Projective Excavation: Drawing Out the Untold History of St. Louiss Chinatown

1.5 units

From 1869 to 1966 in downtown St. Louis, a small but thriving Chinese immigrant community existed in the area that is now occupied by the Spire Headquarters. St. Louis's Chinatown was home to laundromats, grocery stores, restaurants, shops, and residences until it was razed for urban renewal as part of the Busch Memorial Stadium project in 1966. After the last residents were forced out, the site remained a surface parking lot for decades. Today, St. Louis's Chinatown (or Hop Alley, as it was often referred to) only resides in historical fragments and memories. Working in collaboration with the Chinese American Collecting Initiative at the Missouri Historical Society, students will develop drawings and models that reveal the suppressed history of this site that formed the backdrop of everyday life for Chinese Americans in St. Louis. Focusing on the daily rituals, events, and activities sourced from photos and personal stories, students will develop projective representations of the interior lifeworld of St. Louis's Chinatown. Using techniques adapted from graphic novels, architectural drawing, Chinese landscape painting, and 19th-century panoramic maps, students will investigate how we can use the disciplinary tools of architecture to reveal hidden histories and construct new narratives.