Neighborhoods Now 2022: AAFE & Think!Chinatown

Process • The team worked iteratively to develop and expand the Night Market from May to October, incorporating monthly feedback and improvements along the way.

• The design decisions prioritized the project as a community-based night market.

• The team also supported Think!Chinatown in designing and securing a space for the Kitchen Studio at 1 Pike Street, which is now in construction.

Outcomes • The market continues to find creative ways to support the community - buying materials and fabricating locally, curating intergenerational programming free for the public, connecting vendors with Chinatown suppliers and supporting microbusinesses.

• According to the data collected, the market grew from 3,000 people in July to 8,500 in September, many of which reported to have visited neighboring small businesses while in Chinatown. Those same people also reported to have felt safer at Forsyth Plaza during night market days compared to days when there isn’t an event.

BEFORE

• The Night Market brought attention to the community’s needs and interest to activate and improve Chinatown’s public spaces and has helped secure state investment towards Forsyth Plaza through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

The full stretch of Forsyth St. between Canal St. and Division St. activated with food and art vendors. Photo Credit: Kyle Lee

An intergenerational crowd sitting on the steps near Forsyth St. and Canal St. Photo Credit: Kyle Lee

Chinatown Night Market + Kitchen Studio Chinatown Think!Chinatown Asian Americans for Equality di Domenico + Partners Leroy Street Studio Buro Happold Fried Frank The Working Assembly Gehl

Goals Think!Chinatown + Asian Americans For Equality aimed to expand the Chinatown Night Market, first piloted in 2021 and continuing its summer series into 2022. The major goals were to: • extend footprint of night market and activate the stretch of Forsyth street • increase outreach to potential vendors, small businesses and artists, supporting them through all permitting • design booth systems for vendors • design a multifunctional kitchen studio focused around culinary programming, art and neighborhood engagement

2021

2022

Night Market: Activation Strategies Taking visual cues from the neighborhood, these are strategies for tactical activations throughout Forsyth Plaza: • Flex space for cultural programming and music as the heartbeat of the night market • Linear lighting to wash walls with saturated, colored light for a vibrant dining experience • Identifiers for vendors that doubles as sources of light • Lantern wall to signal the entrance and focal point as well as an Instagram hotspot.

This site plan is a result of the co-creating process where community organizers, Think!Chinatown, were taught collaborative design tools to work with the designers on creating site plans for the night market.

Image credit: di Domeinco + Partners

Diagram of linear lighting fixtures clamped to existing beams above the dining a Image credit: Buro Happold

Lantern Wall Food Vendors Cultural Performance Space

Food Vendors Dining Area Art Vendors

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CLUTCH STYLE BAR CLAMP

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Top left: Soh Daiko playing taiko drums on the cultural performance space. Photo credit: Cindy Trinh | Top right: People eating at the dining area. Photo credit: Kyle Lee Bottom left: Dough figurine folk artist selling his crafts. Photo credit: Nathan Ackley | Bottom right: Several people taking photos with the lantern wall installation. Photo credit: Arom Jeon

Sketch of proposed kitchen studio at 1 Pike. Image credit: Leroy Street Studio

Kitchen Studio A multifunctional space for Think!Chinatown to coalesce their work of storytelling, arts and neighborhood engagement to bridge generational and socio-economic lines, onboard newcomers, and re-energize old timers who are committed to a collective future for Chinatown.

Diagram of overall layout of the Chinatown Night Market. Image credit: di Domenico + Partners

Left: Rendering of kitchen space during a kitchen workshop. Image credit: Leroy Street Studio | Right: Rendering of kitchen space when reconfigured for a tea tasting. Image credit: Leroy Street Studio

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STRING LIGHT. BULBS TO SPAN 24" +/-

Early concept sketch for vendor designs, taking inspiration from vertical signage banners on buildings and fruit vendor carts seen throughout Chinatown. Image credit: di Domenico + Partners

The Lantern Wall communicates the activation of a formerly underutilized public space and was designed to be temporary, portable, easy to replicate and assemble, with a framework flexible enough for easy installation, deinstallation and storage. Image credit: Leroy Street Studio