华侨城创意文化园

This guide to OCT-LOFT in Shenzhen traces an industrial zone built in the 1980s for manufacturers like Konka, China's top electronics maker, and how it went quiet by the late nineties as the city raced ahead without it. It follows the He Xiangning Art Museum's unlikely decision in 2003 to open a contemporary gallery inside an empty warehouse here, and architect Meng Yan's plan to let streets meander through the old workshops and dormitories rather than impose a grid. Wander the pedestrian passage he cut through the center, now lined with murals and studios.