This abandoned factory, built during China’s First Five-Year Plan, was once a symbol of industrial progress. However, as society and Zhengzhou itself evolved, the factory gradually became obsolete and lost its original function. Our investigation revealed that abandonment is not simply a matter of neglect, but rather a reflection of how changes in people’s needs, societal demands, and cultural developments can render previous functions irrelevant.

In our design, we focus on capturing the most significant traces of human and societal change, preserving parts of the original factory framework as a foundation for a new network or a “bottomless chessboard.” By maintaining some traditional functions from the past and introducing flexible, adaptive spaces, we allow users to determine the building’s function. This flexibility enables the building to evolve alongside human needs, rather than being confined to its original design. This approach not only works for this abandoned factory but can also be applied to many other structures that have been left behind by changing times.