Hutong Interior, merging spaces in the hutong system, the case of Baitasi hutong, Beijing

The capital city of Beijing is a thriving background for a research due to its ancient history and the related layering of urban practices accumulated that still display a role in urban morphology of the contemporary city. Taking the city of Beijing as a starting point for the research, the aim is to study the socio-cultural background that drove to the formation of the hutong system as well as the siheyuan, the courtyard houses. Thereafter, the study of the leading forces that in the 20th century lead to dramatic changes, modifying the urban fabric in the Old City of Beijing. In this background the siheyuan and hutongs, suffered of an undisputable densification during the process of gentrification and demolition. The thesis carried out aims to study and point out the socio-spatial consequences that these changes had at the urban level in a specific area of the inner part of the Capital city of Beijing, Baitasi hutong. Thereupon, the focus will be on the transformation scenarios created by the Beijing Design Week that involved the neighborhood and the related alteration of the spaces once the exhibition is over. The results of the socio spatial speculations will be the starting point for the design proposal of a specific suspended courtyard inside the urban tassel of the area, proposal that will question the possibility of creating a blended and mixed use of the urban spaces to create a spatial support for the inhabitants.