In order to understand the origins of the Chinese American restaurant industry, it is imperative to look into the deep and complicated history of the Chinese immigrant story. The first influx of Chinese immigrants occurred around 1849 during the California Gold Rush, and by 1852, it had brought over 25,000 Chinese immigrants to America, and with them, Chinese food. These early migrants were met with hostility from white America, as they were often associated with cheap labor, gambling, drugs, and as carriers of disease. Xenophobia reached a breaking point with the passing of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which became the first ever federal law that restricted immigration based on class and barred Chinese laborers from employment.

Today, however, these misconceptions are being revived and exacerbated in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purported origins of the virus in a wet market located in Wuhan, China helped perpetuate the myths and fears that revolve around what Chinese people eat. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, researchers at Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition formed to combat racism during the pandemic, received reports of over 3,000 hate crimes against Asian, ranging from racial slurs to violent acts. America’s behavioral reaction to COVID-19 revealed that much of the ill-will and bias towards Chinese and Asian Americans still exists, and is still undeniably tied to the food we eat. In New York City alone, the NYPD recorded an over 1900% increase in anti-Asian related crimes, prompting grassroots organizations such as Send Chinatown Love and Asian restaurants across the city to pull together resources and help out these communities in need. And even with President Biden’s executive order condemning anti-Asian racism in play, the question remains, “What more can and be done to offset this hostility?”

Many Americans have a shared visual impression when thinking of Chinatown: glowing red lanterns, sweeping pagoda rooftops, imposing dragon gates. The experience of visiting any Chinatown is an orchestrated experience of sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that look and feel exotic to the Western eye, but inauthentic to Chinese people. These over-exaggerated depictions of Chinese culture are products of Orientalism (Western representations of the "Orient", or non-Western civilization) and Self-Orientalism (a reflexive act of Orientalism as a means of self-preservation). This thesis intends to subvert these aesthetic expectations of Chinese culture by proposing a Post-Orientalist design approach, a new way of viewing and experiencing non-western cultures without exploiting, over-exaggerating, and or misrepresenting them.

From 1900 to 1914, Downtown Providence was once home to a small, yet prominent, Chinatown. Clusters of Chinese businesses and boarding houses began to colonize the then-Burrill Street and Chapel Street, and in less than a decade, spilled into a majority of Empire Street. During this period, the number of Chinese restaurants reached its peak and made up the backbone of the Chinatown economy. Chop suey houses like the Port Arthur Restaurant and the Chin Lee Corporation became local favorites due to their relatively inexpensive menus, easily palatable offerings, and exuberant atmospheres. Unfortunately, the excitement of Providence’s Chinatown was short-lived. A call for the widening of Empire Street in 1914 resulted in the destruction of most of the buildings in Chinatown and forced many of the Chinese residents out of their homes. This sudden change in attitude and attempt at cultural erasure stemmed from the discriminatory views that many Americans harbored towards the Chinese. Chinese businesses, in particular restaurants, were seen as threats not only to the economic well-being of white-owned businesses. 

Even after the destruction of Chinatown, Downtown Providence remained home to a vibrant array of Chinese American dining establishments between the 1920s and the 1980s, as Chinese food was still popular because of its delicious flavors and inexpensive prices. Located within a few blocks from each other, these restaurants stood as testaments to the entrepreneurship and tenacity of the Chinese American community and became local favorites to those living in and outside of Providence. To residents and tourists, restaurants like the Ming Garden, Luke's Restaurant, and Mee Hong were culinary mainstays whose memories are ingrained  into the cultural fabric of Providence. For the Chinese community, they functioned as a virtual Chinatown where community members could connect with one another, make a living, and establish a shared identity.

As a response to the erasure of Providence's Chinatown and its rich community, the initial action of the intervention is to bisect the building. The floors of the Kresge Building will be diagonally sliced in half, in both section and in plan. This gesture is not only symbolic of erasure, but it also allows the building to become a more open and public environment.

The resulting "culinary playground" will accommodate a multitude of ways to experience the new programming. The addition of a new vertical core offers a top-down, ADA accessible culinary experience where visitors learn about Chinese cuisine starting with the ingredients and ending with the plate. 

The yellow staircase results in a journey of discovery, offering a more liberating path. Visitors are naturally drawn up by the sweeping staircase, but are given moments of assembly, enlightenment, and rest. The staircase, therefore, functions as a supplement to the culinary programming on each floor. Regardless of the path taken, visitors are transported to an entirely different environment on each floor that introduces them to world of tastes, sights, sounds, and smells.

Visitors who are in a hurry can also use the ground floor as a thoroughfare between Westminster Street and Fulton Street, picking up a snack from the market.

As fresh Chinese produce is hard to come across in Providence, a community operated kitchen garden devoted to Chinese vegetables is located on the third floor. Visitors will learn about Chinese produce and its cultivation, and eventually harvest the vegetables to be used in the demonstration kitchen, for a true garden-to-table experience. The bright environment brings together community and invites moments of collaboration and repose.