Reviving Providence Chinatown
✷ editorial design (Phase 1)
✷ immersive experience (Phase 2)
Reviving Providence Chinatown is a collobrative project that started when my peers and I discovered there used to be a Chinatown, located on an L-shaped block of Burrill and Broad St. (Downtown Providence) in the 1890s. These immigrants from Toisan, Guangdong had come a long way. They formed a tight community on Burrill St., establishing laundry and restaurant businesses all along the block. In the 1900s, the Chinese population continued to expand, moving onto Empire St. As they were sandwiched between the bustling Weybosset St. and Westminster St., with streetcars running people to and from the heart of downtown, more chinese restaurants appeared in the area.
Phase 1: Mapping Chinatown
* Mapping, in this context, entails the endeavor to transform extensive information into a new graphical language for visualization.
Our investigation quickly unveiled that the Chinese restaurants were a central gathering place for the Downtown Chinese Community. These venues played a vital role in cultivating community engagement, hosting a range of activities, including discussions on current affairs.
At the core of communal interaction, these dining spots sculpted a blended culture that echoed the essence of their Chinese heritage while introducing an innovative culinary experience to non-Asian customers. Adapting continuously, they catered to evolving public preferences, offering dance floor entertainment and live music. Embracing diverse festivities, they tailored their offerings to suit different groups, extending Christmas greetings to Christians, displaying college flags for football enthusiasts, and sharing Happy Holidays wishes with Jewish patrons.
Among the most renowned restaurants during that period were Port Authur, Mee Hong, Ming Garden, and Luke's Chinese American Restaurant.
However, by the 1980s, tastes had change. No longwas was the fusion Cantonese-American popular with non-Asians. Additionally, combined with the rising rent prices downtown, the Chinese restaurants that were once the beating heart of Providence downtown culture were shut down for good. Many of these former locations have been converted into parking lots or have yet to be rented out. Many of these preeminent restaurant families moved away, either to surburban Rhode Island or further to Boston and New York City.
✧ menu spreads details ✧
Every menu is designed in a style inspired by the advertisements of the restaurants in the historic Providence Journal. The purpose was to evoke a sense of nostalgia for the few customers who remember these eateries while introducing the larger audience to the essence of these once-central gathering places they can no longer experience firsthand. The menus are thus crafted from the personal anecdotes and memories of customers.
Phase 2: Providence Garden
Together, my peers and I wanted to take a step further and transport the audience back in time. We established Providence Garden, an immersive space allowing the audience to reencounter the essence of the Chinese restaurants that were integral to downtown Providence.
Providence Garden Menu