Context & Research – Microbial Futures

I found a lot to be moved by on our trip to Guangzhou: the fluidity between indoor and outdoor in its historic architecture, the lushness and expansiveness of its public spaces, and the animation and liveliness of those spaces filled with people who clearly live their lives both indoors and out. Here I try to share some of aspects of the city’s landscapes and built form that I am inspired by and continue to look to as I develop the graphic and design sensibilities of Microbial Guangzhou. The photos below are mine unless otherwise credited.

This ancient city was built at the meeting place of White Cloud Mountain (Baiyun Mountain) and the Pearl Sea (the Zhujiang or Pearl River).

1862 map of the walled city of Guangzhou and its relationship to the Pearl River and Baiyun Mountain; extensive canals and waterways throughout the city, but particularly in the west, drained low lying areas that had been wetlands prior to development.

Source: Guangdong Sheng, China 1862/For sale by Lee Mun Une, painter, Canton City, South Street; Presented to the American Geographical Society by Chadler Robins, June 2nd 1887; American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries

It is the city at the root of Lingnan culture.

**Clockwise: Tea Picking in Canton | Weighing Tea for Exportation | A Tea House | Canton A Tea Tasting Room |**
**Canton Physic Street | The Abbot**

*Source: Thomson, J. (John). (1982). China and its people in early photographs: an unabridged reprint of the classic 1873/4 work. New York: Dover Publications.*

Guangzhou lives up to its name as the Flower City with exuberance, with lush landscapes not only in parks but also in the smallest of alleyways and even in medians and on overpasses.

The dense, lush greenery of Yuexiu Park.

*Structure and canopy and in People’s Park*

Vegetation is not only reserved for gardens.

Many overpasses, both pedestrian and vehicular, are covered in *Bougainvillea*.

Lush vegetation also thrives in streets of all sizes.

Open space–parks, plazas, canals, etc–are well-loved and well-used by residents.

Liwan Lake Park vibrant with activity at 2 o’clock on a Saturday.

The exercise equipment distributed throughout the city—both in parks and tucked away into small spaces in dense urban neighborhoods—is used by people of all ages.

The traditional architecture feels porous: spaces flow into each other. Interior blends with exterior.

The practice, infrastructure, and knowledge production of Traditional Chinese Medicine is thriving.

The Qingping Medicine Market is the largest Traditional Chinese Medicine market in the region. Buyers come to make personal and wholesale purchases from over 3000 sellers.

Garden at the old campus of the South China University of Traditional Medicine.

When we walked through this garden with our guide he told us that he, like many other people in Guangzhou, has a working knowledge of the properties of more than 100 plants that he feels are useful in regulating/caring for his body.