October 9, 2024
Today I had the great pleasure of meeting and getting to know Australian architect, Andrea Lam, the winner of the coveted 2023 Christopher Procter Prize for architectural research. Of Cantonese and Vietnamese heritage, her parents settled in Sydney, Australia, where she was born and raised . She arrived in Boston after doing research in San Francisco’s 4 Chinatowns and became a houseguest of Thai landscape architect/public artist Ponnapa Prakkamakul, aka Gift Ponnapa, (who you see in this photo with her new dragon installation on the Greenway) . Ponnapa asked me to connect with Andrea, who wanted to interview me. From Boston, Andrea will go on to research the Chinatowns of Milan, Italy and Mauritius, off the coast of Africa. We had a wonderful time walking and chatting, visiting the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, where artist Peter Ng is exhibiting, meeting Karen Chen, Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association – CPA Boston, Vickie Yue, Director of Operations at the Boston Neighborhood Center, Ashley Yung , Performance Arts Manager at the Pao Arts Center , and went in and out of many small and medium sized businesses, like Ho Yuen Bakery and Kwok Wa Herbal Store, and enjoyed some great cheong fun, rice noodle rolls, and hum siu gok, fried dumplings, and dahn tat, baked custard tarts, at a family owned basement businesses, May’s Cake House. She held my hands as I navigated up and down the steep, tight, and uneven basement steps, without handrails at some small businesses. I appreciated that kindness very much ! It has been my great joy to have worked with both of these international, gifted artists, Ponnapa Prakkamakul and Andrea Lam .
Andrea Lam’s research will focus on the sensory experiences of Chinatowns, and how architectural design might enhance those experiences, both for its residents, as well as its visitors.
Outside my teen home in the former Garment District, by a former Combat Zone prostitution alley named Knapp Street, I stand in the midst of Women of Greatness. From Boomer to Millennials to GenZers , we have much to learn from each other. I am showing Boston’s Chinatown to Australian architect, Andrea Lam, winner of the coveted 2023 Christopher Procter Prize for architecture research, when we bump into the amazing Suzanne Lee, immigrant labor, housing, and voting rights activist, founder of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) and who, together with Lydia Lowe, formed the Chinatown Community Land Trust (CCLT). Andrea flew in after doing research in San Francisco’s 4 Chinatowns , and will be continuing from Boston onto Chinatowns in Milan, Italy and then, Mauritius, off the coast of Africa. Of Cantonese /Vietnamese heritage , her parents settled in Sydney, Australia, where she was born and raised . We, three , are inheritors of the Chinese diaspora journey . Boston ‘s Thai landscape architect/public artist, Ponnapa Prakkamakul, asked me to connect with her friend, Andrea Lam, and show her around Boston’s Chinatown. So I did! After all, we are soul sisters, bonded by our migration histories . Andrea has an appointment with Suzanne Lee and Lydia Lowe of the Chinatown Community Land Trust tomorrow. She is an amazing architect, international scholar, 🥰 and a smart and humble being . It is my great pleasure to get to know her, connect her with Boston people, and learn about her work 🥰👍. She held my hands going up and down the tight, uneven, basement steps , that often have no handrails, of Chinatown small businesses. I appreciated her thoughtfulness very much ! Andrea said she really liked the unique, cozy warmth of Boston’s Chinatown and its friendly atmosphere and people. And I liked that she felt that way. Her work will focus on the sensory aspects of Chinatowns and how architectural design might enhance that experience for residents, as well as visitors . You can Follow her : @chinatown.atlas.
Hudson Street Chronicles 