Rumor has it

Abstract

The contribution explores the new agenda of architectural means in contemporary context. Today, in the era of Post-truth, when all the information we learn circulates with uncertainty and doubtful truth, all these online knowledges we perceive are like rumors. As architects, we develop techniques to simulate architectural design throughout history and the advancement has eroded our idea of built and not-built nowadays. When the influence of architectural means is not limited in its own profession in this Post-truth era. Can we, architects, interfere people’s understanding of a place by deliberately creating or exaggerating certain aspect of a something, in this case, the Chinatown of Gibraltar. Across Europe there’re anxiety about motives, underhand tactics, and cultural transformations. The image of Gibraltar – which remains vague, mysterious, exotic in most minds – is thus ideal to generate rumors. The spatial influence of the new type of Chinatown interfered in smaller scales, on personal level. Across the world, the Chinese investment today are not only on Chinese stuffs, they also produce authentic products. To design an effective architectural rumor, the method is analogy to the ordinary way of designing architecture. The design brief, the objective of all the Chinatown rumors, is to suggest the Chinatown in Gibraltar either directly or implicitly, the site and program are chosen on media where we learn about Gibraltar, and the reference can increase reliability of the rumors. The Chinatown rumor disseminated in Europe might be on websites and stories about Brexit and cultural transformation to increase exposure. The Chinatown rumor disseminated in Gibraltar might be on local forums with exclusive stories. The same method can apply to various websites with different stories, identities to affect different audience. The reaction of the rumors embodies new agenda of architectural means.