Chinatown is one of the city’s densest neighborhoods. Space is at a premium, especially on weekends when extended families and recent immigrants come to the neighborhood, the hub of a wide-spread network of Chinese culture in New England. Tiny spaces that other neighborhoods might not even notice fill with life, inspiring creative use and re-use. Common Boston will explore recent transformations of this historic community, including the latest in mixed-use, high-density design on Parcel 24, renovated theaters along Washington Street, and the Asian Community Development Corporation’s MacArthur Prize-winning Participatory Chinatown Project.

Events

Chinese Historical Society Tour
Sunday, June 20th, 10:00 am
China Trade Center, 2 Boylston Street, Lower Level

Join Justina Chu of the Chinese Historical Society of New England for a walk around historic sites in Chinatown. Registration Recommended: http://commonbostonchinatownhistorical.eventbrite.com/

Insiders’ Tour with Chinatown’s Youth Leadership
Sunday, June 20th, noon
Asian CDC Oak Street Courtyard, 38 Oak Street

Tour Chinatown with the ultimate insiders: youth from the Asian Community Development Corporation will show you Chinatown’s unique urban environment, visiting open spaces that serve as connection points across generations and languages. Led by Asian Voices of Organized Youth for Community Empowerment (A-VOYCE). Registration Recommended: http://commonbostonchinatowninsiders.eventbrite.com/

Chinatown Park Tour with Landscape Architect Bill Taylor
Sunday, June 20th, 2:00 pm
Chinatown Gate

The city’s newest open space represents a new era in Chinatown’s history: designed with active community input and laced with Chinese cultural heritage, it shares ground that only a few decades ago witnessed Urban Renewal efforts bulldozing the nieghborhood’s heart. Hear from Landscape Architect Bill Taylor of Carol R. Johnson Associates discuss the design process. Registration Recommended: http://commonbostonchinatownpark.eventbrite.com/

Urban Ebb and Flow: Theater and Chinatown, Past and Future
Sunday, June 20th, 3:00 pm
Boston Opera House, 539 Washington Street

Boston’s neighborhoods ebb and flow, sharing the city’s fabric and expanding into one another. A significant victory for Boston’s Chinese community was the clean-up of Boston’s notorious red light district, the Combat Zone, which conflicted with Chinatown’s family-oriented culture. Combined with the efforts of Emerson College, the Theater District has experienced a renaissance, generating business for the neighborhood’s many restaurants. Join us for a tour of this reinvigorated district, culminating at Empire Garden restaurant, nestled high in the baroque dome of an old theater. Registration Recommended: http://commonbostonurbanebb.eventbrite.com/

TUTS (Tremont Underground Theater Space)
Sunday, June 20th, 3:00 pm
Part of Theater and Chinatown Tour, above

Architects have always worked to inspire communities to think big and innovate. The winners of the recent SHIFT Boston ideas competition, Andrzej Zarzycki and Sapir Ng, share their vision for TUTS, challenging Boston to transform our unused MBTA tunnels into a unique cultural asset. Registration Recommended: http://commonbostontuts.eventbrite.com/