Xinyang Du

THRESHOLD

Environmental Design

2025

This thesis explores the spatial and cultural thresholds at the edges of Toronto’s Chinatown, aiming to reframe overlooked boundary spaces as opportunities for small-scale architectural interventions that celebrate identity, memory, and community connection.

“This project explores the cultural and spatial thresholds of Chinatown, where its unique identify connect with adjacent neighborhoods. The design highlights the blurred boundaries of Chinatown and draws on elements of traditional Chinese landscape painting to express its inner meaning. These landscape-inspired interventions activate threshold spaces, creating small-scale moments of cultural expression along the edges of Chinatown. Through the philosophy of “seeing the large through the small, and the small through the large,” the project examines the relationship between Chinatown, its surrounding communities, and the broader city of Toronto.门槛探索唐人街的文化和空间门槛，其独特身份与邻近街区们产生关联。通过设计强调唐人街模糊的边界，借助中国山水元素展现其内在意蕴。山水意象激活门槛空间，将在唐人街边界创造具有文化表达的小型介入空间。‘以大观小，以小观大’来探索唐人街与周边社区及多伦多城市之间的关系。”

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Xinyang Du

“Space has always been the spiritual dimension of architecture. It is not the physical statement of the structure so much as what it contains that moves us. — Arthur Erickson”