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THE SUPPRESSED INTERIOR
ExhibitionCAP Gallery at the University of Colorado Denver
History Colorado Center (upcoming)
Location// Denver, CO
Time// Fall 2023 and Winter 2024
Team Lead// Leyuan Li
Team Members// Blake Brooks, Hannah Drummond, Jacob Kloberdanz, Xandra Lorenz, Timoteo Mason, Trevor Motzko, Jackson Pedrazzi, Sadie Rafferty, Julia Schmidt, Sammriddha Shrestha, Urban Tu, and Brandon Wunder
Photos// Brandon Wunder
“The Suppressed Interior” was an exhibition curated by Assistant Professor of Architecture Leyuan Li at the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning. It was a collective effort to unearth Denver’s erased Chinatown in collaboration with students from the undergraduate Studio V at the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning.
Historically, the old Chinatown in Denver was a residential and business district between Wazee and Market Streets and from 15th Street to 20th Street. Due to historical moments of racial discrimination, social injustice, and political unrest, the old Chinatown, once considered the largest in the interior West, was demolished by the 1940s and is nowadays rarely known by the public. However, as the city continues to grow, so does the urgency to unearth the hidden history while reimaging a possible future for Denver's Chinatown, which is critical to foster the equality, inclusion, and diversity of communities inhabiting Denver’s rapidly changing urban environment. In this regard, the exhibition presented a series of research findings that interrogated the suppression of Chinese communities and their settlements through unfolding the social, cultural, and political agendas related to their historical interiors. It also showcased a series of design projects that looked into the liberation and de-suppression of the interior, proposing a collective re-imagination of Denver's Chinatown that speculated on a possible future for an affordable and sustainable community. By offering new modes of spatial production and visual narrative, the exhibition intended to enhance public awareness of the hidden history, calling attention to the spatial and social prospects of Denver's Chinatown as a site of diversity and inclusion.
The research outcomes, along with a collection of historical photos and materials from the Denver Public Library, will be exhibited at the History Colorado Center in Winter 2024.