A special Beijing insert for CA (CasaAmica) architecture and design magazine
CA – CasaAmica October 2011 | 22-page insert

concept/editing ::  Beatrice LEANZA
graphic design ::  ourwork.is
contributors ::  Beatrice LEANZA (texts and translations), XIAO Longhua (illustrations), Nod YOUNG (illustrations), SONG Min (texts and translations), Cici WANG (texts and translations), Boris SHIU (photos), FANG Zhenning (photos)

On the occasion of the first Beijing International Design Week 2011, Italian CA magazine commissioned a special Beijing-themed insert—a guided journey and a design portrait of the city as seen through its characteristic spatial typologies. Following CA’s editorial structure, generally organized according to seven keywords pointing to a thematic focus, The “(Bei)Jing Issue” indexes instead seven ‘key-spaces’ which are explored as micro-universes where things and people speak for themselves, to and of the city. With an opening and closing section respectively dubbed “Entrance (rukou)” and “Exit (chukou)”, the seven key spaces/chapters unveil a city that like a mysterious Chinese box is made of infinite worlds-within-world. Macro- to micro- and back again, we start from rooms, houses, gardens and courtyards, traverse urban villages, old factories and entire districts, to eventually land in the digital mazes of social networks.

Key spaces:

• 环路 / Anelli & Griglie / Grids & Rings
• 胡同 / Vetrine / Storefronts
• 四合院 / Giardini Segreti / Courtyards
• 村 / Villaggi in Città / Minimal Heavens
• 场地 / Magazzini & Depositi / Mighty Warehouses
• 内外 / Beijing Interiors
• 微波 / Nella Rete / Webs