Chinatown, group B, Tatiana update

Chinatown - Group B - Rhiannon

For my section of the Chinatown project, I am focusing on the destruction and rebuilding of Chinatown after the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire.  Chinatown survived the actual earthquake somewhat well, but was almost entirely consumed by the firebreak explosions set off to save the nearby Financial District.  Firefighters ran out of dynamite to level the buildings near Kearny, so when they used black gunpowder instead, the wind carried the flames into the previously spared Chinatown.

After the fire, the official death count never even included the Chinese in San Francisco.  It was only estimated much later that 3,000 residents of Chinatown were killed.  My project will focus on that inconsistency and the struggle for Chinatown's residents to reclaim their homes and businesses after the fire.

Chinatown after the fire  1906

Chinese Camp after the fire.  Residents were blocked by the National Guard from returning to their homes and businesses as they were looted.  They were under order to shoot any residents that tried to sneak back to reclaim their belongings.

Rebuilt Chinatown

Chinatown, Rhiannon

Chinatown group, update from Jackilyn

Chinatown, Group B, Tatiana

I continue to explore daily activities of the local Asian community in San Francisco's "Chinese Island". Here are some pictures that I've selected after today's crit.

Chinatown, Group B, Tomas

My project is going to be about the juxtaposition between the ornate, elaborated facades that are put up for the tourists and the alleys between buildings, where the real life of Chinatown takes place.

Chinatown Group (B)

Jackilyn

Children of Chinatown

Proposal: What I am proposing in my research into San Francisco Chinatown is a closer look into past lives of children in Chinatown San Francisco, base off the book by Wendy Rouse Sorae. Through my research I am hoping to get inspired by the daily roles the children play in building the community in Chinatown to create a design project (possible garment) that merges my major and my research. More importantly I am interested in researching the struggles these Chinese children had to overcome to assimilate into the American culture. As well as doing a comparison between the Children’s role play now vs. the past.

The People of Chinatown

Proposal 2: Looking into the migration of Chinese immigrants into Chinatown and how they influenced the American culture in fashion and etc. Base off my research I will reinterpret/inspired to design the modern take of that fashion.

Thomas

Upon my entrance to Chinatown, there was many local artworks and murals on buildings that identify Chinatown as a community. I also found the  change of the architectural style very interesting. There were chinese details intertwining with western classical motifs. Some of this motifs were guilted on buildings to attract tourists, others were merely out of traditional Chinese culture. I definitely want to hone in to this aspect of Chinatown and about how the architecture affect the cultural identity as well the community. What does each motif mean as a symbol in both Chinese and Western culture and how did the architecture transform a Victorian facade and infuse the Chinese culture elements into the buildings.

Rhiannon

I would like to compare the storefronts and graphics  in Pre-1906, Post-1906, and current Chinatown.  The early chinatown grew organically as an immigrant community.  The post-1906 Chinatown was almost moved by city planners to the Richmond and they had to pitch a new chinatown that would encourage tourism in order to keep their original location.  Today, it is an established neighborhood with traces of all it´s history. I would like to explore through modelmaking and photomontage.

Tatiana

Design of a small book (for the whole group) - design, image processing, text editing

approximately 18-36 pages (for the whole group)

I want to explore two sides of Chinatown - touristic (postcard-like Chinatown) and local and juxtapose a bright and souvenir-like city within city and the other side of this place with it's sad history of struggle and poverty (life of the local Asian community).