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Jan 30 Urban Leftover Spaces and Adhocism

In early 2025, I returned to China for Chinese New Year. It was a strange change of perspective, as if it had been moved slightly and put back again, but all the angles had shifted. I found myself in an automatic fit with the city: each space had its definite function, and my actions fit seamlessly into those functions. In a very short period of time, I was immediately integrated into this grey metropolis. However, beyond this highly functional fit, I became aware of another, more implicit spatial system - that of the neglected, temporarily occupied, but vibrant ‘’leftover space‘’. 2025年初,我回到中国过春节。这是一次奇怪的视角变化,像是被轻微地挪动了一下,再放回原处,但所有的角度都发生了偏移。我发现自己与这座城市的关系是自动契合的:每个空间都有它明确的功能,我的行动与这些功能无缝对接。在极短的时间里,我立刻融入了这座灰色的都市。然而,在这种高度功能化的适配之外,我开始意识到另一个更隐性的空间体系——那些被忽略、被临时占据、但却充满活力的“剩余空间”。

The routine of before was still there, the light and the streets still had familiar shapes, but it was as if I was seeing them in a different way. I began to realise that in this city there is a strange pull between people. Strangers don't look at each other, they don't smile, but they are loose in their own ‘neighbourhood’. 之前的日常还在,光线和街道还是熟悉的形状,但我好像换了一个方式去看它们。我开始意识到,在这座城市里,人与人之间的距离是某种奇怪的拉扯。陌生人不会对视,不会微笑,但他们和自己的“附近”很松弛。

This looseness is not relaxation in the traditional sense, but a kind of casualness, an occupation of space without thinking. 这种松弛不是传统意义上的放松,而是某种随意,是对空间的一种不用思考的占据。


Urban Leftover Spaces refer to the unplanned, overlooked, or marginal spaces in the city—corners of parks, alleys, spaces beneath bridges—that remain outside the formal urban grid yet become sites of spontaneous social activity. These spaces are not passive backdrops but active components of urban life.这些空间往往游离于城市规划的边界之外,被人们以即兴的方式使用和重塑。城市理论中,将此类空间称为 **Urban Leftover Spaces**,即未被正式功能化、但仍然承载社会互动的边缘地带。人们在这些空间中展开自发性的活动,使其成为日常生活的一部分,而非一个被动的背景。

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I saw a woman in the park using a tree trunk for exercise. She was rubbing her legs back and forth on the tree, occasionally hitting the trunk with her back. I was sitting on a bench next to her, and in the distance in one direction someone was playing an erhu, in another direction someone was playing a saxophone, and I couldn't see the players, just the voices. Nobody finds this strange. In Shanghai's parks, scenes like this are so commonplace, so ordinary, that they feel part of the air, creating a pattern of behaviour that is not explicitly defined but collectively accepted. These subtle modes of interaction make Urban Leftover Spaces an important part of everyday urban life. 我在公园里看到一个女人,把树干当成健身器材。她把腿搭在树上前后摩擦,偶尔用背撞击树干。我坐在她旁边的长椅上,远处某个方向有人拉二胡,另一个方向有人吹萨克斯,我看不见这些演奏者,只有声音。没有人觉得这奇怪。在上海的公园,这样的场景太普通了,普通到像是空气的一部分,形成了一种不被明文规定的、但却被集体默许的行为模式。这些微妙的互动方式,让 Urban Leftover Spaces 成为日常城市生活的重要组成部分。

I followed my mother's habit of walking around the neighbourhood after dinner. She knows the rhythm of the place and knows everyone's story. We meet an old lady who walks here every day, always the same route. Mama whispers that her husband died suddenly last year, so she comes out for her daily walk. We walked around the lawn in the opposite direction, and every time we passed her, she tried to say something to me. She was speaking Shanghainese, which I couldn't quite understand. After walking around several times, I finally understood that she was telling me that walking on the grass was better for my knees. 我跟着妈妈的习惯,晚饭后去附近散步。她熟悉这里的节奏,知道每个人的故事。我们遇到一个老太太,她每天都在这里走来走去,永远是同样的路线。妈妈小声说,她的丈夫去年突然去世了,所以她每天都出来散步。我们从相反方向绕着草坪走,每次经过她身边,她都会试图对我说点什么。她讲的是上海话,我听不太懂。走了好几圈后,我终于明白,她在跟我解释,走在草地上对膝盖更好。

Adhocism, another concept that can explain the way these spaces are used, was coined by Charles Jencks and Nathan Silver in 1972 to refer to how people use existing resources to create new uses in an informal, instantly adaptable way. Adhocism,是另一种能够解释这些空间使用方式的概念。Charles Jencks 和 Nathan Silver 在 1972 年提出这一术语,指的是人们如何利用现有资源,以一种非正式、即时适应的方式创造新的用途。

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In the alleyways left behind in the urban villages, I see Adhocism being practised in the most direct way: everything solid can be a support for drying clothes. Clothes are put on tiles and hung on the pipes of air-conditioning units, as if they were randomly thrown up by the wind. Objects that traditionally belong to the private sphere are generously displayed in these public spaces, breaking down the boundaries between public and private in urban space. 城中村遗留下来的弄堂里,我看到 Adhocism 以最直接的方式被实践:固体的一切都可以成为晾衣服的支架。衣服被搭在瓦片上,挂在空调外机的管道上,像是被风随意丢上去的东西。传统上属于私人领域的物件,在这些公共空间中被大方地展现出来,打破了城市空间中公共与私密的界限。

This kind of Adhocism of space occupation is not only a reuse of resources, but also a construction of a sense of belonging. When I stood at the intersection of the alleyway to take a picture, I suddenly hesitated a bit, and I realised that I looked like an untimely intruder. Their _nearby_ is composed in this way, temporary, broken, casually occupied, yet with a certain subtle order. These occupants greet each other skilfully, adapting themselves to their environment in such a way as to make the alley a fluid but solid community. Those who live in the alleyways greet each other skilfully, and in these remaining spaces, people are not just adapting to the urban environment, they are also actively shaping it to make it more relevant to their own needs. 这种 Adhocism 式的空间占据,不仅是一种对资源的再利用,更是一种对归属感的构建。当我站在弄堂的路口拍照时,突然有点迟疑,我意识到自己像个不合时宜的闯入者。他们的 _nearby_ 是这样构成的,临时的,破碎的,随手占据的,却又带着某种微妙的秩序。这些住户熟练地打着招呼,他们对环境的适应方式,使得弄堂成为一个流动但稳固的共同体。那些住在弄堂里的人熟练地和彼此打招呼,在这些剩余空间中,人们不仅仅是在适应城市环境,他们也在主动地塑造它,使其变得更贴合自身的需求。

In February, I returned to the Netherlands. These intertwined experiences made me wonder if my everyday life could be appropriated in the same way. I wanted to do something to test the boundaries of the ‘neighbourhood’ and see how far it could be occupied. I wanted to try some guerrilla action on familiar routes - from home to school, from the underground to the street, places I pass every day. I wanted to see if it was possible to bring some kind of loose, unregulated, improvised ‘neighbourhood’ to the table. 二月,我回到荷兰。这些不断交错的经验,让我开始想,是否可以用同样的方式侵占我的日常。我想去做点什么,去测试一下这个“附近”的边界,看看它到底能被占领到什么程度。我想在我熟悉的路线上尝试些游击行动——从家到学校,从地铁到街道,那些每天都会经过的地方。我想看看,是否可以把某种松弛的、不被管理的、可以随手搭建的“附近”也带到这里。


Jan 16 metro in Shanghai

I tried to document Shanghai's metro. But I felt numb and hesitant. Everything seemed too familiar, as if there was nothing worth writing about.我试图记录上海的地铁。但我感到麻木和犹豫。一切似乎都太熟悉了,好像没有什么值得写的。

At this moment, on my left, someone is loudly playing videos from the Chinese version of TikTok, each video looping three times. He’s sitting on the floor, as if this subway car is his living room, completely at ease.此时此刻,在我的左侧,有人正在大声播放中国版 TikTok 的视频,每段视频循环播放三次。他坐在地板上,仿佛这节车厢就是他的客厅,完全自在。

About one-third of the passengers are wearing masks, a lingering collective memory from COVID. It reflects both the habit of mask-wearing and the shifts in mask sales.大约三分之一的乘客戴着口罩,这是 COVID 留下的集体记忆。这既反映了人们戴口罩的习惯,也反映了口罩销售的变化。

A few middle-aged people are dressed in bright red. I guess it’s due to the tradition of celebrating their **Ben Ming Nian** (the year of their Chinese zodiac sign). This occurs every 12 years, and wearing red is believed to bring good luck during this time.有几个中年人穿着鲜艳的红色衣服。我猜这是因为他们有庆祝本命年(生肖年)的传统。本命年每 12 年一次,人们认为穿红色衣服会带来好运。

Standing passengers are poised and ready, waiting for seated ones to get off. The moment someone leaves, they swiftly step forward to claim the empty seat.站着的乘客蓄势待发,等待坐着的乘客下车。一旦有人离开,他们就会迅速上前抢占空位。

Jan 12 my mom's routine

I followed my mom's routine of taking a walk in the neighborhood after meals. She seems to know a lot of gossip about the area. An elderly lady was walking in the same area as us. My mom whispered to me, “She’s quite pitiful. She walks here every morning and evening because her husband died suddenly last year.” We were circling a lawn in opposite directions. Every time we passed her, she tried to say a few words, but I didn’t understand as she spoke in the Shanghai dialect. Eventually, after several laps, I understood—she was explaining that walking on the grass is better for the knees

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Jan 9 simplest blockchai

I often surf the Chinese internet and come across all sorts of fascinating everyday activities. For example, there’s this neighborhood where the owners didn’t want to spend money on a proper parking system, so they put 66 locks on the gate, creating the cheapest security system. Each lock is numbered, and the car owners have to use their key to unlock it to get in and out. The car owners joke that it’s their homemade “simplest blockchain”!

Simplest blockchain.jpg


Dec 25 Playing table tennis at Gropius Bau

I first played table tennis for half an hour after entering the Gropius Bau. Later I realised that this activity was part of the exhibition.

Rirkrit Tiravanija.jpg

The artwork was by Rirkrit Tiravanija, and it turned out to be one of my favourite exhibitions I've been to in a long time. Because I could understand the descriptions of his works. Using simple and straightforward English to explain works of art is rare in museums. Also, the interactivity embedded throughout the exhibition and his implicit hope to break away from the conventions of art management - the underlying notion that art should not be touched. His works are often linked to everyday experiences from his own life. Visitors could enter a room made of orange fabric to drink tea.

I think IKEA should collaborate with him. In IKEA stores in China, people relax completely—some sit comfortably on sofas, while others even fall asleep on the beds.(However, there is much debate about whether this is considered inappropriate behavior. Still, I find this phenomenon quite interesting.) As far as I know, one IKEA in Shanghai has even become a matchmaking venue for the elderly.

Dec 7

About Elevator Sunflower Protocol

Each time I step into an elevator, I will smile at everyone—a simple yet often overlooked gesture. This is an experiment to observe how such a small action can transform the atmosphere in a confined, shared space. I will carefully document people’s reactions as I carry out this practice.

The aim is to explore proximity—what happens when we intentionally allow ourselves to be seen and acknowledge others during fleeting moments of shared presence. Elevators serve as a micro-theater of everyday life, and in this unscripted performance, I take on the role of the Sunflower.


Nov 4

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Nov 19

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Sep 17

New idea

After the summer break, just as my second year of graduate school was about to begin, Ind sent me a letter reminding me that it was time to renew my residence permit. This reminder heightened my sense of urgency about how to remain legally in Netherlands in the future. I began searching for job information on recruitment platforms and social media, but what I found only increased my sense of unease and pressure. I thought, why not base my graduation project on this very predicament?

After I presented this idea in the prototype class, Senka recommended two artists’ projects to me:

Oct 3

What do you want to make?

A virtual identity simulation game set in a fictional country where each player's initial identity is randomly determined. The game explores the absurdities of survival in different roles, like a wealthy heir, a smuggled worker, or an arts student, with the goal of reflecting diverse existential experiences in a humorous and absurd way.

How do you plan to make it?

I plan to design the game with randomized identity assignments using a dice roll mechanic. The fictional country will have an incomprehensible language, creating challenges that vary based on the player’s identity. The wealthy heir avoids reading the incomprehensible language by hiring translators and lawyers, allowing them to select their preferred language. The The smuggled worker’s game could includeevading surveillance cameras, where you enter the game and need to quickly get out of the way of the camera within seconds or you'll be arrested, or it could include a number of other mini-games, but the content of the game would be based on the smuggled workers I'm able to interview, and if they're able to share more about their lives, the game content would be varied based on the experiences they've had to bring up some small interesting points. The arts student will experience games like using weekend train cards at specific time during off-peak hours, buying cheap second-hand furniture through chat groups, and using dating websites to find a marriage partner to escape job visa pressures.


What is your timetable?

Why do you want to make it?

This game reflects my personal anxiety about visa issues as a non-EU student in the Netherlands, particularly within the arts field. I aim to highlight diverse survival stories with humor and absurdity, showcasing the different ways people navigate societal structures.

Who can help you and how?

List the people that could help you realise your project and how they could help you, in other words, the support you hope to receive.

Relation to previous practice

This project connects to my previous exploration of wandering and psychogeography, where I examine how individuals navigate and survive in urban spaces. This game will explore how survival itself can be seen as a performance under different identity constraints.

Relation to a larger context

References

Techniques of the body by Marcel Mauss
Swiss passport office by Tom Sachs.
Glub by Mieke Bal and Shahram Entekhabi.
Passage by Robin van ’t Haar.
Squatting through Violence by Simon Leung.