San Li Tun bar street used be the shrine for Beijing underground culture. It was a natural result evolved from the city development but not by administrative planning. However, with more huge capitals flooding in, nowadays San Li Tun becomes a high-end and fashionable destination in Beijing where you can easily find luxury brands and fancy restaurants, but no that approachable and authentic Beijing-style atmosphere any more. But the building No.42 in South San Li Tun seems a reborn of the then bar street. It is a 6-floor apartment building constructed in 1980s and the apartments on the first and second floors are all transformed into bars, restaurants, DVD stores, tattoo stores, adult shops, and fashion boutiques. People gathering here are from all over the world. They are either well or carelessly-dressed and speaking all kinds of languages. Being local and global is so seamlessly combined here. Technically San Li Tun is more serious than making a drawing, but is not as precise as an architectural mapping either. It does not put emphasis on an artist’s subjective opinion, and not emphasize on the objective properties of the architectural construction either. What this piece cares about is how the whole space is used and its atmosphere, and the interaction between the city and its inhabitants. The size recorded in the final piece may not be accurate, but the scale and atmosphere are very precise. A mechanical way for presentation - explosive axonometric projection - is used in this piece to depict the urban phenomenon.
San Li Tun
© 绘造社 DRAWING ARCHITECTURE STUDIO