architecture/
Market in a Groove Box
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audiovisual/
Ladder Mid-Autumn
Profile
Suzhou | Academic | 2024
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, human needs begin with the most basic physiological needs and gradually progress to higher-level psychological needs.
Physiological: Basic survival needs such as food, water, sleep, and shelter.
Safety: The need for security, stability, and protection, including physical safety and financial stability.
Social: the need for a sense of belonging and social relationships, such as friendship, love, and community support.
Esteem: The need for self-esteem and respect from others, including a sense of achievement, recognition, and confidence.
Self-actualisation: the need to realise personal potential, creativity, and self-growth.
Feature of Maslow's Pyramid: progressiveness
The needs of each level must be met to a certain extent in the previous level before pursuing higher-level needs. Thus, physiological and safety needs have to be met first before social and esteem needs can be addressed, and self-actualisation needs are the ultimate pursuit goal.
In the context of a neighbourhood centre:
“Being”: Spaces for non-material needs such as culture, creativity, reading, thinking, and communication, emphasising the residents’ inner existence and cultural life.
“Living”: Spaces for basic needs in daily life, focusing on physiological necessities, involving aspects such as dining, retail, life services, and physical health.
Redefine the relationship between living and being:
From Maslow’s theory, “Living” and “Being” in this neighbourhood centre are paradoxes, where people need to first satisfy their “Living” needs before pursuing their “Being” needs.
Separating then re-bridging: This neighbourhood centre aims to fulfil both material and cultural needs of residents. Functionally, these needs exhibit contrasting features: one requires more social interaction, while the other tends to be more introverted. However, material and cultural needs are seemingly independent yet inseparably intertwined, supporting residents in becoming well-rounded individuals. Thus, the small bridge between the two separate volumes symbolises the integration and symbiosis of culture and material life.