Jiayan Fu

My project is about Loitering, which means waiting without apparently purpose.

This project is about Loitering, and the name is "Yes Loitering".

Loitering which means waiting without apparently purpose can be considered as anti-social behaviors. It depends on whether the people that loiter are perceived to have bad intentions. But this assertion of purposeless waiting is one-sided and have bias. We went to great lengths to discourage the wrong people from hanging around, but this of course discourage everyone else as well.

I don’t see waiting or staying with no apparent purpose is a negative thing. Loitering is creative, 'Einstein used to say that his best ideas came on his walk home from the university every day.' Sometimes loitering can bring people some unexpected surprise, like an inspiration that comes at a time of boredom, or like meeting a random person.

Therefore this project is a public realm to encourage people stay and loiter. I put forward my design question 'What is the architecture of loitering?'.

In the future, our site, Faraday Work, will become a large mix-use community, including the function like the residence, kinds of workshop, offices and so on. So my public realm design can be a space for people who will work here in the future, so that they can kill time here in their interval of work.

Born in Hangzhou, a city with attractive natural view in Zhejiang Province of China. I’ve been learning basic drawing since I was a primary student, and I was then successfully admitted by the department of Architecture and Environmental design in China Academy of Art in 2017. Since then, I have participated in a series of field projects, including bridge design, urban landmark design and so on.

Mapping – The site, Faraday Work, is near river Thames in London Woolwich. This area is identified in the London Plan as”opportunity area”, and Faraday Work is planning to develop into an integrated community. Before entering the project, I did a community survey in Woolwich area, and choosing Woolwich Sunday market for my observation site.

Woolwich Sunday Market – The flow of people in market square, and how people behaved, how they gathered in. This is a mapping of the square.

People's behaviors – People who spent a lot of time stay in the square, they seemed to have nothing to do, and were often stay in some certain places in certain positions.

Urban Furniture exploration – Crowd behaviors survey in the city, exploration of some urban furniture designs——Bench and things that encourage people stay that being removed nowadays.

No loitering – Loitering which means waiting without apparently purpose can be considered as anti-social behaviors. It depends on whether the people that loiter are perceived to have bad intentions. At the same time, some hostile urban furnitures appeared.

Yes loitering – Loitering is creative, sometimes can bring people some unexpected surprises, like an inspiration that comes at a time of boredom, or like meeting a random person.

Concept totem – What I want to do is a public realm to encourage people stay and loiter. I put forward my question 'What is the architecture of loitering?'. This totem is a piece of building facade, the original wall being the bench and the original window being the rotating shelter. It seems like people can sit on the building.

Original Building – The site building, Junction box, which columns and structures are arranged in the order.

Column testings – Some column testings, turning the column into urban furniture, so that people can stay.

Design strategy – Making urban furnitures on different spatial elements to make people stay, and accommodating different dynamic of people.

Wall testings

Ceiling and Ground

Rotating bench – A group of rotating bench, putting the rotating bench regularly between the columns of the space.

Rotating – The benches can form different sizes and shapes of space by turning them by users, which also means it can have different relationship between people who use it.

Context – In the future, Faraday Work will become a large mix-use community, including the function like the residence, kinds of workshop, offices. So the public realm design can be a space for people who will work here, they can kill time here in their interval of work.

Ground floor – Delineating the design site with a red curve, letting it extend out of the building a little bit, also opening up the facade of design part, making it be an semi-open space. Then adding 6 columns outside the building. In these way to break the boundary of the building facade. Food retail shops inside the red curve, can served for loiters. Receptions on both sides leads to workshop on the first floor and residence on upper floor.