SUB URBANISMS: Casino Urbanization, Chinatowns and the Contested American Landscape

The Museum of Chinese in America presents SUB URBANISMS, an award-winning anthropological case study by architecture professor and curator Stephen Fan which will explore the controversial conversion of suburban single-family homes into multi-family communities by immigrant Chinese casino workers in Connecticut.

An award-winning anthropological case study by architecture professor and curator Stephen Fan, SUB URBANISMS explores the controversial conversion of suburban single-family homes into multi-family communities by immigrant Chinese casino workers in Connecticut. Addressing the norms, cultural values, and public policies that determine how most Americans live, the exhibition juxtaposes immigrant cultural beliefs and pragmatism with suburban American social, aesthetic, and financial codes. With a regional focus and global reach, it also provides insight into the long-term effects of 9/11 on the New York Chinatown service industry as a significant factor behind the influx of Chinese labor seeking employment at the region's casinos, and the formation of this satellite suburban Chinatown. With creative implications for the future of housing design and habitation in response to cultural, social, and ecological challenges, SUB URBANISMS offers a powerful inquiry into the ways in which culture shapes our lives and homes.