Papers by Sohrab Ahmed Marri | Architect | PhD
Cities’ Vocabularies: The Influences and Formations, 2021
Global infrastructure spaces, known as variegated types of free zones, such as ports, luxury gate... more Global infrastructure spaces, known as variegated types of free zones, such as ports, luxury gated communities and more, are spaces that function as dynamic crossroads and global trade platforms. The development of infrastructure spaces has endured incremental disruption while transnational activities were met with local resistance. This is clearly seen in the case is Gwadar, a small fishing town of prime location, which is a feature for transnational global infrastructure spaces. The development started from 2003, lasted until 2008, and was then resumed as part of expansion plans under the umbrella of the China Belt and Road Initiative starting 2014 to the present. The impact of the initial phase of developments has resulted in a disintegration of the socioeconomic situation and daily lives of locals. The associated resettlement plan induced a fear of displacement and the negligence of the local authorities has caused the abandonment and eventual deterioration of historical places within. Citizens of the town, in hopes of protecting their surroundings and identity, met the development with resistance. Historical places also conveyed resistance by self-regenerating and maintaining their socio dynamics. Due to previous unsuccessful planning attempts, the Chinese architects and planners adopted an alternative strategy under the BRI framework. The strategy was aimed at negotiating the development process with the public in hopes of legitimizing the preservation of historical places and designing new infrastructure that rather emulated local architectural identity. This paper highlights the resistance in discourse as well as efforts exerted to sustain the identities of these places. This is achieved by using temporality, sensory experience and mapping out the sensations and subjective response of the users of newly constructed architecture, specifically infrastructure spaces. The research concludes that the state-run dominant policies are not always successful and negotiations with alternative strategies could help mitigate local resistance in transnational developments.
Mondo Cinese, 2018
The Belt and Road Initiative is being narrated as a major endeavour that can connect continents t... more The Belt and Road Initiative is being narrated as a major endeavour that can connect continents through the development of infrastructural lines, represented as vectors and arrows in multitudes of maps. Since its announcement in 2013, the Bri is the background against which every act of planning undertaken by the Chinese government is set. It is one multiscalar plan that can accommodate multiple types of development, from new train lines to new cities and logistical platforms. At a closer look, though, the grand narrative of Bri lacks a real spatial dimension and is limited to the scale of the infrastructure. This article tries to look more closely at some of the immediate consequences on the physical space of the cities that are being involved as part of the larger picture. Through eight brief stops and one more extensive case study, we tried to expand on the various possibilities for urban development that the Bri is unfolding throughout Asia and Europe, C on l'annuncio ufficiale dell'ambizioso programma della "Nuova Via della Seta", il 2013 ha rappresentato un anno di svolta importante per il ruolo internazionale della Cina, fornendo al contempo una nuova chiave di lettura sul significato di alcune politiche territoriali messe in atto negli anni recenti dal governo in ambito nazionale. Con una attenta scelta politica di tempi e luoghi, il governo di Pechino ha individuato due distinti momenti per rivelare e descrivere al pubblico internazionale il progetto della Belt and Road Initiative, con cui la Cina si è candidata a diventare il promotore di una nuova alleanza mondiale. L'esordio è avvenuto in settembre in Kazakhstan 1-fondamentale partner commerciale e alleato politico nell'Asia centrale-da dove il Presidente Xi Jinping ha annunciato ufficialmente il lancio della "Silk Road Economic Belt" (Sreb), di cui il collegamento ferroviario Chengdu-Tilburg-*Il titolo completo del presente contributo è "I luoghi della Belt and Road. Trasformazioni architettoniche e urbane lungo le grandi infrastrutture intercontinentali, viste dall'Italia".
The Belt and Road Initiative is being narrated as a major endeavour that can connect continents t... more The Belt and Road Initiative is being narrated as a major endeavour that can connect continents through the development of infrastructural lines, represented as vectors and arrows in multitudes of maps. Since its announcement in 2013, the Bri is the background against which every act of planning undertaken by the Chinese government is set. It is one multiscalar plan that can accommodate multiple types of development, from new train lines to new cities and logistical platforms. At a closer look, though, the grand narrative of Bri lacks a real spatial dimension and is limited to the scale of the infrastructure. This article tries to look more closely at some of the immediate consequences on the physical space of the cities that are being involved as part of the larger picture. Through eight brief stops and one more extensive case study, we tried to expand on the various possibilities for urban development that the Bri is unfolding throughout Asia and Europe, C on l'annuncio ufficiale dell'ambizioso programma della "Nuova Via della Seta", il 2013 ha rappresentato un anno di svolta importante per il ruolo internazionale della Cina, fornendo al contempo una nuova chiave di lettura sul significato di alcune politiche territoriali messe in atto negli anni recenti dal governo in ambito nazionale. Con una attenta scelta politica di tempi e luoghi, il governo di Pechino ha individuato due distinti momenti per rivelare e descrivere al pubblico internazionale il progetto della Belt and Road Initiative, con cui la Cina si è candidata a diventare il promotore di una nuova alleanza mondiale. L'esordio è avvenuto in settembre in Kazakhstan 1 -fondamentale partner commerciale e alleato politico nell'Asia centrale -da dove il Presidente Xi Jinping ha annunciato ufficialmente il lancio della "Silk Road Economic Belt" (Sreb), di cui il collegamento ferroviario Chengdu-Tilburg-*Il titolo completo del presente contributo è "I luoghi della Belt and Road. Trasformazioni architettoniche e urbane lungo le grandi infrastrutture intercontinentali, viste dall'Italia".
How does clustering affect the urban environment? What are the effects on the urban agglomeration... more How does clustering affect the urban environment? What are the effects on the urban agglomeration of the Greater Bay Area, one of the fastest developing mega-regions of the world? How are industries re-adjusting given this phenomenon? In the context of the Greater Bay Area development, the clustering strategy allows for the creation of highly specialized technological and manufacturing zones, and it provides the infrastructure for expansion and development areas around urban cores, featuring clustering and specialization as an important strategy both in terms of technological advancement and as a commercial feature (Di Tommaso, Rubini and Barbieri 2012; Zeng 2010; Yu 2015; Zou, Huang, Ma and Dai 2014). In this sense, the case of the relocation and upgrading of the PRP Factory in Guangzhou can be used as an interpretive lens to read what kind of trend is happening in the Greater Bay Area zone involving the urban agglomeration of Guangzhou. The case of PRP Factory, with the relocation of the production in a new plant in Zengcheng New Technological Development Zone and the renovation of the existing manufacturing unit in the Fangcun area for the creation of a cultural creative park, is representative of two parallel and interconnected phenomena: the upgrading of manufacturing infrastructures and the broader expansion of their scope through the inclusion of comprehensive high-tech and cultural services. These two parallel phenomena are the result of several factors, from regional policies to shifting functions in the city and updating manufacturing – which is also reciprocal with the industries’ own vision and expansion.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the first large-scale globalization project launched in Ch... more The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the first large-scale globalization project launched in China and is generating infrastructure and logistics hubs to support Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in cities along its lines. These spaces are in fact free trade zones (Free Trade Zones, FTZ) for companies active in global trade. Following intergovernmental agreements, some SOE giants such as China Merchant Group, COSCO, China Communication Construction Company and China National Machinery Industry Corporation are investing overseas in the development of free trade zones identified within the BRI with economic agreements that stipulate that percentages between 60 and 90% of the shares belong to the investors of the SOEs, while the remaining shares belong to the local government authorities.
The development of Chinese FTZs in the world today is proceeding in a differentiated way, although all have passed the initial phase corresponding to the creation of Business centers equipped with fully infrastructured hospitality and office spaces . The subsequent phases usually involve the establishment of companies active in the most diverse sectors, which generates the revenue for the investors of the SOEs who had financed the start-up of the FTZ with funds ranging between 150 and 400 million dollars.
On an organizational level, all FTZs are set up around a multifunctional main building called the Business Center or, sometimes, the Office Complex, and includes spaces for catering, conference rooms, offices and rooms for night hospitality. The FTZ settlement models also develop from the experience of State-Owned Enterprise as China Merchant which, for example, is working on the growth of Shenzhen Shekou.
The Belt and Road Initiative is considered a political project with implications and implications still unknown on the contexts that host them.
On a formal level, the designers of the new architectures try to use local and inclusive vocabularies as much as possible , indicative of a particularly “soft” approach on the part of China. The eclectic "local pastiche" reinterpreted in a modern key of the new Business centres recurs for example in indigenous architectural elements such as domes, arches, courtyards, clock towers, pitched roofs proposed in an anomalous way to escape the label of "neo-colonialism" and also to calm any local discontent.
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Papers by Sohrab Ahmed Marri | Architect | PhD
The development of Chinese FTZs in the world today is proceeding in a differentiated way, although all have passed the initial phase corresponding to the creation of Business centers equipped with fully infrastructured hospitality and office spaces . The subsequent phases usually involve the establishment of companies active in the most diverse sectors, which generates the revenue for the investors of the SOEs who had financed the start-up of the FTZ with funds ranging between 150 and 400 million dollars.
On an organizational level, all FTZs are set up around a multifunctional main building called the Business Center or, sometimes, the Office Complex, and includes spaces for catering, conference rooms, offices and rooms for night hospitality. The FTZ settlement models also develop from the experience of State-Owned Enterprise as China Merchant which, for example, is working on the growth of Shenzhen Shekou.
The Belt and Road Initiative is considered a political project with implications and implications still unknown on the contexts that host them.
On a formal level, the designers of the new architectures try to use local and inclusive vocabularies as much as possible , indicative of a particularly “soft” approach on the part of China. The eclectic "local pastiche" reinterpreted in a modern key of the new Business centres recurs for example in indigenous architectural elements such as domes, arches, courtyards, clock towers, pitched roofs proposed in an anomalous way to escape the label of "neo-colonialism" and also to calm any local discontent.
The development of Chinese FTZs in the world today is proceeding in a differentiated way, although all have passed the initial phase corresponding to the creation of Business centers equipped with fully infrastructured hospitality and office spaces . The subsequent phases usually involve the establishment of companies active in the most diverse sectors, which generates the revenue for the investors of the SOEs who had financed the start-up of the FTZ with funds ranging between 150 and 400 million dollars.
On an organizational level, all FTZs are set up around a multifunctional main building called the Business Center or, sometimes, the Office Complex, and includes spaces for catering, conference rooms, offices and rooms for night hospitality. The FTZ settlement models also develop from the experience of State-Owned Enterprise as China Merchant which, for example, is working on the growth of Shenzhen Shekou.
The Belt and Road Initiative is considered a political project with implications and implications still unknown on the contexts that host them.
On a formal level, the designers of the new architectures try to use local and inclusive vocabularies as much as possible , indicative of a particularly “soft” approach on the part of China. The eclectic "local pastiche" reinterpreted in a modern key of the new Business centres recurs for example in indigenous architectural elements such as domes, arches, courtyards, clock towers, pitched roofs proposed in an anomalous way to escape the label of "neo-colonialism" and also to calm any local discontent.