Making Food Make Place by Samantha Tong

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MAKING FOOD MAKE PLACE

INTERIOR DESIGN

Tea 茶

Cold Dishes 冷菜

Soup 汤

Noodle/Rice 面饭

Main Course 主菜

Dessert 甜点

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Abstract

Glossary

Research Territory

Placemaking Strategies

Creative Process

Recipe to Make Place

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Research Question

First Bite

Theoretical Frameworks and Concepts

Placemaking in Practice

Design Proposal: The Communal Kitchen

Aftertaste

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Designer Statement

Site Analysis

Community Engagement

Methodology Statement

Meaning & Meditations

Bibliography

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Abstract

In response to the exponential rise of anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City as a result of the I investigate food as a placemaking practice for Chi-

Expanding on the postmodern critique of Edward

nese immigrants in the United States, specifically in

Said’s orientalism, self-orientalism argues that Chi-

the cultural enclave of Manhattan’s Chinatown.

natown is not simply the product of Western gaze, but a strategic construction of space manufactured

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian

by the historical agency of Chinese immigrants, and

hate crimes in New York City have increased by 169%,

their self-conscious capitalization of stereotypical,

while Chinatown businesses have suffered a 60-

kitschy Chinese architecture.

80% decrease in revenue. In particular, many family-owned food and beverage businesses have shut

By identifying ways in which Chinese cultural food

down, resulting in a loss of livelihood and cultural

traditions are commonly perceived and received

memory within the community.

through analyzing archival information, conducting ethnographic interviews, and amplifying community

To sustain food spaces is to preserve Chinese iden-

voices, I subvert oriental designs in food spaces to fa-

tities, and my research asks how food may act as a

cilitate placemaking through creativity, collaboration,

mechanism to occupy space, create a sense of be-

and celebration. At its core, my work honors tradi-

longing and adopt decoloniality strategies. I argue

tional Chinese cultural practices and demonstrates

that immigrant spaces such as Chinatown should rely

the incredible power that food has to reconnect

on systems of counterhegemonic exchange, such as

people to place in the Chinese-American immigrant

communal kitchens, to empower and diversify the

experience.

economy, allowing for greater adaptability in moments of crisis.

pandemic, how can cultural food practices be used as a placemaking tool to preserve immigrant identity, resist colonalities of power, and encourage exchanges within a diverse economy?

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Designer Statement

I was born in Hong Kong, and my family moved to

ple who valued the same language, aesthetics, and

Shanghai when I was two years old. Growing up in

traditions. There, I knew how to fit in. Here, I tried

China’s biggest and fastest developing city, I wit-

desperately to belong. This was when I discovered

nessed the unprecedented, accelerated expansion

the uniting power of food.

of the urban landscape. Overnight, the rolling hills and grassy fields surrounding my neighborhood were

Food is necessary for life, as is air, water, and shelter.

replaced by high-rise apartments and shopping cen-

I am proud to work at the intersection of design, sus-

ters. The displacement of our communal playground

tainability, and cuisine, which I believe has the pow-

left a lasting impression on me, instilling my deep de-

er to unite people across continents and cultures.

sire to protect and preserve the natural environment

Food systems have the immense capacity to alleviate

and its living things.

climate change, fortify human and animal health, promote social equity and bolster economic security.

Wanting to learn more, I moved to the United States

However, the devastating fact remains that one-third

to pursue an undergraduate degree in Environmen-

of the edible food produced for human consumption

tal Studies and Art. At Whitman College, I was ex-

is wasted annually, due to poor infrastructure, distri-

posed to mountain ranges, raging rapids, and purple

bution networks, and management.

sunsets that forever changed my perception of the world. I learned that nature looked very different in

There is unlimited untapped potential for change in

various parts of the globe, as did people and their

current food systems to benefit the world at large.

cultural upbringings.

Here lies the work of the designer, to redefine, reconstruct and reorient our existing practices to accom-

What I found most difficult in my relocation to the

modate for a healthier, more hospitable, and more

United States was that I was homesick. I longed to

compassionate future.

be with my family, be at home, surrounded by peo-

Figure 1: My father enjoying my mother’s famous soy sauce chicken, in our home in Macau, where my father was born.

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Figure 2: My best friend Emma and I often made dumplings when we left Shanghai to go to college in Walla Walla, WA.

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Figure 3: In Shanghai, we had access to all kinds of delicious foods.

Andy grilling some meats at a Korean barbecue restaurant.

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Glossary

PLACEMAKING

SELF-ORIENTALISM

ETHNI-CITY

CULTURAL MEMORY

A connection between people and place that is constructed through collective collaboration, creative practice and cultural celebration, that is represented through a physical manifestation of social identity and pride.

The self-conscious process of community building by Chinese immigrants that appeal to the spectacle of ethnicity within the constructed landscape as a way to negotiate power and identity.

The expanded notion of a cultural enclave that encapsulates not merely geographical locations, but the diaspora of peoples, their histories and customs, in relation to contemporary globalization trends, settlement patterns and shifting urban and economic structures.

The preservation and extension of traditions, rituals and memories that are specific to a certain culture.

COMMUNAL KITCHENS

Shared kitchens that provide an accessible space for affordable food, community building, and resource sharing. These spaces serve more than food — they play a role in public organization by removing the domestic element of food, and reorient it in the public sphere to empower individuals, in particular women, to reevaluate the value of labor.

RESISTANCE

Active forces that work to decolonize and demystify hostile Western perceptions of otherized peoples and cultures.

DIVERSE ECONOMY

An economic landscape represented and populated by a myriad of contingent forms and interactions that actively works to promote disidentification with capitalism.

COUNTERHEGEMONIC

Non-monetary based exchange that relies on other forms of trade that compensates every party fairly.

EXCHANGE

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First Bite

Food is the universal language of living things. Every culture has its cuisine rooted in a unique blend of ingredients, cooking practices, and tools.

I am interested in the act of cooking as a placemaking practice. Whether it be preparing, making, or discarding food in the home, in the wild, as a business, or otherwise, food is a survival necessity that not only nourishes the body but is intimately tied to culture, identity and space. The concept of placemaking refers to specific actions, such as cultivating crops, importing ingredients, and cooking cuisine, that contribute to a community’s ability to form roots in a place. Systems of care related to food that are directly connected to the land can anchor cultural practices and ground a community’s spatial identity and connection.

In my undergraduate practice, I created an immersive installation titled Cured & Manicured. My work used found objects, sculpture, and illustration to examine the commodification of nature, rurality, and the freshness of food. The installation spoke to the ever-widening metabolic rift between consumers and producers of our society, and the kitchen as the final destination wherein we must deal with our appetite hands-on.

Land, soil, and water are primary elements in the cultivation of food, and they are inherently tied to place.

Since geography and geology determine the specific species of produce that can thrive in a particular place, many vegetables commonly consumed in China are not native or accessible in the United States. The cultivation of Chinese crops, such as bokchoy, gailan, and choysum, on American soil, is the most literal form of placemaking through food.

As the designated space for food storage, preparation, and disposal, the kitchen is often the core of the household, where social and cultural activities coalesce. It is the focal point of domesticity, a space where women have historically felt a sense of ownership and power. More often than not, the task of cooking for a family is relegated to women, who spend hours stooped over the kitchen counter, dicing, kneading, curing, steaming, braising, frying, and cleaning to satiate the appetite of her family. In this space, women pass on techniques, recipes, and memories of cooking to their daughters, in hopes of continuing traditions in future generations.

Another typology of interest is the modern convenience of grocery stores, as a nexus in the journey of food. It is a designated space to connect distributors to consumers, where products are displayed, organized, and labeled to appeal to the buyer. Again, women have conventionally been responsible to frequent these spaces to select, purchase and transport home the family’s next meal. More traditional

Figure 4: My undergraduate thesis installation titled Cured and Manicured. Illustrations of animals holding or using materials they are harvested for. The animals are anthropomorphised in a humorous manner, arranged to resemble a family-portrait collection to generate a sense of familiarity and nostalgia.

Consumers often are not aware when they are using objects that contain animal parts.

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Figure 5: Sensorial map of research territories: a Chinese restaurant, an immigrant-owned grocery store, and a home kitchen.

methods of produce-shopping include various types of markets. In Vietnam and Hong Kong, fresh produce and seafood can be found aboard canoes tended by farmers in wet markets. In most American cities, farmers’ markets sprout up at dawn in the warm months, each stall boasting their proprietary jar of pickles, brined in confidential concoctions of vinegar, salts, and herbs. In Morocco, fragrant scents emanate from freshly colored mounds of saffron, cardamom, and turmeric, sold in souks, where traders also sell hand-crafted goods. From tanned leather to beaded jewelry, souks invite crowds of locals and tourists alike.

The final food typology of interest is restaurants.

Restaurants are sites of economic, social, and cultural

exchange. Ingredients are transformed through labor and time in exchange for money; meals and laughs are shared in the company of friends and family; traditional foods are introduced to people of different cultures. Restaurants are therefore ideal spaces for placemaking through food - people are encouraged to connect with and learn more about their social agency in a place, inspired to collectively celebrate culture, cultivate identities and honor the past.

Growing up in Shanghai, the most populous urban area of China, I relished the food of my city. I would drunkenly slurp on jiajiang mian at midnight, snack on sweet potatoes steamed in bamboo baskets by 켈켈 (grandmothers), and sit around my family dining table ripping apart my mother’s famous soy sauce

chicken. My love for food stems from my love for my family, upbringing, and cultural heritage. My appreciation for Chinese cuisine lays the foundation for this thesis project.

As a Chinese immigrant woman living in New York City, I try my best to recreate foods I am familiar with and crave at home. I visit Chinatown at least once a week to stock up on ingredients I can only find there — the exact brand of soy sauce, fresh egg noodles, dumpling wrappers, fishballs, and bokchoy. I lug as much as I can carry home so that I may find comfort in my cooking.

As a result of the pandemic, anti-Asian hate, scare-mongering, and xenophobia rapidly escalated

in America. Nationwide hate crimes surged by 169%, of which New York City had the sharpest increase rising from 13 hate crimes in the first quarter of 2020 to 42 in the same period this year, a 223% jump.

Businesses in New York City’s Chinatown, mostly restaurants, suffered a 60-80% revenue loss as early as February 2020.

Chinese immigrants have always remained resilient to hostility. By mapping out the historical trajectory of Chinese immigrants in the United States (Figure 6), we can begin to understand the intricacies of cultural assimilation, identity politics, and social hierarchies.

Using Chinatown restaurants, immigrant-owned grocery stores, and home kitchens as the main research

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typologies, I investigate the various spaces wherein food is a form of resistance, decolonization, and placemaking.

The term Orientalism, coined by Edward W. Said in 1978, was used to describe the Western imperialist depiction of the East or the Orient. Scholars have complicated this post-colonial critique to account for the agency of people within the immigrant community of Chinatown, by acknowledging their performative role as subjects of the Western hegemonic gaze.

More recently, researchers have explored the cultural associations of Chinatown as a product shaped by Chinese Americans in a nuanced “post-Orientalist” narrative of resistance. Self-orientalism refers to the self-conscious process of community building by appealing to the spectacle of ethnicity within the constructed landscape as a way to negotiate power and identity. Rather than oppressed and passive, researchers such as Umbach and Wishnoff, argue that the Chinese American community used the fetishization of Chinese ethnicity to their advantage, to exaggerate and create an “authentic” otherized experience for a Western audience, to make Chinatown more appealing as a tourist or commerce destination.

Nowadays, most people can recognize that a place is indeed Chinatown by looking at the architecture, signage, and ornamentations of the built environment. Chinese-style gateways, pagoda-tiered roofs,

Figure 6: A map and timeline of the historical trajectory of Chinese immigrants in New York City and the formation of Chinatown. The map investigates 1) space/ typologies, 2) histories, 3) sites of violence/ surveillance, 4) cultural identity elements, 5) flows of information.

and lantern-lined streets market a specific image of Chinese-ness that communicates a commercialized and kitschy typology, deemed by some as “cosmetic and superficial”. While some argued that self-orientalization was a capitalistic ploy that perpetuated racist stereotypes, others disagreed and stated that to celebrate Chinese culture is to unabashedly embrace, preserve and memorialize Chinese aesthetics, language, and traditions.

It comes as no surprise that adorning the public space with “Chinese” motifs was a hugely divisive subject.

The schism between the upper and lower class of Chinese American folk began to magnify as richer stakeholders began to propose more investments and renovation projects within Chinatown, while lower-income members fought to stop the upward spiral of real estate and gentrification of their neighborhood.

Instead of promoting Chinatown as a tourist destination, the community called for “more attention to the compelling needs of low-income housing, high employment rates, health and welfare, and overall better life qualities of the community”.

Understanding the conflict of interest within the Chinese immigrant community allows for researchers, designers, and other stakeholders to suggest and implement solutions that have their best interests in mind. Cognizant that the Chinatown economy has historically been driven by food and beverage busi-

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nesses, mainly due to the affordability of Chinese cuisine and the resilience of chefs to adopt a more Western palate, the proposal to embrace food as a placemaking practice - one that serves the community by connecting people to place through creative, collaborative and celebratory processes - becomes the natural progression in the evolution of self-orientalism. After all, food is the universal language that connects us all.

Chinese food is rooted in community, rituals, and customs, and much like family heirlooms, oral recipes are passed from one generation to the next. Therefore, Chinese agricultural producers, restaurants, home kitchens, and grocery stores are active sites of cultural preservation, legacy, and pride. My research fills in the gap and explores how spaces that involve Chinese food may be sites of self-orientalization and decolonization.

In my research, I complicate existing research to view self-orientalism as a tool for resistance that works to actively reclaim the colonized conception of Chinese food and culture. Building on the scholarship of Umbach and Wishnoff, Chuo Li, and Fernando, I look into the act of self-orientalization as interactions, practices, and relations that occur within food spaces to encourage placemaking. The design and programs

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of food spaces can lean into Chinese aesthetics, attitudes, and customs to facilitate a connection between people and place through strategic self-orientalization.

Furthermore, I view food practices as a mechanism to support a diverse economy through counterhegemonic exchange. Cooking food is often a labor of love that cannot be fully qualified or quantified in monetary terms. By collectively disidentifying with capitalistic systems of exchange, we subvert the impoverishment of our economic language, and expand and amplify alternative forms of market transactions, in ways such as reciprocal labor, bartering, or volunteering, to strengthen the global economy at large.

You often hear Chinese mothers boast about how they don’t need to measure any ingredient while cooking. For them, cooking is a feeling, a memory of how something should taste, a language so intrinsic it brings them back to their childhood. Rather than rigid instructions from a hardcover cookbook, these recipes are ingrained in memory, memories are celebrated through practice, and practice forms the basis of cultural identity. This is the essence of placemaking through food.

Figure 7: Map of the eight great Chinese cuisines and the famous dishes of each region.

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Figure 8: Counter-map of dumpling ingredients, their brands and the manufacturer’s origins.

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Figure 9: A diagram depicting traditional food objects, rituals and practices of a Dim Sum meal from the Cantonese region.

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Site Analysis

The formation of Chinatowns in the United States stems from long-standing discrimination and oppression of Chinese immigrants. From the instatement of the Chinese Exclusion Act to the influx of Chinese immigrants after the Immigration and Nationality Act, the enclave has historically been home to Asian immigrants who were shunned elsewhere.

Manhattan’s Chinatown is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. In 1869, after the California Gold Rush and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, many Chinese immigrants moved from the West Coast to New York for more opportunities, and to escape from discrimination after a series of spikes in anti-Asian hate crimes. By 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was instituted, and for 60 years, the Chinese population dwindled. From 1885 to 1940, gangs, prostitution, and opium dens ran rampant in Manhattan’s Chinatown. This caused the popularization of slumming, and Chinatown became a tourist destination for wealthy White New Yorkers, who visited Chinatown for voyeuristic entertainment and affordable food.

Food has always been Chinatown’s main attraction. Currently, Manhattan’s Chinatown is primarily commercial and residential, and most of the commercial businesses are food and beverage related.

Due to the pandemic, Chinatown businesses have suffered a massive loss in revenue, and a large num-

ber of restaurants, grocery stores, and markets have shut down, resulting in a loss of cultural memory and pride.

Women have traditionally found their place in the kitchen - the domestic heart of the home where oral recipes are passed on from one generation to the next. Understanding that more than 35% of Manhattan’s Chinatown population identify as Asians, a majority are elderly, and a larger percentage is female, food sites become charged sites of cultural preservation and exchange. Chinese immigrant women visit Chinatown to stock up on ingredients and equipment essential to cooking an authentic Chinese meal. This is how the program of my thesis - food - reflects the community members and their needs.

The poverty measure, as well as the limited English proficiency measure in Chinatown, is significantly higher than in the rest of Manhattan and the educational attainment percentage is noticeably lower.

There is, however, a lack of communal food spaces such as senior centers, food programs, or rescue missions in the neighborhood.

At this intersection of the Asian immigrant community, food tourism, and community-building space, I have chosen 70 Mulberry Street as the site of my thesis. This historic landmark was constructed in 1893 as Public School 23, designed by C.B.J. Snyder.

Figure 10: Photograph of PS 23 Manhattan, July 22, 1929. BOE 3276, NYC Board wof Education Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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Figure 11: Arts and Crafts, PS 23, Manhattan, June 11, 1947. BOE 13010, NYC Board of Education Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

It operated as a 31-classroom elementary school with a capacity of nearly 1,700 students. In the mid-1970s, PS 23 was decommissioned as a school and the building was converted to serve as a community center for Chinatown. Since then, the five-story red brick building has been home to five non-profit community groups: the Chen Dance Center, the Museum of Chinese in America, the United East Athletics Association, the Chinese-American Planning Council, and the Chinatown Manpower Project serving as an anchor to its community within and beyond Chinatown.

Figure 12: Adult class in English, PS 23, Manhattan, May 13, 1952. BOE 20636, NYC Board of Education Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In January 2020, 70 Mulberry Street was severely damaged by a five-alarm fire that destroyed the top three floors and displaced its five tenants. The City of New York has pledged to fund the rebuilding of 70 Mulberry Street, and as part of its commitment, the City has hired the social impact consultancy 3x3 to conduct a 90-day community visioning process to develop a shared vision for 70 Mulberry Street. 3x3 found that 70 Mulberry Street was first and foremost

a community anchor, second a representation of cultural heritage and identity, and third a valued site for learning. The majority of the community agreed that the interior space of 70 Mulberry Street should be reconfigured and redesigned to adapt to modern needs and be ADA compliant. They also agreed that the program of 70 Mulberry Street should remain as a multi-purpose space that can serve as a hub to support cultural and artistic endeavors.

Taking into account community feedback, I propose my design of a communal kitchen as a beneficial contribution to the cultural hub, that can add to the creative exploration of arts, aid collaboration between community members, and facilitate festive celebrations. Responding to a lack of communal food spaces in Chinatown, my proposal makes space for kitchen programs - cooking, eating, learning, celebrating, and exchanging - all of which are acts of placemaking that support decoloniality and encourage community-building.

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Research Territory 01

Typology of Chinatown The site of this thesis project is located in Chinatown.

It is crucial to research the evolution of Chinatown, the historical treatment of Chinese immigrants in the United States, and the forms of resistance performed by community members to claim ownership of space as immigrants. On top of that, the proliferation of tenement homes, expansion of Chinatown beyond a cultural enclave, and identity-formation on an urban level. Expanding upon Edward Said’s theory of orientalism, this thesis looks further into post-modern interpretations of the concept, and ways in which the practice of self-orientalism can support decolonization.

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Cultural Food Practices Cultural food practices are highly dichotomous. While food practices are informed by community, place and culture, they are also specific to an individual’s upbringings, experiences and background. On top of that, food production is rooted in soil, specific to geography, geology and agricultural style, in comparison to food practices that are transient, disseminated and adaptable. Therefore, it is important to investigate how food can be used as a place-making tool, specifically for immigrant communities that must access specialty ingredients, tools, and kitchen appliances in order to recreate dishes authentically. As a mechanism to preserve and pass on cultural memory and pride, this thesis researches ways in which food practices celebrate tradition and ritualize moments of communal joy.

Diverse Economy

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Chinese Design

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The third research territory is decoloniality in the form of a diverse economy. By researching counterhegemonic forms of exchange, such as communal kitchens, grassroots advocacy, and food sharing programs, this thesis shows how the economic landscape can detach itself from Capitalist structures of exploitation and oppression, to alternatively rely upon economic systems of care. This thesis investigates ways in which communal kitchens provide agency to women, specifically housewives, to perform labor in the kitchen as a form of currency. By reclaiming the domestic act of cooking as more than a labor of love, and instead of a form of social and cultural currency, women regain agency in the political sphere. These spaces that subvert domesticity by giving labor a public arena can radically change stereotypical gender roles. Giving women the ability to trade labor for validation, pride, and/or other forms of counterhegemonic payment empowers not only individuals but whole communities.

Chinese architectural elements are deeply connected to religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The architectural designs originating from these schools of thought emphasize feng shui, natural connection, and ornamentation. Traditionally Chinese patterns that stem from these religions symbolize good fortune, prosperity, and harmony, or represent abstracted forms of natural elements. Since most of the architecture and artifacts we have for reference today are of the Qing Dynasty, it has become the representative and most recognizable style for ancient Chinese design.

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GASTRONOMIC IDENTITY

ETHNI-CITY CULTURAL PLACE IDENTITY

CULTURAL MEMORY

PRESERVATION AND CELEBRATION

ORNAMENT

TYPOLOGY OF CHINATOWN

CULTURAL FOOD PRACTICES

RESEARCH TERRITORY

SELF-ORIENTALISM

DECOLONIALITY AND THE DIVERSE ECONOMY

ALTERNATIVE MARKET TRANSACTIONS

COLLECTIVE DISIDENTIFICATION WITH CAPITALISM

COUNTERHEGEMONIC EXCHANGE

COMMUNAL KITCHENS

CHINESE DESIGN

QING DYNASTY ORNAMENTATION

COURTYARDS AND CHINESE HOUSING TYPOLOGIES

CONFUCIANISM, TAOISM, BUDDHISM AND FENG SHUI

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Figure 13: Fish drying along the sidewalk of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a major port city and the economy heavily relies on the fishing industry. Dried and salted fish is a delicacy that is difficult to procure elsewhere, but adds an essential and authentic flavor to many Cantonese dishes.

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Figure 14: Egg yolks curing in the sun in someone’s backyard in Hong Kong. The tradition of preservation is commonly practiced and passed down generations - not only does it make food last for longer, it adds an essential flavor profile unique to Chinese cooking.

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Theoretical Frameworks and Concepts The three established theoretical frameworks that are used to inform the research and situate this thesis are self-orientalism, decoloniality theories, and diverse economy. Concepts that are pertinent to the research and have an influence on the design proposal are “EthniCity” and communal kitchens.

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Self-Orientalism The first theoretical framework that informs the research is the concept of self-orientalism. A post-modern interpretation of Edward Said’s orientalism, self-orientalism investigates the self-conscious use of ethnic themes and Orientalist motifs in the built environment, how they manifest, their purpose, and public perception. One may see self-orientalization in a positive light — as an act of active resistance and declaration of cultural pride and identity. Others may see self-orientalization led by the Chinese elite as a ploy to capitalize on the exotic qualities of Chinese culture and to promote tourism and business in Chinatown. In my research, I choose to view self-orientalization as a tool for decolonization - an active choice by community members to embrace cultural identity and celebrate cultural pride.

Self-orientalism is well-discussed in modern critiques of Chinatown design. Fernando investigates in their paper Culture and Identity in Urban Streets the cultural place identity (CPI) of the cultural enclave of the NYC Chinatown. CPI is defined as culture-environment interactions that manifest through architectural features, artifacts, symbolic icons, and activities

that show cultural change or identity adaptation. I borrow examples Fernando analyses in his work to identify areas within the Chinatown built environment that communicate Chinese identity and placemaking.

Li writes in Commercialism and Identity Politics the use of ethnic themes and Orientalist structures such as pagodas, tiered roofs, and gateways in Chinatowns as a purposeful strategy for urban redevelopment. It stresses the self-conscious art of community building, led by the Chinese elite, to manifest the architectural and spatial landscape to negotiate power and identity. The exploitation of exoticism is an interesting form of resistance adopted by the Chinese as a tool to self-sustain and maintain control as immigrants in America, and this self-conscious act is a tool I utilize in my design.

Umbach and Wishnoff examine three failed attempts at self-orientalizing Chinatown in their paper titled Strategic Self-Orientalism — “China Village” (19501954), the Chinatown Revitalization Plan (1975), and The Unity Arch (2002-2005). They discuss the power struggle between the Chinese elite, the Chi-

nese community, the tourism industry, and political bodies. While wealthy Chinese merchants sought to capitalize on the growing tourist trade by constructing kitschy Chinese architecture, it contributed significantly to the perpetuation of stereotypes and ultimately did little to directly support the majority of the Chinese immigrants. By further dissecting the power discrepancy within the Chinese-American community through understanding the historical context, we can better avoid past mistakes, listen to community voices and adopt effective solutions supported by the community.

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Decoloniality Theories

The second framework of decoloniality theories plays a large role in the research and design of this thesis.

Yeoh and Wong write about different forms of resistance found in Chinatown. Yeoh focuses on design elements within the built environment by observing restaurant signs as an active decolonization tactic to subvert the Eurocentric gaze. Wong observes how women in Chinese communities come together in neighborhood spaces to share stories, memories, and values to establish an intergenerational connection and form the basis of grassroots organization.

Their research methodology is a great example of the methods I use in this thesis.

Yeoh conducted empirical research and visual analysis on design elements of San Francisco’s Chinatown restaurant signage in his paper titled The Golden Dragon Wok. He investigated the graphic, linguistic, and typographic elects of 63 restaurant signs to map the connection between visual characteristics and gastronomic identity. This paper is important in my

Diverse Economy

research because it acts as a guiding framework to collect data and draw connections between the physical environment and theory.

Wong conducted two years of ethnographic research to explore the cultural-political implications of gentrification in Chinatown. She observed “shop talk” — conversations between Chinese American women in ordinary neighborhood spaces — that ranged in topics from collective memory to resistance to hope for the future of the neighborhood. In their paper titled Shop Talk and Everyday Sites of Resistance to Gentrification in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Wong reflects on recorded discourses as a resource to provide insight into how political consciousness, values, ideologies, and practices are formed or negotiated over time through intergenerational grassroots action. Using interviews, observations, and site visits as methods for research, Wong sets a great example of how ethnographic investigation can lay the foundation for intentional design solutions.

The third theoretical framework that guides this thesis is the concepts of a diverse economy and counterhegemonic exchange. Gibson-Graham proposes in A Postcapitalist Politics strategies for the people to take back the economy, by collectively disidentifying with capitalism and adopting a new and diverse form of exchange non-reliant upon monetary currency.

He argues that our economic language becomes impoverished the more we rely on one system — the capitalist economy — due to the condensation and displacement of other forms of exchange. To liberate our society from hegemony, he suggests we diversify our economy by embracing counterhegemonic forms of exchange, such as the business model of a communal kitchen, that relies on volunteer labor and non-monetary exchanges to operate. Food spaces like a communal kitchen can become active sites of resistance and decolonization, which is precisely what I propose in my design for this thesis project.

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Ethni-City

Communal Kitchens Despite not being a theoretical framework, concepts such as the socio-economic and cultural importance of communal kitchens have been highly informative in my research and design process. Communal kitchens are shared spaces in which the domestic activity of cooking for the family is re-situated in a public setting. Domestic laborers, most often women, come together in these public spaces to cook meals to serve the community at an affordable price or through a non-monetary exchange. Many women consider working in a communal kitchen a form of volunteering since they often do not get paid in currency for their labor. Anna Puigjaner researches the operation of communal kitchens in Lima, Peru, and writes about her observations of domesticity taken out of the home setting in the article Bringing the Kitchen Out of the House. Communal kitchens become systems of care that not only allow women to reclaim their agency in the political and socio-cultural sphere but benefit the community at large. Keeping Puigjaner’s research in mind, I propose the creation of a communal kitchen in Chinatown, to empower the community, demystify Chinese cooking traditions and decolonize a historically hostile space.

The concept of Ethni-City - defined as a geographic marker of cultural diaspora within urban cities - has also been highly influential in my understanding of Chinatown as a cultural enclave. When Chinese immigrants first settled in New York City, they congregated in the Five Points district of the Lower East Side and formed what is now known as Chinatown.

Suffering from extreme poverty, discrimination, and violence, most Chinese folk could only afford to live in tenements, dingy multi-unit apartments without water, windows, and space. While both of these articles address the harsh living conditions within tenements, I borrow from the work of Li, who takes a contemporary look at the constantly evolving typology of Chinese settlements, and the expansion of Chinatown as an Ethni-City.

Li investigated international geopolitics and national policies of the globalization era in his article Beyond Chinatown, Beyond Enclave, and the subsequent increasing flow of population, commodities, information, and financial resources, in particular between China and the United States. Li traces the historical value of Chinatown to the contemporary influx of

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Chinese immigrants, to map the formation of Chinatown as an Ethni-City. It is extremely valuable to understand the history of Chinatown to appreciate its current systems and conditions.

Jan explores the physical manifestations of Ethni-Cities in the form of tenement buildings by recounting the historical trajectory of tenement housing in New York City’s Chinatown. Their paper describes the interior conditions of tenement housing, such as the lack of water, windows, and space, to further discuss the inhumane living conditions within these dwellings. Jan throws light on a realistic representation of a tenement home — storefront, commune kitchens, and single rooms — that was home to a vast majority of Chinese immigrants before the turn of the century, that was the precursor to the current lack of affordable housing in Chinatown.

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Figure 15: Communal dining space within the Comedor Popular La Balanza, Lima. Photo by Anna Puigjaner.

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Figure 16: Women working in a communal kitchen in Peru. Comedor Popular La Balanza, Lima. Photo taken by Anna Puigjaner.

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DIANE WONG SHOP TALK AND EVERYDAY SITES OF RESISTANCE TO GENTRIFICATION

ANIBAL QUIJANO + MICHAEL COLONIALITY OF POWER, EUROCENTRISM, & LATIN AMERICA

EVE TUCK + K. WAYNE YANG DECOLONIZATION IS NOT A METAPHOR

KOK CHEOW YEOH THE GOLDEN DRAGON WOK

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NISHA FERNANDO CULTURE & IDENTITY IN URBAN STREETS: A CASE STUDY OF CHINATOWN

GREG UMBACH + DAN WISHNOFF STRATEGIC SELF-ORIENTALISM: URBAN PLANNING POLICIES CHUO LI COMMERCIALISM AND IDENTITY POLITICS IN NEW YORK’S CHINATOWN

SELF-ORIENTALISM RESISTANCE, DECOLONIALITY & ANTI-RACISM

FOOD & PLACEMAKING IN CHINATOWN

KITCHENS, GENDERED LABOR & DOMESTICITY

DOLORES HAYDEN THE GRAND DOMESTIC REVOLUTION

CHINESE IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENTS DIVERSE ECONOMY

JENNIFER L. LEMESURIER UPTAKING RACE: GENRE, MSG, AND CHINESE DINNER

ANNA PUIGJANER BRINGING THE KITCHEN OUT OF THE HOUSE WEI LI BEYOND CHINATOWN, BEYOND ENCLAVE

LYLE JAN LIFE IN A CHINATOWN COLD WATER TENEMENT BUILDING

J. K. GIBSON-GRAHAM A POSTCAPITALIST POLITICS

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Community Engagement

Since placemaking practices directly respond to the community in which it serves, it is integral to my work to contact, communicate and collaborate with community members. I reached out to several leading activists, business owners, and relief organizations to understand the problems the community currently faces, and discuss present efforts in combating discrimination towards Asian people and their enterprises. In our interview, I asked them for their opinion on the impact of food spaces in preserving culture, identity, and memory; their experiences within food spaces in Chinatown and subsequent impressions, feelings, and reactions towards the space; and presented my thesis idea that food practices contribute to placemaking by creatively allowing for an opportunity for collaboration and celebration of Chinese culture.

I reached out to my friends in New York City - many of whom I grew up with in Shanghai - and invited them to my house on the night of the Moon Festival for a wonton folding and eating party. The day before, I went to two of my favorite grocery stores in Chinatown - Hong Kong Supermarket and Deluxe Food Market - in preparation for this dinner. I picked up four stacks of dumpling wrappers, 5 pounds of pork, 2 pounds of shrimp, ginger, spring onions, soy sauce,

sesame oil, and laoganma (chili oil). I stuffed everything into two plastic bags, carried them to the J stop on Canal St., and took the subway home to Brooklyn.

The night of, I grated the ginger, minced the vegetables, de-shelled the shrimp, and marinated the pork.

I asked two friends to help me fold the dumplings and every 10 minutes, we would throw all the dumplings that were ready into the gallon pot of scalding water, and watch them slowly float. We served the dumplings and within minutes, people were asking if the next batch was ready.

I share my experience making dumplings because cooking is a laborious endeavor. Although I would love to cut corners, each tedious action is mandatory to the ritual of cooking Chinese food. I connect to my family, my home, and my heritage by visiting these specific food spaces, working in the kitchen, and eating with my friends. Through these actions, I am allowed to revisit where I come from and remember who I am. I can practice the language I no longer freely speak and see people that look like me.

The immigrant experience in the United States is a common yet uncomfortable one. Through rituals with food, I make this foreign place my own as a Chinese immigrant in New York.

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Placemaking Strategies 01

Creativity Creativity is a necessary ingredient in placemaking because it speaks to the reimagination of community assets, such as public spaces, streets, and markets, to reevaluate the hidden potential of these spaces. Creativity is the inspiration to redesign existing structures and systems to envision a more representative and equitable social, cultural, and economic future.

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Collaboration

Celebration

Collaboration Collaboration is a key component to placemaking - without the collective input from all members of a community, it would be impossible to propose a solution that fairly integrates the diverse opinions of all stakeholders. Collaboration allows for proposals to be sustainable, accessible and practical - the collaborative effort of many brings an idea into reality by creating a network of support and accountability.

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Celebration Celebration is the goal of placemaking. For people to feel truly connected to a place, the space must convey meaning, trigger a memory, or facilitate a certain ritual. It is the historical significance we place in the past that brings sentimental value to our present.

The celebration of these cultural traditions, therefore, brings a sense of joy and collective appreciation that genuinely connects people with other people, and people with place.

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Placemaking in Practice HOW DID IT FEEL TO PARTICIPATE IN A CHINESE CULTURAL CELEBRATION? Yes, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also quite important in Korea. It is also known as Chuseok, where we thank our ancestors and pray for them. There are a lot of tradItional foods made for Chuseok, but I forgot the names. Relatives gather in a big group, eat Korean BBQ, drink alcohol and get drunk.

My family will come together to prepare a meal and talk about our elders as well as our current lives. This reminded me of that.

I enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family. We cook a big meal together and enjoy each others company for the day. There’s usually games, activities, and conversations that let us reflect on the past year.

Common foods are: turkey, beef roasts, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, and pie.

DO YOU GATHER WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO CELEBRATE A FESTIVAL OR DAY THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU AND YOUR CULTURE? WHAT DO YOU DO TO CELEBRATE? WHAT RITUALS DO YOU PRACTICE? WHAT FOODS DO YOU EAT? As for food-related traditions, the infamous Jangjorim recipe was passed down from previous generations. Our family always ate it during New Years, and honestly, it is my favorite food.

We commemorate the day our grandpa passed away. We prepare food and talk about him and the importance of family that has been instilled in me. I hope to continue on this tradition.

Growing up, I would bake with my Grandma all the time. When I bake now I think about her and it helps me feel reconnected. It would be nice to have more holidays with unique/special foods associated with them.

HOW DID IT FEEL TO PARTICIPATE IN A CHINESE CULTURAL CELEBRATION? I believe it was great. Since I lived in China in the past, it was great to celebrate Chinese culture in a foreign land.

It was really nice to celebrate it in America, outside of the context of China.

Great! It was fun to experience another cultures traditions and help celebrate it with friends to make them feel less homesick.

USE 3 ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE YOUR FEELING WHILE EATING DUMPLINGS. Joyful, greedy (for more), awe.

Happy, cozy, energetic.

Mouthwatering, satisfied, stuffed.

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Figure 17: Bowls are the most common vessels for serving in China because they can most effectively hold rice, and still have room for dishes.

Figure 19: Chinese dining tables are traditionally circle - a symbol of harmony, unity and togetherness.

Figure 18: The act of cooking Chinese food is normally a collaborative process, a way to alleviate labor by enjoying the company of others.

Figure 20: Chinese dishes are typically served on one shared plate or bowl, passed around the table and individually served as a symbol of community.

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Methodology Statement

Grounding my work in primary and secondary sources, I conduct ethnographic, demographic, and geographic research to determine the stakeholders of my design and their needs. Considering food practices as a tool for placemaking, I began investigating food spaces as sites of intervention. Restaurants, grocery stores, farms, and kitchens became design opportunities.

The design goal is to encourage placemaking by allowing people to build a connection with place by creatively collaborating with others and celebrating cultural identity and pride. By engaging in participatory design, I have used the following methods, and more: mapping, diagramming, collaging, cooking, eating, hosting, gathering, celebrating, asking, designing, and creating.

I went into my thesis project with a clear goal in mind - to connect food to place within the Chinese community of New York City. The process began with the need to understand the theoretical, social, and physical context of my design site. To understand the historical context of Chinatown’s evolution, I mapped the timeline of the formation of Chinatown.

I dug deeper and looked into food-making sites in Chinatown, and mapped the sensorial experience of three Chinese food spaces: a Chinese restaurant, an immigrant-owned grocery store, and a Chinese home kitchen.

To situate my work in a global context, I reverse-mapped the origin of dumpling ingredients, their brands, and their manufacturer’s locations to understand the supply chain, distribution networks, and International stakeholders of Chinese food products and practices.

To understand Chinese food, its regionality, and diversity, I diagrammed the eight great Chinese cuisines and famous dishes of each region. Chinese food practices are also deeply rooted in traditions, which is why I looked into food objects, rituals, and practices of a Dim Sum meal from the Cantonese region - a weekly celebration I am intimately familiar with - and diagrammed rules I was taught as a child to abide by to be respectful at the dining table.

Collaging is a great tool to envision speculative futures and collect overarching thoughts on imagery

Figure 21: Collage imagining “what if” what if food was used as a tool to decolonize space? What if we dis-identified from hegemonic structures of desire? What if Chinese food was no longer found in the “ethnic” aisle of the generic grocery store?

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Figure 22: Poster and wallpaper design screen-printed to advertise for and ornament the communal kitchen.

and aesthetic style. Imagining a brighter future for Chinatown’s food spaces, I created a collage and a mood board of images, text, and iconography that inspired my design.

In terms of ethnographic research, I collected, read, and analyzed scholarly articles, news reports, archival records, community feedback, and census data to factually substantiate the design proposals I put forward. I interviewed community members and stakeholders about their needs within Chinatown’s food spaces, reached out and engaged with fellow designers and practitioners working in the field of Chinese cuisine and design, and analyzed official surveys about the site of my thesis: 70 Mulberry Street.

Since food is such a personal subject, my food practices have informed my research. I visit Chinatown once a week to buy Chinese ingredients, which I cook and serve to friends and family. I regularly host gatherings at my home to celebrate Chinese holidays or festivals - most recently, I hosted a dumpling-making event in celebration of the Moon Festival. I have also consulted my parents on their opinions on my project, to take into account my cultural upbringing

and how my family and experiences can illuminate my work.

I observed through mapping exercises and site visits that there was a lack of food spaces that disidentified with capitalism - even self-orientalist design began as a capitalistic ploy to generate more revenue. By subverting self-orientalism as a tool to promote counterhegemonic exchange in the form of a communal kitchen, we can begin to envision a world that celebrates diversity.

Lastly, I proposed designs for a communal kitchen in Chinatown to serve the Chinese immigrant community. By creating iterative analytical drawings, renders, 3D maps, and a laser-printed model of my site at 70 Mulberry Street, I determined the design constraints and specifications of my proposal. I listed out the programs I wanted to include in my design, and created prototypes for a communal kitchen stovetop, ingredients library, rooftop garden, and ceramics collection, to be placed within 70 Mulberry Street. I continue to investigate how traditional Chinese ornamentations and design strategies can be incorporated into my methodology.

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Creative Process

Figure 23: First iteration of the communal kitchen design.

My love for food stems from my mother. She is a phenomenal chef, and I grew to respect her ability to create beautifully seasoned, richly flavored, delicately balanced dishes from the most humble ingredients.

My mother is a person of principle, with very particular needs for certain things to be a certain way, and her methodical approach has left a huge imprint

on me and the way I am. She always sets her mise en scène before lighting on the stove, she trusts herself to use the right amount of ingredients without ever using a measuring cup, and she doesn’t begin eating unless she has cleaned the kitchen spotless. Unsurprisingly, her meticulous and particular way of being has become my own. Now, as an adult living thou-

sands of miles away from home, I am reminded of my mother each time I set foot in the kitchen.

Growing up in Shanghai, China, I had access to affordable, diverse, fresh food at my doorstep. As an immigrant woman in New York City, cooking has become a way for me to revisit my heritage, connect

with my culture, and celebrate myself. I can visit Chinatown on a grocery trip and not have to speak English once. For a moment, I feel as if I am home again.

I wanted to capture and extend upon that particular feeling – of being bonded to a place through food – by designing a space in Chinatown for the communi-

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Figure 24: A flyer promoting a “pay what you can” CNY cook out event hosted by the communal kitchen - a community event that serves low income/working class members by providing free-to-affordable food cooked by volunteers.

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Figure 25: A poster advertising Chinese cooking classes, run by volunteers at the communal kitchen. These events will fundraiser money in support of community events such as the CNY Chinatown cook out.

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ty, by the community. I began to ask myself: what is uniquely Chinese? What spatial design strategies are adopted by the Chinese to convey cultural identity or affiliation? Why do Chinatowns across the United States have a similar kitschy Chinese aesthetic, and what do these designs represent? How can design be used as a form of resistance against hostility amidst a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes? How can food-making in the kitchen be a tool for decoloniality?

In my attempt to answer these questions, I stumbled across the term “self-orientalism”, defined as the self-conscious use of stereotypical Chinese design as a way to embrace cultural identity and resist the Western gaze. My work has been inspired by this theory and I choose to use self-orientalism as a strategy to resist the oppressive homogeneity, celebrate cultural identity and connect to my surroundings in

Figure 26: (Left) Axonometric and elevation of the circular kitchen design that encourages creative collaboration between people who celebrate the act of cooking as a placemaking practice.

(Right) Sections of three typologies within the communal kitchen design - from top to bottom: a traditional Chinese apothecary, a garden and a ceramics collection.

a place of hostility. Highlighting textures, colors, and materiality related to Chinese design, I subvert the negative connotations associated with culturally-derived aesthetics, to welcome it as a point of pride.

Like my mother, I am not only methodical, logical, and practical in the kitchen, but in every aspect of my life.

That’s why my creative process began with research, community outreach, and introspection - I needed to determine who I was designing for and what they needed before I could think creatively. Through collecting archives, ethnographic research, and theoretical analysis, I created a series of diagrams, maps, and scenic observations to visualize the information I’d gathered.

Through these data visualizations, I began to pick out certain aesthetic preferences and needs of Chinese

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ENTER

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Figure 27: A storyboard that roughly sketches out the user experience as they navigate through the communal kitchen.

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Figure 28: A storyboard describing the specific sequence of actions that is performed in the communal kitchen, from entering the space to eating.

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design. I noticed that the circle is ubiquitous in Chinese furniture, architecture, and literature. Circular shapes have a deep-rooted and symbolic meaning of togetherness, cyclical nature, and harmony that I wanted to incorporate into my design. I developed a stovetop design in a circular shape, to encourage collaboration in the act of cooking.

My cooking practice and knowledge have also informed my process. As someone who frequents Chinese grocery stores to pick up specialty ingredients, and always has Chinese ingredients stocked on hand, I take great joy in learning what is important in the art of cooking Chinese food. Sauces, condiments, and dried herbs are essential. They are wide in variety and selection, and you need more than just several of these ingredients to complete a dish.

Hence the space required for just these bottles, jars, and cans takes up an incredible amount of dry storage and freezer square footage. That is how the programmatic ideas of a material library, apothe-

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cary, and garden within a communal kitchen came to me - collectively, these food elements could be shared, along with the cooking knowledge of how to use these specialty ingredients.

With these programs in mind, I began to compile a list of activities I wanted the communal kitchen to facilitate, as well as a list of necessary equipment for a functioning space meant for cooking. Using these requirements to guide the outcome of my work, I began to situate these overarching, fundamental needs in my site. I began to group the programs according to practical stipulations - the fridges and freezers were placed near the dish pit and the bathroom, to simplify the need for extensive plumbing; the nursery and office were located at the edge of the site, to allow non-cooking personnel such as children to circumvent the dangers of a kitchen; the equipment and storage rooms were positioned closest to the prep-tables and stovetops, to maximize convenience.

Figure 29: Sketches laying out programs on the floor plan, considering human behavior and placemaking strategies.

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Figure 30: Compilation of ornamentation experiments, ranging from weaved patterns, to traditional window frames, to stamps with Chinese characters translating to “Chinese Cuisine”, “original flavor” and “good taste”.

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Figure 31: Overlaying ornamentation on the floorplan to consider human behavior and how it could be affected and supported by patterned form.

This practical approach toward design, however, didn’t allow me to fully experiment with the theoretical aspects of my research. How can self-orientalism be used to inform the layout of my design? What is considered a traditional Chinese floorplan? What do Chinese patterns look like? To implement the best and most relevant design strategies for my site, I realized I had to better understand human behavior within Chinese food spaces. I needed to return to my intial question: how can self-orientalism be a design tool to empower the Chinese community?

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My design process came full circle when I began to take on a behavioral and ethnographic approach to laying out space, considering form, color, and materiality and its implementation in the built environment. The behavioral approach toward design relies heavily upon memory, observation, and thinking about food practices and human behavior as an indicator of how to design a space. My ethnographic surveys of personal food-related experiences, such as visiting grocery stores, sensorial observations, and memories became the most valuable assets to

Figure 32: Model of archway design combining fruits and vegetables with traditional Chinese forms.

my design. I also recalled the cooking process of people I have observed over the years and their behavior in the kitchen. From there, I understood what was necessary for a kitchen to function - how kitchen layouts affected the workflow, how accessibility affected efficiency, and the need for storage, ventilation, and light - and used these behavioral patterns to inform the design choices of the space.

Therefore, my design approach switched to a more human-centric, abstract, and ethnographic perspec-

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Figure 33: Carved wooden stools custom-designed for the communal kitchen, for a tactile interaction with ornamentation.

tive. Experimentation, iteration, and speculation rather than pragmatism can be helpful in some instances such as design. To ground my design in Chinese aesthetics, I am beginning to examine Chinese ornamentation techniques as a form of self-orientalism. How can visual patterns inform human behavioral patterns? With this overarching question, I begin to delve deeper into the theory of self-orientalism, in particular, pattern and ornamentation, as a tool for placemaking through food.

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Figure 34: Laser-cut site model of 70 Mulberry Street.

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Figure 35: 3D printed model of modular kitchen counters.

Figure 36: 3D floorplan configurations.

Figure 37: 3D printed archway design, to experiment with light and shadow.

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Design Proposal: The Communal Kitchen

Figure 38: Floorplan of communal kitchen at 70 Mulberry Street.

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Figure 39: Visitors of the communal kitchen must enter the space through an archway design of fruits and vegetables mixed with traditional Chinese design motifs.

Imagine you are walking through Columbus Park on a sunny afternoon. You hear birds chirping and see kids playing basketball and old men playing chess.

You smell something sweet and savory in the air and follow the scent. You find that the smell is emanating from the red brick building across the street and you walk towards it.

You walk through the tall arched doors and turn right. You see a wooden archway intricately carved with fruits, vegetables, and Chinese patterns. Beyond the archway, you see parents laughing along with their children, and strangers on their first date. You take a deep breath and walk inside.

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Inside on your left, you see an open-floor-plan kitchen and dining space. You watch old friends sit around a large table enjoying a meal and chatting about forgotten memories. Towards the back, you see a woman walk towards the apothecary wall, pick out

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a handful of dried herbs, put it by her nose to smell, and bring it back to her kitchen counter. You see a father and mother hand their daughter a bowl of steaming rice, and the little girl accepts gladly. You are in Chinatown’s communal kitchen.

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Figure 40: The Chinese communal kitchen designed for placemaking through food.

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You walk a little further in, and to your left, you see people working around the kitchen stations, washing and cutting vegetables on the preparation counter. The circular shape of the kitchen counters makes it easy for people to work collaboratively, and

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the ingredient pillar in the center of each station makes accessing sauces and condiments convenient.

Grandparents with their grandchildren are sitting around circular communal tables, working on homework after sharing a meal. You notice the stools they

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are sitting on are also intricately carved with an ornamental pattern. The sun is shining through the skylight, casting a warm glow and shadowy pattern across the floor.

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Figure 41: Collaboration as a placemaking tool through cooking and eating in the communal kitchen.

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Walking into the kitchen space, you see in the far corner that underneath the stairs are storage spaces for ceramic bowls, plates, and pots. Under each shiny steel cooking station, you notice storage shelves that hold kitchen equipment and utensils such as woks,

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steamer baskets, and frying pans. There are also three trash cans under each station that swivel outwards - one for landfill waste, one for paper recycling, and one for glass, plastic, and metal recycling.

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Figure 42: Generational knowledge can be passed on through collaboration in the communal kitchen. The open floor plan, skylight and access to specialty ingredients makes the communal kitchen ideal for beginner chefs.

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You hold onto the glass banister and make your way upstairs to the second floor. You see more people eating food, drinking, and talking to each other. You notice the red trim behind the booth seating along the wall, on the side of the stools, and the ceiling pattern. It is also reflected in the brick and along with the partition of the second floor which is made of rusty copper. You smile to yourself as you remem-

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ber that red is the color of good fortune in Chinese culture. You make the connection that the intricate Chinese pattern extends from the archway and furniture to the apothecary wall, staircase, light fixtures, and ceiling. You feel that the color and ornamentation create a cohesive atmosphere throughout the space that celebrates Chinese design.

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Figure 43: The open plan seating arrangement in the communal kitchen allows people to come together to enjoy food and celebrate each other’s company.

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Figure 44: Wallpaper inspired by vintage Chinese posters.

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Going up another flight of stairs, you land on the grassy roof of the building. You see a woman eating ice cream in the sun, a couple in the back grilling patties on the barbecue and two women harvesting plants from the garden. In their basket are tomatoes, ginger, turnips, lettuce and spring onion, as well as

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some Chinese leafy greens. You know the women are about to bring their freshly harvested produce downstairs to cook a delicious meal.

The communal kitchen design encourages people to engage with Chinese food practices to create, collab-

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orate and celebrate. By doing so, the recipes of my ancestors, in combination with the harvest of today, can be used to resist a place of hostility, celebrate cultural identity and pride, and create a sense of belonging in a place that is far from the land many of us call home.

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Figure 45: The rooftop is ideal for gatherings on a sunny day, barbecuing, or harvesting produce that can be cooked downstairs in the communal kitchen.

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Figure 46: Cooking dinner in the evening in the communal kitchen.

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Meaning & Meditations

My thesis project began with the question: how can cultural food practices be used as a placemaking tool to preserve immigrant identity, resist colonalities of power, and encourage exchanges within a diverse economy?

In response to that question, I propose that Chinatown should rely on systems of counterhegemonic exchange, such as communal kitchens, to empower and diversify the community, allowing for greater adaptability in moments of crisis. This proposal is founded upon the idea that cooking and passing on the recipes of our ancestors is inherently a form of protest.

I define place-making as a connection between people and place that is constructed through creative practice, participatory collaboration, and joyful celebration, represented through a physical manifestation of socio-cultural identity and pride. My research is divided into four main territories – 1) the typology of Chinatown, 2) food as cultural practice in relation to place-making, 3) decoloniality and the Diverse Economy, and 4) Chinese Design – I understood the macro and micro implications of the context of my thesis.

On top of my research territories, the theoretical frameworks that guide my design are 1) self-orientalism, 2) decoloniality theories, 3) diverse economy.

Self-Orientalism investigates the self-conscious use of “Oriental” themes and motifs in the process of community building, the manner in which they man-

ifest, its purpose, and public perception. Decoloniality theories call for the ongoing creation of ways of thinking, knowing, sensing, being, and living outside of coloniality. Lastly, a diverse economy encourages a counterhegemonic approach to exchange, such as the business model of a communal kitchen, that relies on volunteer labor and non-monetary trading. These research territories and theoretical frameworks found the basis of my design.

For my proposal, I designed a communal kitchen within the existing cultural hub of 70 Mulberry Street in Chinatown, with the goal of interweaving cultural food-making practices and ornamental traditions to promote creativity, collaboration, and celebration. The design strategies I utilize in the communal kitchen are ornamentation, color, and the circle as a generative form.

Taking into account that Chinese architectural elements are deeply connected to religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, emphasizing feng shui, natural connection, and ornamentation, I decided to incorporate traditional Chinese patterns as a design strategy. A method of self-orientalism, ornamentation can be discerned throughout the space as a physical declaration of Chinese cultural identity and pride. Objects that exhibit ornamentation in my design include an archway, furniture, staircase, apothecary wall, skylight, sconces, and posters.

I decided to design an archway that weaved together the old and new of Chinese design to be placed at the

Figure 47: Exploded isometric of communal kitchen.

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INTERIOR DESIGN Figure 48: Carved stool ornamented with traditional Chinese patterns.

entrance of my space. Since many Chinese patterns symbolize good fortune, prosperity, and harmony, or represent abstracted forms of natural elements, I wanted to combine the more contemporary design of fruits and vegetables with the traditional design of rectangular spirals, which are meant to mimic the fluid elements of water and air. I created physical mock-ups of the archway by laser and 3D printing the design. When light is shone through the negative space, the archway casts a beautiful shadow of fruits and vegetables on the white tiles of the kitchen floor.

It reinforces the intent that the communal kitchen is a space meant to celebrate food, people, and place.

On a larger scale, the ornamental pattern was replicated on the staircase design in the ceramic collection storage, the two-story apothecary wall, as well as the roof skylight. The right-angle shapes within the pattern allow for light to seep through in a deliberate way that casts traditional Chinese motifs throughout the space. The repetitive pattern gives the space a sense of cohesion that unifies the intent and treatment of the design.

Ornamental patterns also informed the furniture design of the communal kitchen. I created customs tables and stools for the space with ornamental patterns that were carved on the legs and surfaces of the furniture. To manifest the stools to scale in a 3D space, I took a large piece of plywood and CNC-cut the ornamental patterns onto it. I then wood-glued and clamped the separate pieces together, and painted the rim of the stool red, to further refer to Chinese

cultural traditions.

The design strategy of ornamental patterns extended from 3D to 2D applications through screen-printed posters. The background of these posters were line drawings of garlic, ginger, and spring onion – the three fundamental aromatics of Chinese cooking – that were repeated and made into a pattern. Less traditionally decorative in nature, yet still a repetition of form and thus a pattern, these posters contribute to the sense of ornamentation in a more tangible and contemporary way.

The second design strategy I utilized in my design is color. Most evident is the color red within the communal kitchen that can be seen throughout the space – from the red border of the stools to the red trim of the booth seating, to the red shell of the skylight casing, to the red tassels on the sconces – red accents not only add pops of vivid color but refers to Chinese cultural traditions and design preferences.

The color red traditionally symbolizes good luck, joy, and happiness, and is used to represent celebration, vitality, and fertility. These qualities are important to the design of the communal kitchen, as the ultimate intention of the space is to facilitate placemaking through food.

The natural color of the wood is also an important factor within the design and can be seen applied to the furniture, stairs, apothecary wall, archway and planters. Wood as a color is used to reference nature, which is important in Chinese architectural

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Figure 49: Porcelain bowls hand-thrown on the wheel and glazed in white and blue, traditional colors of “fine China”.

design. Considering that a connection between man and nature is an integral concept in Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, nature must be accessible in the interiority of a Chinese space. Therefore wood was used as the dominant material within the space, and the color of wood brings about a connection to natural elements that is essential to the feng shui of the design.

Lastly, the circular shape was used as a design strategy in the design of the furniture, kitchen counters, and spatial configuration of the communal kitchen.

Traditionally, Chinese dining tables are circular in shape, with a lazy Susan in the center to aid in sharing and passing food. The Chinese character for circle, 途 (yuán), is important in Chinese culture because it encompasses multiple meanings, including harmony and togetherness. The ritualistic act of sitting around a circular table symbolizes familial love and a connection to our ancestors, therefore using the circular shape in the dining tables of the communal kitchen encourages strangers to sit together to share a moment of solidarity through food.

I began my design process by imagining a cooking space that prioritized collaboration through a circular shape that is reminiscent of a traditional Chinese dining table. The circle shape was bisected horizontally and vertically, to create modular quarter-circular shapes. Each counter can be reconfigured to create different cooking combinations that could serve alternative purposes and party sizes.

The counter configurations and height of the tables can be adjusted for the comfort of children and the

elderly, and the center pillar became an ingredient library where sauces and condiments are stored and shared.

Taking into consideration people, their movement, and behavior in a space designated for cooking, circularity became an important factor when designing the floorplan. Programs that were enclosed in rooms were placed along the wall so that the center of the space could be open, as to encourage airflow, circulation of movement, and collaboration. The kitchen counters are scattered within the center of the space and are enclosed by the staircases, which direct movement around the cooking area, and separate programs such as eating from cooking. This allows for a sense of circularity not only in the furniture of the design but in the spatial behavior determined by the floorplan.

Using form, material, and spatial strategies in the communal kitchen, I was able to design a space that enhances creativity, encourages collaboration, and facilitates celebration. By embracing Chinese design in its original form, supporting counterhegemonic forms of exchange, and increasing the accessibility and visibility of Chinese food traditions, I achieve the goal of using self-orientalism as a tool to make place, resist colonalities of power, and encourage exchanges within a diverse economy. Through ornamentation, color, and circularity, the communal kitchen becomes a place for immigrant and minority communities to feel a sense of belonging through food, and to connect with their culture in a space designed with their needs in mind.

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Recipe to Make Place

Preparation Close your eyes. Unclench your jaw, and loosen your shoulders. The city is too overwhelming too much of the time. Take a moment to settle and be. Be held by the warmth and whir of the kitchen.

Open your eyes. Scan your surroundings.

Watch the old lady retrieve fresh ginger from the produce basket, bring it back to her kitchen counter, and gently peel off its skin with the edge of a spoon.

Notice the group of teenage girls, huddled around a library of specialty ingredients, unscrew a jar of fermented bean curd and wince at its pungent smell.

Look at the father grasping firmly onto the wandering hand of his daughter, as he leads her to the apothecary stocked full of dried fruits, medicinal herbs, and ground roots. Observe the little girl’s eyes widen when she tastes a red date for the first time. Much like you when you were a child, she’s greedy for more.

Unearth memories of your childhood. Find the smell of your mother’s cooking, the sound of her slippers pacing back and forth on the kitchen tile, the tap running. Recall your father’s violent yelp as a flopping fish escapes from the sink, attempting to flee the kitchen. Reminisce your brother sprinting to the kitchen at the sound of the refrigerator door opening, ready to plead for the largest slice of cake.

Trace the scar on your left index finger. Picture the look of heartbreak on your mother’s face the moment she discovered you had split it open mincing garlic. Remember how guilty you felt as she gently bandaged your finger. Was her hair black, or streaked with white?

Look at where you were and where you are now. How far have you traveled? How much have you grown?

Gulp down the sense of longing. Dissolve your wall of apprehension and doubt. Allow your senses to jog your memories. Make connections between now and

then and here and there. What can you do to belong when you are miles away from home? What have you already done to feel at home?

Stand up and shake your body. Roll up your sleeves.

Feel the blood rush to your cheeks. Let your creativity flow.

Cooking Walk to the apothecary, then the storage room, then the freezer. Walk up two flights of stairs and exit onto the roof garden. Along the way, collect your ingredients.

Chicken Coke Cola Ginger Spring Onion Star Anise

Bay Leaves Peppercorns Orange Peels Rock Sugar Cornstarch

Soy Sauce Dark Soy Sauce Shaoxin Wine Water Rice

The recipe is your heirloom. You know these ingredients by heart. They remind you of who you are.

Walk to the equipment shelf and find a pot, a muslin bag, a large bowl, a large spoon, and a rice scoop.

Combine the wet ingredients. Soak the chicken in marinade. Relish yourself in the process. Have faith in your hands to measure out the appropriate quantities. Trust the intuition you inherited from your ancestors.

Start the fire and place your marinated chicken in a pot. Fold in the dry ingredients. Place a lid on the pot and simmer.

Wash your rice at least three times. Leave a knuckle’s-length worth of water above the rice. Steam.

Sit down and unravel. By now, you might be acquainted with the people around you.

Your neighbor to the left is teaching their son how to carve the bone out of a chicken thigh. The family across from you is returning from the roof garden

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with a basket full of fresh bokchoy, bitter melon, and water spinach.

Your elderly neighbor to the right is ladling sweet pear and snow fungus soup into bowls. Remember how your mother sprung into action to make this soup for you when you reported a sore throat? You’ve had no luck finding snow fungus in the city. Take this chance to ask your neighbor. Inherit generational knowledge.

Stir the pot. Pour your heart out. Make friends or family.

Serving Feel your stomach growling. It is time to eat. The rice has been ready for a while now, and the pot has simmered for an hour.

Walk to the ceramics collection and pick out the porcelain bowls you used to eat from at home. Pick up some chopsticks too.

Use the rice scoop to loosen the sticky and clumpy hot mound of rice. Portion the rice, spoon it into a bowl, and pat it into a half-sphere.

MAKING FOOD MAKE PLACE

Remove the lid from the pot of chicken and let the steam evaporate. Take a whiff of the warm, spicysweet, licorice-like aroma that has filled the air. Pick up the big spoon and ladle the chicken and sauce over rice. Garnish with slivers of green onion.

Eating Make a mental note of what you are grateful for, and give thanks for the meal you are about to have. Be generous and invite others to join you. Honor blossoming relationships with chicken and rice.

You have some options. You can sit in a booth by the window facing Columbus Park, and watch grandfathers play chess or the pipa under the shade of maple trees.

INTERIOR DESIGN

You’ve done it, dig in. Enjoy the food you cooked. Protest with the recipes of your ancestors. Welcome the taste of bitter and sweet.

Cleaning Slurp up every last grain of rice. When you are ready, take your dirty utensils, bowls, and pots to the dish pit, towards the back of the first floor. Rinse and gently place your washed items on the drying rack. Wash your hands and wipe the sink counter.

Take in this moment of pleasure and pride. Appreciate this celebration of people through food.

Take a moment to reflect. What has this experience inspired you to do? (Call your mother? Take up gardening? Hear the needs of the neighborhood? Come back again?)

Exit through the wooden archway and prepare to plunge back into the rush of the city.

After everything has dried, allow the smell of blooming spices to guide you back to the kitchen.

Hopefully, by now, you feel a little more connected to yourself and the community around you.

Bring with you the bowls to return to the ceramics library beneath the staircase. Put back the pots on the shelves under the kitchen counters. Wipe your space clean for the next guest.

Hopefully, at this point, you’ve struck up a conversation with a stranger and made a new friend or two.

You can take a seat at one of the large communal tables and strike up a conversation with a stranger. Talk about the weather or the meaning of life.

Digesting

If it is sunny outside, you can head up to the roof and sit by the garden, surrounded by families harvesting fresh produce.

Soak in the sun’s rays streaming through the skylight.

Follow the trail of hot steam as it sails towards the sky. Sit back and let your belly delight in satisfaction.

Listen to children laughing, adults chattering, oil sizzling, and soup bubbling.

Hopefully, in the future, you are excited to experiment with unfamiliar ingredients and learn new recipes.

Hopefully, from this day onwards, you’ve found a place to ground yourself when you feel lost in the city.

Hopefully, from now on, you’ve found a piece of home in the communal kitchen.

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Figure 50: The communal kitchen design.

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Aftertaste

Ultimately, the goal of the communal kitchen in Chinatown is twofold. First, and most importantly, it serves to decolonize space for Chinese immigrants in New York City by creating a sense of belonging through cultural familiarity. Second, as the site of 70 Mulberry Street has always been intended, it continues to support and facilitate education within and beyond the Chinatown community.

The communal kitchen achieves its first goal by being a dedicated space for consuming and celebrating Chinese cuisine, for and by Chinese immigrants.

Self-orientalism is evident in the design of the space, through ornamentation, color, thresholds, program, and location. The traditional patterns reflected in the furniture, shelving, and architecture are self-conscious applications of stereotypical Chinese design, meant to conspicuously and loudly proclaim cultural identity and pride. The bold color red, found in the furniture, exposed brick walls, and skylight, refer to the cultural significance and preference for red as a symbol of good luck, joy, and happiness. The thresholds, from the archways at the entrance to the space, to the two-story open cooking area in the center of the floorplan, refer to the traditional layout of Chinese courtyard homes, designed to enable the performance of Chinese morality and Confucian ethics. The programmatic affordances of the com-

munal kitchen, apothecary wall, ceramics collection, and ingredient library were appropriated to best accommodate the collaborative and laborious act of Chinese cooking, and its prerequisite for expansive space, ingredients, and equipment. Finally, by adapting and reusing the existing building on 70 Mulberry Street – a site that has historically served to educate and anchor the Chinese immigrant community – its legacy as a cultural hub lives on, despite tragedy and time.

The communal kitchen achieves its second goal by making space for and inviting those who are not familiar with Chinese culture to try to grow, cook, and share cuisine that might seem unfamiliar and foreign.

The communal kitchen is an open space with plenty of light entering from the windows and glass roof, creating a bright, colorful, and friendly atmosphere for guests who are looking to experience something new. The furniture and seating arrangement of the communal cooking counters and tables provide freedom to make new friends and learn different skills.

Programmatic opportunities such as cooking classes, festive celebrations, and gardening workshops encourage passersby to take the leap and enter the communal kitchen. Food becomes the glue that bonds, uniting people with other people, and people with place.

On paper, I am nearing the end of this thesis project, but I expect my exploration may never end. I am left with lingering questions, future dilemmas, and what-ifs. Here are some of my thoughts, however, scattered:

How will the communal kitchen change with time?

Can the communal kitchen be a system that is replicated elsewhere? How can the communal kitchen employ ecologically sustainable methodologies? Can the communal kitchen be carbon negative?

I wonder how this project can come to fruition in a Capitalistic society. To rely upon counterhegemonic exchanges and to adopt a diverse economy is to ask for immense courage, and more realistically, a lot of money. Who would invest in a communal kitchen?

How can funds be raised? Who is responsible for its daily operation? Who is in charge of maintenance and upkeep? How can a space like a communal kitchen remain non-partisan and for the people, by the people?

What does a healthy food system look like? Can communication and transparency in the food network be improved? How can food systems operate in a circular economy? How can food waste be repurposed and reused? How can these best practices be disseminated? How can food practices combat climate change?

In what ways can food systems continue to inspire and unite people across the world?

I further consider the food networks and systems beyond the cultural enclave of Manhattan’s Chinatown.

Who are the suppliers of specialty Chinese ingredients? How are these foods distributed? Who farms Asian varieties in America? How do these farmers live? Are they paid fairly?

Chinese food is often demonized and considered lowbrow. What if Chinese food is no longer found in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store? How can we change these negative assumptions about Chinese food? How can we demystify Chinese cooking traditions?

Unsurprisingly, there are more questions than answers, but one thing is clear: food systems will persist as life persists, and change must come collectively to mend the harm already done. Now more than ever, people must reconnect with other people, and people must reconnect with place. Food has the power to be the glue.

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悯 农 [唐]

李 绅

锄 禾 日 当 午， 汗 滴 禾 下 土。 谁 知 盘 中 餐， 粒 粒 皆 辛 苦？

MAKING FOOD MAKE PLACE

SAMANTHA TONG