Abstract:

In my hometown of Zhongli, Taiwan, an industrial hub hosting over 113,000 migrant workers, a systemic "Living Room Deficit" persists. Despite sustaining the region's economy, these communities face spatial exclusion and hostile urbanism, often forced into fragmented, surveilled corners near the train station. Scaffold of Care intervenes in a neglected urban gap on Changjiang Road, transforming a site of social friction into a resilient Infrastructure of Coexistence.

The project utilizes a modular scaffolding system—a resourceful use of local materials typically synonymous with the "temporary"—to challenge the permanent marginalization of migrant bodies. This porous framework reclaims the urban void, providing a vertical stage for visibility and dignity. By integrating a cross-cultural kitchen, community classrooms, and NGO-led legal clinics, the design functions as a protective cultural hearth where informal behaviors are elevated into essential, inclusive urban services.

Responding to the call for an "Architecture of Care," the scaffold fosters belonging through shared rituals of cooking, vertical farming, and celebratory gatherings. It is a deeply local intervention grounded in the specific social texture of my hometown, bridging the divide between residents and migrants to shift the narrative toward shared futures. This "plug-in" proves that architecture can act as a practice of empathy, turning a neglected "space" into a meaningful "place" of coexistence.