built for workers onsite, do provide an economical way for workers to live but also bring challenging issues impacting both workers and the industry. Due to the restrictions placed on the forms, types and organisation of on-site living facilities, they fail to provide workers with a comfortable existence in a salubrious environment. Instead, they provide an enforced, single way to live collectively. While construction sites may now give greater consideration to privacy, gender and domestic issues, they were initially built to enable workers to dedicate themselves completely to production and the legacy of this attitude continues to be felt.

The cyclical temporality of construction work determines the short life of the facilities created to cater for workers. Once a project is complete, the workers’ facilities are dismantled and destroyed, which highlights another problem with these facilities. Typically, very little thought is given to the environmentally destructive nature of facilities created to last only a short time and the ecological unfriendly pattern of use of these elements.

Additionally, this temporality cannot nurture a sense of home and belonging among the workers who are forced to move frequently.

For security and management reasons, the construction site is enclosed by a brick wall and is usually isolated from the rest of the city. Under the strict control of site management, workers can only move around this specific territory during working hours, and during off-hours, they can only leave the site for a limited time. Being separated from their surrounding context, most migrants workers who must constantly move from one site to another end up learning almost nothing about urban life.

These three problematic factors reveal the battles on the construction site. This dissertation argues that they should be revised immediately to fulfil the goal of protecting workers and offer them alternative modes of living on-site. A series of design propositions are presented arising from the critical analysis of the current situation and related multi-disciplinary research. These propositions endeavour to create a safe and well-organised environment in terms of working and living on the construction site, and to then explore additional possibilities for different types of facilities on the site. Consequently, a new project

74

Rethinking The System

developed on the basis of these propositions explores and tests new forms of what will be referred to as ‘collective equipments’ for workers and at the same time, establishes a close relationship between the previously isolated territory of the construction site and the city. To go into more detail, first of all, the project proposes to protect workers from the overarching power of the state and offer them alternative ways to conduct their work and private life on sites. In addition to challenging on-site conditions, this project also tries to introduce more deployment patterns, protocols and management models for construction work. Finally, to link the construction site with the city, new sociological, political and architectural agendas will be included.

In terms of the design methodologies employed, the project sees the existing temporary modular strategies from a critical perspective, trying to develop new forms and types, and then associates different programmes, actors and subjectivities in integrated design compounds. The study of collective equipments in the history of architecture, which will be introduced in the following chapters, helps the project explore possibilities for creating new equipment for workers in terms of form, programmes and architectural design.

Additionally, Aldo Rossi’s experience will guide the study to expand the framework of typology and position it in the contemporary urban context. Generally speaking, the new type of collective equipments integrates the dynamic nature of construction into the requirement to offer workers a more stable life. It needs to combine the adapted structural system with flexible living modules and provide workers with a satisfactory home that can be inhabited in the way they wish. Moreover, it should incorporate more programmes for basic and alternative use designated for workers and create flexible space and an adaptable structure that can vary with time, scale and aims to facilitate bottom-up collaboration and self-determination. Ultimately, all these principles will be tested in the design propositions and final projects.

75

Rethinking The System

Living facilities and office of managerial staff and professionals

canteen

managerial office

shower room

toilet

Living area of manual workers

shower room

canteen

toilet

washing room

workers’ dormitory

On-site operating electricity distribution

laboratory

on-site opertaing huts

storage room

Fig. 3.8 Examples: Drawings of on-site temporary facilities. Redraw by the author.

76

Rethinking The System

Gate Bicycle parking area

Guard room workers’ day room

Toilet

Bathroom

1# Dormitory

2# Dormitory 1# Office

2# Office 3# Dormitory

4# Dormitory

Park lot

6# Dormitory

5# Dormitory

Temporary Office and Dormitory

1# office ground floor

2# office ground floor

guar

1# office first floor

Dormitory ground floor

ga

2# office first floor

Bathroom

Workers’ day room

Toilet

Dormitory first floor

Fig. 3.9 Examples: Plans of on-site temporary facilities. Redraw by the author.

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Rethinking The System

medical care guard room shop

warehouse

bathroom (female)

gate

(male) kitchen

office(1F) canteen(GF)

dormitory(1F) office(GF)

office(client) office(project supervisor)

Toilet

canteen dormitory(GF&1F)

Fig. 3.10 Examples: Plans of on-site temporary facilities. Redraw by the author.

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Rethinking The System

Fig. 3.11 Images of on-site temporary facilities

79

Rethinking The System

Conclusion The significance of identifying and developing the construction site type is to improve its usefulness to the industry, as well as the city. The idea of taking the construction site as a type thus further deepens the study of the construction site. This chapter challenges the dominant actors in construction and its rigid system and argues that it is the powerful’s obligation to protect the most vulnerable group, the construction worker, and give them a much better working-living environment. In that sense, propositions to build new types of design compound of diverse forms, types and programmes arise through the critical study of the current situation on the construction site and methods to build on-site facilities. By challenging daily conditions, temporary modular facilities and the urban context of the construction site, the design proposal opens new possibilities for collective equipments from a broader scope, positioning them in the urban context. Furthermore, it endeavours to exploit the scheme of the suggestion interventions to produce more connections between the construction site and its surrounding urban conditions, production and the city and the site and urban fabric.

80

81

Chapter IV

Reinventing Collective Equipments

“ 1. What type of property defines the collective equipment?...One also has to distinguish collective appropriation from collective use...The mode of appropriation of collective equipments varies a great deal.

2. The function of the collective equipment is to be a service, but how does this service function? To whom is it open or reserved? What are the criteria limiting it? Further: what profit can be gained by those who use it?...what profit...is gained by the one who ensures the establishment of the collective equipment? Briefly, the doulbe direction, or rather, multiple directions of the collective equipment.

3. The collective equipment has a productive effect...what type of production is involved? Or what place in the system of production?

4. A relationship of power underlies the existence of the collective equipment and its functioning...

5. The genealogical implication: how do a number of effects get diversified from there? It will be a question...how urbanisation stems from the collective equipment...

”

—Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and François Fourquet, ‘ Foucault Live: Michel Foucault Collected Interviews, 1961-1984’, Equipments of Power: Towns, Territories and Collective Equipments

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This chapter is a case study of three selected precedents of collective equipments crafted for the benefit of workers. The chapter is divided into three sections. Firstly, the research on the case studies is presented. The second part then introduces the design propositions through the critical analysis of multiple examples operating under different agendas and the current strategies for building accommodation and temporary facilities on construction sites in China. The study divides examples into three main categories: modularity, temporariness and workers’ co-habitation. Furthermore, it proposes a full scheme of collective equipments for workers based on analysis of these three aspects. The proposed intervention aims to create new forms of collective equipments specifically for construction workers on sites by challenging accepted agendas relating to the aforementioned aspects. It introduces new options to offer workers a more stable, permanent and flexible way to live on construction sites.

Finally, the study focuses on the alternative ways that construction workers can inhabit space ranging from their on-site accommodation and production areas to the entire site.

On the basis of the investigation of workers’ use of space, the design project finds a new direction to create more possibilities for building collective equipments by encouraging workers to exploit their unique skills. This adds new levels to the proposed bottom-up collective mechanism and a new agenda in relation to skills exchange, self-development, community-forming and social network-building on-site.

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1927 Konstantin Melnikov The Frunze Factory Club Moscow, USSR

1978 Cedric Price McAppy London, UK

2010 Qiong He, Lei Qu Migrant House Tianjing, China

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4.1 Research on ‘collective equipments’ for workers The equipment designed for workers has always been an important topic in architecture.

Since the design project intends to create new collective equipments for construction workers, it is vital to explore the literature on those elements built to empower workers in terms of their form, programme and type. Additionally, by looking at existing examples, we can learn more about workers’ needs and how they inhabit their living space. The study selects three main case studies that reflect three types of equipment designed for workers: the workers’ club in the former Soviet Union, the McAppy designed by Cedric Price and Migrant House in Tianjing, China. Together with other examples, they form a complete research base, offering various detailed references for the design project.

The Workers’ Club After the October Revolution, the Soviet authorities set out to reform all the former Tsarist institutions, including cultural, religious and academic institutions, to establish entirely new socio-cultural models. The rabochiy klub (the workers’ club) was seen as a critical element of the new collectivity that was being aspired to and a platform for proletarian culture or even ‘life itself’. The club movement was initiated from the top, launched by the Communist Party, as well as from below, through trade unions and independent youth groups. This reflects the various aspects of the tumultuous post-revolutionary period with its ideological power struggles, utopian projections for the future, experimental art forms and educational challenges. The architecture of the workers’ club embodied the notion of proletarian culture and served as the host of Proletkult activities, from anti-religious propaganda and agitation to self-action, amateur performances and mass spectacles. It served as an agent for the ‘production of political culture’ at the ‘core of class struggle’, effectively replacing traditional religious institutions as new sites of a communist cult.

1 Anna Bokov, ‘Soviet workers’ clubs: lessons from

This layered complexity also became a platform for formal and spatial experimentation,

the social condensers’, The Journal of Architecture,

eventually evolving into a distinctive new architectural, as well as social typology.

Vol. 22, No.3 (May 2017), pp.403-435.

The workers’ club was a poly-functional space. 1 Subject to standardised programmes, the club functioned simultaneously as a communal living space, performance space,

2 Narodny dom (people’s house) was a typology that emerged during the rapid industrialisation of Russian cities at the end of the nineteenth century.

adult education and daycare centre and sports facility. Compared with a typical 19th

It offered an alternative to a public house as a place

century residential home, the club had a far more developed public assembly component.

for factory workers to relax and socialise after a long

Most importantly, the workers’ club bore an ideological coding component.2 Its entire programmatic composite was intended to condition new social behaviours through a series

day work. Its goal, similar to that of a workers’ club, was to educate and entertain workers, and to provide alternatives to drinking, as a preferred spare time

of orchestrated collective experiences. One of its primary tasks was to occupy a Soviet

activity. Modest in nature, the people’s house was a

worker’s free time and shape the individual through the prism of the new collective culture.

secular enterprise and lacked an ideological agenda,

A typical club contained a cloakroom, auditorium, library and reading room, classrooms, administration spaces, children’s playroom, occupiable roof and exterior terraces. Some larger clubs also featured a gymnasium, dining hall or cafeteria, games rooms and lecture

more reminiscent of a communal living room or a tea house. On the contrary, workers’ club, as opposed to the people’s house, was not just about recreation or education, but political education and social reform of the working masses.

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Fig. 4.1 (up) Alexander Deyneka, V rayonnom klube (At the local club), illustration for Bezbozhnik u stanka (Atheist and the machine), No. 3, Moscow, 1927.

Fig. 4.2 (down) Alexander Deyneka, ‘Prevratim Moskvu v obraztsoviy sotsialisticheskiy gorod proletarskogo gosudartva’ (‘Transform Moscow into an exemplary socialist city of the proletarian state’); Poster, Moscow- Leningrad, IZOGIZ, 1931.

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Fig. 4.3 Timeline of the worker’s clubs built in the 1920s

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Fig. 4.4

Map of Proletariy Club, showing adjacent Dangaurovka housing and Kompressor factory

(produced as part of Moscow Architectural Institute Research and Diploma Studio: professor, Anna Bokov; students, Arseniy Afonin, Olga Krukovskaya, Kirill Lebedev).

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halls. Apart from the public spaces, clubs also contained space for the individual to reflect and rest, such as quiet recreation rooms, restrooms, games rooms and separate study rooms. The public spaces for collective activities and private rooms could be utilised both separately and together.

The auditorium and performance spaces were the core of the worker’s club, with its educational program also being a crucial component. Moreover, architects often used the subject of art as a tool to erase the boundaries between elitist culture and the worker’s everyday life, as well as between performance and reality. Unlike bourgeois art forms, such as opera and ballet, the unique theatrical arts agenda in the workers’ club aimed to be more relevant to the proletarian masses by using accessible folk language to communicate sophisticated political messages. Thus workers’ clubs were regarded as the ‘acting centres for mass propaganda and the development of creativity within the working class’ and the ‘cells for proletarian class do-it-yourself (autonomy)’.

McAppy In the early 1970s, Robert Alistair McAlpine, the regional director of a leading British construction firm, commissioned Cedric Price to investigate the working conditions on the company’s construction sites and propose a solution to improve both productivity and working conditions. The project represented McAlpine’s reaction to the national construction workers’ strike of 1972, which was the biggest Britain had ever seen and had placed the construction sector under considerable economic and political pressure.

Price’s liberal political orientation led him to conceive of work as a process of exchange in which the quality of the buildings and the profitability of the company were fundamentally influenced by psychological and physiological factors, such as job satisfaction and safety.

From this perspective, the company’s productivity should not only be gauged according to economic parameters such as wages but also on the basis of the qualitative character of the construction process.1 Drawing on the experiences of individual workers, Price proceeded to develop both structural and organisational measures with which he aimed to improve the spatial set-up of construction sites and the social organisation of construction work.

Moreover, the oil crisis of 1973, the Vietnam War and independence movements across various African states confronted the younger generation of architects in the 1970s with the challenge of producing design content in line with the concept of ‘ecology’, which envisioned built and social spaces as mutually interdependent. Price adopted this concept when he developed the McAppy project.

Price saw the construction site as a system of spatial and social relationships. To improve the work situation in McAlpine’s firm, he began to develop a broad range of simple measures that could be applied at different levels of site organisation: ‘To produce enclosures, equipment, material, information and systems’. British construction workers at

1 Tanja Herdt, ‘The McAppy Project: How Cedric Price Brought Systems-Thinking to Modern Architecture’, Candide—Journal for Architectural Knowledge, No.06 (10/2012), pp.45-72.

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Fig. 4.5 (up) Cedric Price, ‘McAppy: aerial v i e w of Ang e l C our t c ons t r uc t i on s i t e ’; Source: Cedric Price fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal

Fig. 4.6 (middle) Cedric Price, ‘McAppy: view of portable enclosures installed at Angel Court site at 11:30 amconstruction site’, 29 June 1974; Source: Cedric Price fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal

Fig. 4.7 (down) Cedric Price, ‘McAppy: cartoon drawn over an aerial view of a McAlpine construction site’; Source: Cedric Price fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/ Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal

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E C Fig. 4.8 (up) Cedric Price, ‘The Angle Court Story: An Extract’, Project presentation, part 2, ca. 1978; CPF/CCA/DR: 1995:0263:028V.

Fig. 4.9 (down) Cedric Price, ‘The Angle Court Story: An Extract’, Project presentation, part 1, ca. 1978; CPF/CCA/ DR:1995:0263:028

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Fig. 4.10 (up) Cedric Price, ‘Exterior and interior views of food and drink area, with observations’; Source: Cedric Price fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/ Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal.

Fig. 4.11 (middle) Cedric Price, ‘Views of bathroom, with observations’; Source: Cedric Price fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal.

Fig. 4.12 (down) Cedric Price, ‘McAppy: Kitchen and canteen, McAlpine version’; Source: Cedric Price fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal.

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the time struggled with poor-quality food and gear, a lack of appropriate work clothing and no contractual job security. The workers’ huts were extremely dirty and poorly lit.

Thus, they were hardly ever used and the workers had to spend their breaks in the pub, which encouraged them to drink and could lead to accidents and injuries. In response, Price distinguished two levels of intervention, with the worker remaining his firm focus: the short-term design intervention, which mainly affected the company’s internal organisation or ‘social life’, and the long-term processes and structural intervention impacting the company’s ‘structural life’, which included work routines, communication processes and the spatial organisation of the construction site. Price called his approach to the structural elements of the design ‘access, use, location strategy.’

Based on his analysis, Price developed two programs: the Portable Enclosures Program (PEP) and the Protective Clothing, Alimentation and Learning Program (PAL). PEP was designed to improve the quality of work via interventions such as the provision of appropriate site facilities and their timely coordination. Together with the structural engineer Frank Newby, Price developed a stackable system of prefabricated containers to replace the shelters commonly used at the time. These containers could house offices, changing rooms and canteens as required. This form of ambient organisation was supplemented by PAL, which dictated that the interior of the new spaces should be designed according to their use. With PAL, Price attempted to address the physiological and psychological dimensions of labour. Price’s interventions were designed to allow every worker to make use of all the available facilities. The combination of both programs formed a simple, customised approach to meeting basic human needs and simple measures were utilised to implement them.

In February 1974, Cedric Price began to test the proposals he had developed on an operating construction site at Angle Court in London. Price’s interventions in the work process included the provision of technical aids, tools, objects and spaces for particular uses. Based on empirical investigations, Price attempted to influence how spaces were equipped directly and initiate a process of change that would impact the workers’ daily lives. He believed that from this lowest level of action, more complex and extensive work processes could be influenced, leading to a new, collaborative culture in the company. In line with the social and economic changes occurring during the 1960s and 1970s, the approach informing the McAppy project also reflected a new concept of work. Influenced by the idea of considering people’s emotions as well as their behaviour in the workplace, Price’s McAppy project helped to redefine work, productivity and economic viability. He argued that the feelings, including joy, pleasure, spontaneity and boredom, Price emphasised in the McAppy project, were criteria for evaluating the quality of a living space.

In the McAppy project, Cedric Price made the construction worker the focus of all interactions and processes. The worker was both the central object of investigation when studying the effects of the architect's interventions and the fundamental actor whose actions influenced the construction site and thereby the work culture within the company. Through

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Fig. 4.13 Drawings of Migrant House in Tianjin, China.

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Fig. 4.14 Images of Migrant House in Tianjin, China.

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the transfer of knowledge, improved communication and small-scale interventions, Price provided workers with instruments designed to make dialogue a fundamental principle of a democratically structured workplace. He believed that limiting the freedom of action of users or inhabitants would necessarily lead to conflict. From his liberal viewpoint, his projects offered greater scope for action and choice.

Migrant House Migrant House is a group of temporary prefabricated dormitory buildings in Tianjing, China, that can house up to 6,000 workers. It is located in the Sino-Singapore Tianjing Eco-city residential area, in the suburb of Tianjian. The residential campus consists of 10 dormitory buildings, 2 service buildings and many other living facilities. Each dormitory building contains 50 to 70 shared dormitory rooms, collective living facilities and other supplementary equipment, including kitchen, washroom, toilet, changing room and dining hall. To create an eco-city in the contemporary urban context, the architects involved built a group of temporary apartments using ecological materials and exploited renewable resources, such as solar power and a water recycling system. The idea behind this experimental collective accommodation is to transform ‘temporary sheds’ into elegant, healthy apartments built specifically for skilled workers, offering this special group—the workers in the city—a new form of care from an architectural perspective.

Migrant House’s focus on workers creates a new form of collective living space for workers in contemporary China. It also introduces different forms of temporary architecture into the urban fabric. Implementing the idea of ‘ecology’, the skilled workers’ campus uses light boards, modular metal structures and other recyclable materials to build a system that is easy to assembly and dismantle, low-cost and low-maintenance.

In the workers’ club, we see the central importance of the political agenda, with the club aiming to create a new, collective life above and beyond that created when people live in the same space. In the case of McAppy, which was specially designed for construction workers, the spatial and structural organisation of the project was established based on the construction workers’ genuine needs and the nature of the construction work. From the research to the design, the focus of Cedric Price’s McAppy has the workers’ feelings, including joy, pleasure and happiness, their needs and their actual working condition, rather than simply productivity and economic viability. By offering construction workers a stackable system of prefabricated containers that accommodate various functions, Price formed a simple, customised and easily implementable approach to meet construction workers’ needs, providing workers with a much better, cleaner and more comfortable

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working environment. As for Migrant House, it generates new forms of collective living for workers in the urban context and also creates a new type of temporary living accommodation in contemporary China.

Although types, programmes and forms vary with projects, the collective equipments designed for workers still share many characteristics: first, they are all designed for one group—the workers—who share the same identity, work situation and living habits.

The equipment users are placed at the centre of design thinking and thus the project’s development. The programmes and subjects of projects are created based on the workers’ needs and daily practices. In terms of the organisation of space, apart from having separate living spaces for the individual or family, they also have designated spaces for collective activities. Based on the case studies discussed, the new design project will also make the residents—the construction workers—the centre of all interventions and will focus on their needs to create an alternative mode of collective living specifically designed for the construction site and offering a new form of temporary accommodation in the contemporary urban fabric.

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Migrant House in Sino-Singapore Tianjing Eco-city 2004 Tianjing, China

Saishunkan Seiyaku Women’s Dormitory

1991

Kumamoto City, Japan

Los Angeles, USA

1949

Eames’ House

Worker’s Dormitory/Co-living

Temporality

Modularity

The Congregate-dorm of Vamke’s Industrialization Research Centre 2017 Dongguan, China

Village Health Works Staff Housing 2015 Burundi, East Africa Pazhou, Guangdong, China

Genève, Switzerland

Zurich, Switzerland

2012

2020 Nanjing, China

2019

Juda Workers’ Dormitory & Canteen

Temporary Campus of Jiangxinzhou Middle School

Rigot Collective Dwelling

2018

10

Mobile Housing Vulkanplatz

0

50m

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4.2 Towards new modularity, temporality and forms of collective living Learning from the existing examples of the collective equipments built for workers, the project proposed here endeavours to create more possibilities, forms and types to expand this field and challenge the limitations of equipment for construction workers, pushing the design to a new level. To fulfil this aim, the study collects a series of precedents that have different forms and types, ranging from houses to dormitories for employees and divides them into three categories representing the main ambitions of the proposed project.

Each category reflects a unique theme that forms the primary foci of the project. Drawing from the existing examples, the new project can develop further and challenge prevailing conditions, strategies and standards.

Modularity The dynamic nature of construction highlights speed and change, making the construction site a rapid processing factory. As a project progresses, the number of on-site workers and equipment also varies accordingly.

The modular prefabricated system has long been the conventional structure of the on-site dormitory and office shed due to its availability, flexibility and low cost. Currently in the Chinese construction industry, labour service companies usually use steel, metal plates and other materials to build on-site facilities. These steel-framed structures are enclosed in metal plates that consist of several modules, most of which can be expanded or compressed based on need. Aside from containers, there are two main types of modular prefabricated shed on the market, the K type and T type. It is true that using prefabricated modular sheds is a traditional and economical way to equip construction sites with a recyclable material that can also be repeatedly reused. However, this system has its limits. For example, the rigid structure separates living units into individual rooms and one narrow room is expected to house several people, making the dormitory room an uncomfortable, cramped living space.

Moreover, the unchangeable space created ignores the flexibility of the modular system with limited resources aggravating limitations and restricting life on-site.

However, in Eames House, the modular structural framework gives the home not only an open, transparent living space but also provides a rational, multi-layered division of private and public space. This proves that the industrial system can create a flexible space, structurally separate areas and comfortable living spaces for residents. Therefore, the proposed project seeks to exploit the advantages of the modular prefabricated system whilst also challenging existing modular strategies to create a structural framework with more possibilities, transparency and flexibility than individual units.

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Fig. 4.15 (up) Images of Eames House

Fig. 4.16 (down) Plans of Eames House

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Temporariness Temporariness is embedded in the nature of the construction. Regardless of the duration and process of construction or the presence of required infrastructure, the equipment involved, sometimes even the outcome of construction, are temporary. Although a lot can be achieved within a short period, the transitory nature of construction often results in ignorance, recklessness and change. For construction groups in China’s construction industry, the requirement for on-site living facilities is low as construction projects are typically finished quickly and it is considered that there is no need to build an environment that provides for more than workers’ most basic work and living needs. Rapid change is another reason why workers are only offered crude, simple, metal boxes. The dynamic nature of construction requires that all labourers, equipment and supplementary facilities can be mobilised, coordinated, installed and dismantled at any time and as such, longevity and permanence are difficult to achieve. Accordingly, a simple, adaptable, efficient way to work and live on the construction site has become the natural choice.

The transience of construction determines the temporary structure and presence of many on-site labourers and equipment, yet it does not necessitate neglect or compromise. In the case of Mobile Housing Vulkanplatz, the Rigot Collective Dwelling, and the Temporary Campus of Jiangxinzhou Middle School, temporary schemes align perfectly with the structure, materials and users’ experience in the space. In these examples, architects achieve temporariness without sacrificing comfort and livability whilst, most importantly, considering the user’s experience and feelings. In these cases, the temporary architecture and living modes they offer are considered as important as those offered by long-term or permanent structures. Drawing inspiration from temporariness, the architects responsible for the aforementioned constructions create a new form of living and experience for the occupants.

The lives of construction workers in China are extremely nomadic as they are required to move constantly from place to place, only every spending short times in any one spot.

Therefore, the proposed design project challenges the nature of construction and argues that temporary living spaces can still offer workers a comfortable environment, a stable life, more choices and a sense of having a home. Inspired by the idea of creating a sense of belonging and home on the construction site, the design project reinvents the mobile, prefabricated living unit, which can be moved from one site to another. This living unit, provided by the labour service company, will follow the workers as they move, reducing the uncertainty of their nomadic lifestyles and at the same time, enhancing their feeling of familiarity with their surroundings. Workers who repeatedly live in the same unit will thus gain a more stable life wherever they go and no matter how long they stay on a site. To sum up, the proposed project will focus on the temporary, dynamic nature of construction sites and these elements will drive the design to offer workers a more stable life in an often chaotic working environment and create new forms of temporary on-site working and living spaces.

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Standard Living Unit Standard Living Unit

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Fig. 4.17 Three main types of on-site temporary dormitories for construction workers. Redraw by the author.

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Workers’ co-living Dormitories built for employees offer several ways for employees to co-habit. Although construction workers may differ from other groups of employees, the examples of dormitories previously discussed can still be good reference points for creating an alternative collective living mode for the group and can challenge the status quo for on-site living in China.

As a special group, construction workers have their own living patterns, which are different from common family or household lifestyles. Migrant workers in the construction industry have developed a unique type of collective living whether they live on construction site or elsewhere in the city. The solidarity of migrant workers in China is associated with relationships of kinship, geography and social connections. Those relations that bring workers together are also decisive factors and bonds in their collective working and living practices, as well as recruitment, education, training, care and domestic arrangements To illustrate, in the early stages of the Chinese construction industry’s rapid development in the 1990s and under the influence of ‘middle manager’ organisations (Baogongtou), team leaders recruited construction workers who were either relatives of the leader or active workers or who came from the same town or village. Sometimes workers would recommend or introduce friends or acquaintances as employees for upcoming projects.

Those workers connected by these kinship, geographic and social relationships worked as a team and accordingly, lived together, creating a unique social network in the industry.

The relationships embedded in the industry also helped to develop new labour resources.

Informal apprenticeships between workers within the same social network used to occur frequently on the construction site. Relatives and acquaintances were often instructors and trainers and workers performing different functions could learn from each other with social relationships ultimately becoming the basis of personal development. Thanks to these multilayered relationships that bread intimacy, people who sharing the same social relations and working in the same place introduced another kind of care, domesticity and community into collective life on the construction site.

In most dormitories for employees, private and common spaces are often integrated, encouraging workers to be more engaged in co-habitation. To maximise efficiency, many functional facilities, including toilets, bathrooms and kitchens are shared and sometimes living units and bedrooms are also shared by several people. Following the programme, the organisation of the space and types of co-living spaces on Chinese construction sites adhere to established rules with the corridor and passages being the two main types of dormitory.

In the Chinese context, it is clear that regardless of the type of co-habitation spaces created, architects’ primary concerns are efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Thus, the proposed project will learn from existing collective living spaces and will be founded on the practical situation faced by China’s construction workers to offer workers a synthetic compound that not only integrates their concerns and additional ways of living collective but also combats the prevailing system.

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Fig. 4.19 Case Studies (top to buttom, left to right): Mobile Housing Vulkanplatz, the Rigot Collective Dwelling, and the Temporary Campus of Jiangxinzhou Middle School, Saishunkan Seiyaku Women’s Dormitory, Juda Workers’ Dormitory and Canteen, The congregate-dormitory of Vanke's industrilasiation Research Centre, Village Healt Works Staff Housing.

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4.3 Alternative ways to inhabit a space Compared with other groups, construction workers have a distinguishing feature: they all master at least one specific construction skill. With these skills, workers gain the power to build not only the project but all kinds of structures, including living spaces even the entire construction site. They are construction workers, yet they are also the artists of life. Even in a tough situation, they still try to live positively, implementing their crafts in everyday life and using their wisdom to change terrible living environments.

The facilities on construction sites provided by construction groups are relatively limited.

Facing a lack of resources, workers start to make use of materials and equipment that they can easily find around them to build the necessary facilities themselves. Using their skills, workers achieve reproduction beyond the construction project and these interventions also gradually become tools to counter the regimented, dull life on a chaotic site. Among the many creations of on-site construction workers, the most common is furniture. Workers often use spare or discarded materials to build furniture, such as chairs, beds and tables and use these items to improve not only the dormitories but also the construction site as a whole. Gradually, the construction site becomes the temporary home of the workers. It is a space that constantly changes over time. During the daytime, it is where work takes place but during leisure time, it is where workers take their recreation.

As the dynamic construction site changes all the time, workers can always find various ways to inhabit the space on the site. Apart from crafting furniture to create spaces to host all kinds of activities, construction workers are specialists in making good use of available resources such as materials, equipment and space, to create spaces or objects that can meet their needs at a certain moment. Hence, any new collective equipments designed for construction workers cannot be top-down solutions that only offer a series of facilities; instead, they should be flexible and adaptable. What architects need to do is to build a framework, system and platform for the workers that gives them more space, opportunities and rights and encourages them to use their initiative and abilities to change, adapt and inhabit the space. A series of bottom-up collaborations and mechanisms have thus been formed, and the collective equipments designed for workers, made by workers and transformed by workers have also been reinvented. Under the scheme established by this new collective equipments, workers are treated with the utmost respect and placed at the centre of all considerations and inventions.

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Fig. 4.20 Images and drawings of construction workers’ self-built furniture.

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Fig. 4.21 Images of migrants, on-site shops, and food venders nearby the construction site.

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3200

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Fixed Cells

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Fig. 4.23 The flexible system.

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Conclusion Although existing theories and examples of collective equipments for workers has significantly supported the development of the design of additional possibilities in terms of types, forms, programmes, materials and even tectonic structure, they still have their limits, as critically analysed in this study. In addition to learning from case studies, the research also introduces the strategies used by Chinese construction groups to build on-site facilities for workers and suggests a series of propositions creating more forms of on-site collective equipments. By challenging the modularity of precedents, the propositions argue for the creation of a more flexible structural system and give more scope for workers to decide how to live and use a space. Moreover, the analysis of temporariness informed a strategy of building mobile permanent living units that can be moved from one site to another, giving workers a sense of belonging and home in a potentially precarious and uncertain environment. Finally, the exploration of workers’ co-habitation shows how workers in other places around the world live with others, mainly colleagues and workmates, under certain conditions. Even if collective living on Chinese construction sites shares similar conditions with other living environments for construction workers both on jobsites and off-site worldwide, the Chinese context has distinct characteristics. Thanks to the unique social network developed by defined groups embedded in the Chinese construction industry, workers’ on-site life is associated with more issues beyond production connected with kinship, geography and personal social relationships. Therefore, the propositions emphasise migrant worker solidarity in China and try to develop a new form of collective living for construction workers based on their unique connections.

Studies on the distinct ways in which workers inhabit space on construction sites and their accommodation, in particular, add a new layer to design agendas, revealing the possibility of creating more options for workers by empowering them to exploit their skills. By doing this, the project gives workers more chances to develop how they live on sites, dignity as they have decision-making power and a way to protect themselves against exploitation from anywhere.

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Some of the structural challenges facing the well-bing of migrant workers require long-term, and nation scale, solutions. These include the need for collective bargaining rights, guarantees of freedom of movement, and reforms of the sponsorship relationship. Similarly, the challenge of integrating workers housing into the social and physical fabric of host cities needs to be addressed seriously.

” —Gulf Labor, Observations and Recommendations after Visiting Saadiyat Island and related Sites

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The final chapter introduces the dissertation’s design projects located in three sites across China. In this part, the three sites are presented in detail, including the location, construction protocols, project specifications and the deployment and organisation of the site. The design projects are explored from three perspectives, that is, their structure, programmes and relationship to the city to portray a full picture of each project. Finally, it presents the first project built in Beijing, in which collective equipments are built on the periphery of the site.

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5.1 Analysis of the three sites The design projects are made on the basis of three existing projects that have been built across China, including a renovation project in Beijing, a new-build residential complex in Shenyang and a residential campus for construction workers in Shenzhen. This study takes the three cases’ data and construction processes as a reference and criteria to produce a series of designs and challenge common operating procedures for how a construction project is deployed. Due to the difference in scales, programs and building requirements, protocols, construction time, labour needs and many other on-site practices vary across the projects.

The Capital Stadium General information: The refurbishment and extension of the Capital Stadium were undertaken for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. As one of the main volleyball stadiums for the Olympics, it is located in the centre of Beijing, in zone 2 of the capital city. The project involved the demolition of nine units, the construction of five new units and the extension of a staircase outside the volleyball arena. It aimed to create a brand-new venue consisting of a 39,797m² competition hall, a 10,500m² training hall, a 2,090m² functional space and a 1,700m² ticket and goods storage hall, all of which was intended to cater for thousands of spectators and athletes. The project took 489 days to complete with construction from beginning to end running from 18 May 2006 to 18 September 2007. Throughout the process, about 1,000 construction workers and professionals attended the site. During the demolition phases, there were approximately 260 workers on-site, which grew to about 500 for the structural strengthening and new construction phase and reached a peak of 750 in the renovation phase.

Deployment of the construction site: The site was divided into several individual areas with clear boundaries, including living areas, office areas, storage areas and on-site processing areas. The facilities and structures are on the periphery of the site, creating an enclosed circle. In the construction area, two entrances and exits were set up to the north and south. The entrance and exit on the south side were for material transportation and staff, and those on the north side was to allow access to fire services if needed. The temporary office and residential facilities were established in the living area for construction workers, construction management personnel and construction supervisors. There were offices on both the south and north sides, consisting of offices for supervisors, clients and managerial staff and toilets, storage rooms

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and a canteen on the ground floor. Roads on the site formed a loop to satisfy the site’s construction needs and access needs for fire-fighting services. The project’s temporary water system supported production, domestic matters, fire-fighting services and on-site drainage, and its devices were built separately in the competition hall, the comprehensive training hall, the ticket office, catering areas and goods storage areas, sharing one water supply pipe.

The electricity used on the construction site was primarily for the main buildings and the outdoor lifts, as well as gate monitoring, night lighting, lighting for roads, field, squares, bicycle storage and car parks, electrical external lines, sprinkler irrigation, rainwater collection rooms and other outdoor elements.

Shenyang Quanyuncun Residential Community General information: The Shenyang Quanyuncun Residential community project is located in the suburbs of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China. With a total build area of 178,000m², it was constructed by Qingjian Construction Group Co., Ltd. Construction began on 25 March 2011 and ended on 20 April 2013 with 16 buildings being built in 25 months. As part of the wider Quanyuncun Residential area, the first group of building includes housing, a service building and commercial shops.

Deployment of the construction site: The Shenyang Quanyuncun Residential community construction site was divided into four parts: living areas, office areas, material storage areas and on-site processing areas. All service areas were established close to the production area, separate from on-site processing and operations. Two main entrances and exits were built to the north and south of the site and gate guards worked 24 hours a day to strictly oversee managerial work. The on-site office and storage areas were built to the east and equipped with a reception, computers, conference rooms and other office facilities, while on-site storage and processing areas were found in the western and southern areas of the site. The living area was separate from the production spaces and consisted of 10 two-storey, steel-structured prefabricated dormitories, canteens, activity rooms, medical rooms, barbers and grocery stores for managerial staff and construction workers, housing approximately 1,500 people. Every dormitory building contained toilets, bathrooms and living rooms shared by 10 workers each. Workers working and living on the site were numbered and settled uniformly, experiencing a unified collective life.

Temporary electricity on-site was mainly used to meet the needs of production, including steel processing machinery, woodworking machinery, tower cranes, welding machines and

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water pumps. It was also needed for small power tools, drainage equipment and site lighting and, importantly, office and domestic needs. Production needs on the site accounted for the majority of water consumption with the drainage arrangement on-site being another crucial aspect of the site deployment.

Qianhai workers’ temporary residential campus General information: The Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, as part of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, is located in Qianhai, west of Shenzhen. The establishment of the Cooperation Zone was approved by the State Council on 26 August 2010 and makes use of its advantageous location adjacent to Hong Kong. Its ambition is to create a hub for the modern services industry. Since the Zone’s approval, groups of highrise buildings and all kinds of infrastructure have been rapidly constructed.

The fast-growing Cooperation Zone involves a huge amount of work and thus requires a significant number of construction workers. To undertake the work needed, vast amounts of workers must work and live in this area, living a unified, on-site existence. However, as a key national project, the construction of the Qianhai Cooperation Zone includes numerous projects located in different places and of varying construction timeframes, making it more difficult and costly for the administration to manage both the construction and the labour.

Thus, a unified way of planning and managing has been introduced to build a residential campus in Qianhai to accommodate the large numbers of migrant workers working in the small and minimally serviced Cooperation Zone site.

Built by Yazhi Construction Group, started in November 2016, it only takes two months to finish the entire workers’ residential campus project. The campus covers an area of approximately 33,000m², including approximately 15,000m² of office space and 13,000m² of accommodation space. The temporary living accommodation is made up of 46 movable shipping crates, which are expected to house 4,000 workers and provide working space for 720 staff during peak periods.

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5.2 Bridging the gap between the reality and the ideal Drawing inspiration from the discussion in previous chapters, the design projects address several aspects, taking the crucial elements of construction including temporariness, modularity and the collective living situation of workers as the driving force to create new forms of collective equipments for construction workers. The projects try to create more possibilities by addressing the realities of on-site construction and offering workers more alternative ways of living, a much better environment and various connections with the city and the wider community, bridging the reality of the industry with the ideals of the design propositions.

The design projects are tested in the selected three sites at varying scales, types and forms.

Based on the site data, specific programmes, agendas and schemes are established to enhance our understanding of the results of the design tested on different sites. First, the design needs to follow relevant construction protocols and regulations for on-site facilities, adding new layers to the challenge of deploying the construction site, and then it should accommodate known workers on the site and meet the basic needs of workers’ lives. The aim is to offer necessary and potential collective equipments that create more ways for workers to work and live on the site. Thus, the designs are for more than just housing, offices and temporary facilities like those traditionally provided by construction groups.

Rather, they are for collective equipments that aim to open up possibilities for workers regarding their on-site collective working-living modes. The collective equipments designed are for a range of uses for both individuals and the construction workers cohort and further connect the workers with the site, the workers themselves, the community they have created and even the city they are living in.

Structure To respond to the realities of the construction site, the design should first meet the requirements for temporary facilities to suit fast changes, all kinds of construction work and a floating population on the site. Although tests involve different sites of various scales and types, the core idea of the designs is consistent. The idea is to create a modular framework that can be assembled and dismantled easily to suit the dynamic nature of construction and its schemes and an adaptable internal structure that allows rooms to be divided into several separate spaces and then leave the space to the workers to transform, furnish and appropriate. Thanks to the flexible structural system, the volume, scale and organisation of the design project can be formed and adjusted according to the requirements of different construction phases. In this way, a changing number of workers can be accommodated properly and the equipment on-site can be well deployed in every phase, forming the construction site as an integral dynamic compound. Cost is a primary concern of construction groups and in this project, the mobile prefabricated structure can be reused,

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reducing costs and benefiting the environment by generating less waste.

For the workers themselves, by integrating the settled structural framework within an adaptable system, they are empowered to decide how they live on the site and use the space. The functions of spaces can easily be changed by simply moving furniture or inner structures, meaning that the spaces can easily be used differently over time, whether that be over the course of the day or as the construction enters different phases, emphasising the dynamic nature of construction. Therefore, workers’ skills can be continually applied to allow them to inhabit the space optimally both regarding the living areas and other spaces on the site. Moreover, the mobile permanent living unit, as part of a self-build scheme, also allows for the installation or easily relocation of the living areas and as such, workers can determine the way people share the space. The flexible space separation system enables the workers to reinforce their social network in the cohort and nurtures a sense of belonging and home in the changing site. The integrated collective equipments enable the workers to have not only a stable life in the face of constant change but also the power to control their living environment and the people they spend time with. This gives the worker a chance to counter the unified working-living modes demanded by capitalist forces.

Programmes The designs put the workers in the centre of the project, focusing on their welfare and feelings when working and living on the construction site. Their basic needs, such as eating, sleeping and daily hygiene practices, are critical elements of the designs, as well as important programmes of the collective equipments. Canteens, toilets, bathrooms, dormitories, spaces for rest on the site and dayrooms have thus come into being. In addition to facilities dealing with living necessities on the site, the collective equipments offer services specifically concerning production, such as offices for daily work meetings, storage for materials and structures for all kinds of on-site processing and operations.

Beyond the basic schemes, further opportunities and other collective resources in terms of care, skills exchange, education, family support and community-forming are also included in the collective equipments interventions. Medical treatment, which has long been overlooked, is brought into the scheme, offering workers critical physical and mental care in a risky working environment. Also, since construction workers all master unique skills that give them the power to produce, they can use them to reproduce and make changes to their lives. Workshops and lecture rooms provide workers with a platform to fulfil exchange knowledge and skills of workers can learn from each other and dedicate their labour to reproduction for their benefit rather than just construction work. The significance of having such an agenda for the collective equipments is because education, a crucial topic in the discussion on the exploitation of labour, can give subordinate workers a chance to improve themselves and change their position in their battles with capital. A library, workshops,

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laboratory and learning rooms are all developed with this in mind.

Moreover, different from previous practice on the construction site, family support is considered a way to change the unified approach to life on-site. In the project, family reunions and family co-habitation can be achieved with sensitivity. More space designated for collective use also helps to build a sense of community within a specific territory. In this way, workers can enhance their relationships with others, develop new social networks and form a community in their daily life.

The proposed programmes of the three design tests are divided into two categories: basic equipment and propositional equipment. Basic equipment is designed for use in both work and life, equipping the site with adequate facilities. The propositional equipment consists of essential elements for working and living on the site and alternative ones decided by the scale of the construction projects. Equipment for individuals and the collective are also classified as propositional and thus include all kinds of programmes.

Relationship to the city For security reasons, most construction sites are closed and guarded by security guards.

While many people working and living on the site may sometimes require centralised management, this does not necessitate restricting workers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and forcing them to stay on the site, even recklessly blocking the site from the outside world and isolating workers. Despite this attempted divide, food and other small businesses often pop up on the boundaries of the construction site, as a bridge to connect the separate site with the city and to provide workers with additional services. In the urban fabric, the special relationships between the site and the city are distinct but have always been overlooked.

Collective equipments and the construction itself have been a powerful motivator for the development of the city and a crucial process of urbanisation, but in practice, construction is considered an abnormal process. The space where it takes place, the construction site and the workers involved are excluded from normal urban life.

The arguments arising from the design proposals highlight the importance of reintroducing connection to the city to workers’ lives and challenging the status quo on construction sites. The designs emphasise the special relationship between the city and the site and magnify the impact of collective resources as they relate it to the site’s surroundings, the neighbourhood and the local community. The designs are not only about building housing for workers; they feature collaborative mechanisms that relate to business, employment and material transactions and encourage people, even those outside the industry, to be more engaged in all types of activities and production. Small businesses and food providers are encouraged to emerge on the site, support for bottom-up organisation is well-equipped, and cooperative relationships are enhanced. By offering more equipment and resources for cooperation between different roles, more possibilities are available to the benefit of the

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industry, its actors and the city. Ultimately, the designs will reactivate the role of construction and the sites in the daily production and life of the urban context, integrating more relationships into the industry.

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5.3 Building for dignity The dissertation elaborates on one design test on the first site to develop our understanding of on-site collective equipments for workers. Since the Capital Stadium is in central Beijing, there are clear reasons to attract more people to the site to be part of its daily activities.

The design inherits the deployment pattern of the original refurbishment project, building the structure on the periphery of the site. The structure, as the threshold of the construction site, is the intermediate between the urban fabric and the construction production. It offers the worker a better life on-site, family support and good care but also alternative options ranging from collaborative learning, skills exchange, business transactions and the possibility for a social network and community.

Construction is a powerful productive force for the city and construction workers are powerful producers. As such, apart from the ongoing project, many other substances and construction are built on the site. By utilising all kinds of equipment and unique skills, workers can not only build the project through their everyday work but also achieve reproduction at the same time. Based on the fact that workers can create, transform and demolish, the design also gives a new deployment mode for the project. The volume of the structure can be increased or reduced in different construction phases according to the number of participants on the site. The structure largely encircles the site, ensuring the safety of the production, but also creates a doorway opening the site to the city, integrating many other people into the construction process. As a flexible system, the structure’s internal space can also be changed, offering more ways to divide the space.

Specifically, workers live on the first floor away from production, which involves embodies noise, uncertainties and risks. The mobile living boxes that can be moved from one site to the other are utilized as the living units, giving workers a sense of home. As the construction continues, the number of on-site workers will change. Temporariness and fast changes turn the design into a dynamic field where space, the position of furniture and even ways to inhabit the space change over time and variations can thus be seen over different timeframes. The significant gender inequality in the construction industry is embodied in many aspects of on-site elements, such as the insufficient space and targeted schemes for female workers and services such as childcare as they are the minority group in the industry.

The design tries to change the status quo and give every worker a chance to live a decent life on the construction site.

Care for construction workers during a project has always been a missing part of the construction site even though it is an essential part of workers’ everyday routine. For example, during breaks, on-site workers often have no space to rest and have to sleep on the ground or sit on stones. Moreover, limited resources restrict their choices when it comes to eating and other necessities. Thus, the design tries to meet the basic needs of on-site workers, give them designated space for rest and relaxation and offering them elaborate equipment embedded with strong support and care. These functional spaces are arranged

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close to production areas with and some established further out to service the city and people coming from outside of the site.

Under the living units are public spaces and room for gathering, office work and collective activities. Skills exchange, learning and business also happen in these areas. The periphery of the site, which used to serve as a sort of defensive belt separating the site from its urban context has now become a living and animated zone with increasing popularity.

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Construction is a popular topic in the field of architecture and has been a key area of interest and debate especially since the Industrial Revolution. However, discussions of construction are often detached from the reality of design projects and issues of labour. The construction site, as previously explained, has never been considered a legitimate part of architectural projects and thus as a suitable area of study. Importantly, it is the construction site, rather than construction in general, that has been ignored and lacking in formal acknowledgement and research in architectural studies. This dissertation reveals the neglected potential of recognising construction sites as an essential part of urban processes and the life of the city and citizens by embracing the full meaning of ‘constructing the city’.

Through a series of critical analyses conducted from the global perspective, the research identifies several problems embedded in this competitive industry worldwide and introduces the reality of the precarious conditions of construction workers in different situations. These global phenomena can also be seen in local construction markets and as such, this study continues to investigate these issues. Focusing on the context of China, the dissertation presents a range of conflicts, struggles, battles and problems between those involved in construction through written analysis, drawings and analytical charts and diagrams. The two most important elements in this industry, the construction worker, consisting of migrant workers that share special social relationships, and capital, including the state, construction groups, the investor, contractors and subcontractors, are fully explored.

The current situation in relation to work and life on the construction site for workers in China places workers in a vulnerable position and amplifies the increasing exploitation they face by limiting their choices and confining them to a specific area. By implementing new research methodologies and alternative forms of investigation using new technology and social media, this study explores the stories of the commodified on-site construction workforce using their input on TikTok and in this way gives a comprehensive picture of these subjects’ lives on the construction site. Due to the particularities of Chinese construction protocols and contracting modes, state-owned companies have always enjoyed the full financial and regulatory support of the state and thus the richest resources in the industry. This dominance has left construction workers in a vulnerable position at the bottom of a strictly hierarchical industry and they are often forced to live collectively in terrible conditions. These migrant workers who dedicate their labour and skills to construction projects for construction groups, do not gain reasonable remuneration for their contribution and neither are they respected and protected on-site, instead, suffering situations that harm their welfare and dignity.

Therefore, this dissertation argues that it is the obligation of the government and stateowned enterprises, as well as developers and contractors, to protect these underprivileged workers who live and work in such precarious conditions. It is not enough to oblige the government to implement top-down policies and order construction groups to treat their workers better. Instead, more bottom-up and collaborative mechanisms need to be developed within and beyond the industry. In response, the dissertation explores many

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parallel forms of change and offers several propositions to ensure not only the safety and welfare of workers on the construction site but to also provide them with new opportunities and collective resources in terms of care, skills exchange, business, education, family support, community and productive relationships with the city before and after the duration of an active site.

Learning from the experience of relevant precedents and the theories of scholars across disciplines, this dissertation creates new forms of collective equipments for construction workers on the construction site. It critically analyses current strategies for building onsite facilities in the Chinese construction industry and challenges their schemes and agendas from three perspectives: modularity, temporariness and worker’s co-habitation.

Furthermore, propositions are suggested based on the ambition of creating more possibilities for collective equipments through the synthesis of flexible structures, adaptable systems and relatively permanent living quarters and try to create a sense of belonging, home and dignity for workers. Empowering workers to use spare materials and their unique skills towards the labour of reproduction adds another layer to the design and broadens its scope. This can articulate the complex questions surrounding the construction itself, the urban fabric, skills exchange, education, care, forming a community, issues of labour and social networks among workers’ groups.

In the design tests across three of China’s cities, the proposed structures, agendas, programmes and schemes are all explored as applied in different scales, locations and forms. This exploration presents new ways to live collectively on the construction site that provides workers with much better accommodation, a more comfortable environment and power regarding how they live on the site and to counter the dominance of certain parties in the capitalist economy. The interventions are not a direct solution for dealing with the housing shortage and the lack of resources and knowledge for deploying a construction site but it reveals possibilities for a deeper understanding of construction and the construction site. From the architect’s point of view, such a radical experiment, which uses professionals’ knowledge and skills to address workers’ problems and rights, brings distinct on-site working and living conditions within the jurisdiction of design projects. It also uses the architect’s position to help guide housing decisions, from design and construction to logistics and implementation rather than making workers live in a particular way decided by capital. Although the design project contributes to new insights for both the architectural discourse and the Chinese construction industry, the designs still contain many flaws and deficiencies. They have, nonetheless, managed to focus people’s attention on the specific issues of labour, construction, the site and commodified subjects and this is a good starting point that will encourage further attempts in terms of both theoretical studies and design projects.

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All chapter opening images, unless marked otherwise, are photos taken by Noah Sheldon. Shanghai Tower 2014

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