Wild Neighbour, 2021
The story began five years ago, when there was a big news in Shanghai. A wild animal was found in a community, which is the protagonist of the "civet cat exchange prince" in the fairy tale. The citizens are so happy, for most people, this is a legendary animal. However, they did not expect that there would be more than 5,000 raccoon dogs in Shanghai in just five years. They began to covet human trash cans, went to barbecue stalls to report on time, and even learned to beg.
As China's urban ecology changes (urban rewilding), wildlife is slowly returning to cities and trying to adapt to urban life. How to deal with the relationships, conflicts, and constraints between urban wildlife and people will become an increasingly important part of China's urbanisation process. Similarly, it is not only the objects that need to be designed that are in crisis but also the practice of design itself. What we need to address is not only how to design more ecological and sustainable buildings, facilities, and parks. Rather, it is how to imagine alternative ways of designing that cater to the complex lives of many species. How do we incorporate into design the efforts of urban wildlife to adapt to the city? How can animals and designers design together?