As a kid, when I got in trouble in school or at home, I was sent to my room for punishment. It was during these times in which I would organize and change my room. I would move the bed around, change the art on the walls, keep moving it around till I was satisfied with the outcome. Trying to create something good out of something bad. In a way, I have not stopped this activity.

Shanghai has plenty of opportunities to improve on the visual landscape of properties. A lack of ownership and order have created a mess in public areas of all kind. A litany of actors continuously mark up public areas with advertisements, public utilities and abandoned furniture with a merciless and seemingly insatiable about of mess. Under all this the original space is also deteriorating, public spaces lack any perimeter that defines it onto one group so the cleaning is never done to anyones minimum requirements. 

When I happen spaces in the city I see a chance to improve. With lighting, spatial adjustments and some new paint, a new persona can be created. A new feeling, a new value. Although I come across some pushback along the way, I can normally achieve close to what I had been aiming for. Order among chaos, something bad out of good, all the while feeling I have left a mark, albeit small, onto the surface of a world we are all trying to make sense of or at least make prettier.