In my daily wanderings, I venture past this place quite often. It is part of the dead street. A street consisting of grand developments left to wither away into smashed glass, dust and, strangely enough, sunflower arrangements. The street has started to come alive in the past few years. As the property value climbs in China’s binge to develop luxurious apartments for rich people to speculate and poor people to question practicality, the street wakens. Where once were town houses, whose only residents ended up being migrant workers in bunk beds during the mall construction, now bristles a condominium development. High rises are for the outskirts; this is the future, beautiful downtown where not but the sky towers overhead and the tree-lined streets cause one to ponder our natural beginnings.
Part 1. Deconstruction
Part 2. Excretion
Part 3. Rebirth
Thirty Seconds in China – The Apartment
Jan 15 2015
Posted by: ABaum
I like this project you are doing, life is well represented in 30 second chunks. Has the building been completed? Are many left unfinished?
The building is as it looks in the last video. I will continue with more shots when inspired by change. It’s likely undergoing a lot of internal work now and so won’t really change much in the near future. Could be wrong, though.
There are quite a few left unfinished. They usually get completed but sometimes torn down completely unused. Apparently they’re deals where a development company gets the land for free if they build on it. The initial building is just ripped down and replaced with something new when the market is right.