by MAP Office [Gutierrez + Portefaix]

In the early 1980s, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region was transformed into a vast manufacturing hinterland for Hong Kong, as well as an experimental zone for China’s new economy. Massive foreign investments from the British colony boosted a region that aspired to become the fifth Asian dragon.

Established by entrepreneurs, a politics of laissez faire was successfully injected into local infrastructural projects. Joint ventures and private money propelled a leap that responded to the global economy and accession to WTO.

The market is divided into two stripes – merchandise and food. They both use the roof of the Superhighway to create an interior condition supported by diverting electricity from nearby power poles. Light, ventilation, and small equipments (fridge, TV, computers) are freely powered by this illegal diversion.