Useless thing in urban
— 2023 —
This project focuses on four categories of urban infrastructure gradually disappearing from public attention: telephone booths, mailboxes, street signs, and “mushroom vents” (ventilation outlets for underground heating systems, once common in Beijing but now increasingly rare).
These objects were originally designed for clear public functions, yet in the rapid evolution of cityscapes, they have lost their utility and slipped beneath the threshold of contemporary visual awareness.
Photographed using a typological approach—consistent framing, fixed perspective, and flash lighting at night—the series removes contextual noise and presents each structure with clarity and directness. Through formal repetition, the images construct an internal logic, revealing the structural features and historical weight of these overlooked forms.
“Uselessness” here does not imply absence, but rather a state of residual presence—objects left behind after systems have retreated. They speak not of failure, but of transition. This series offers a renewed way of seeing these minor architectures, inviting attention to what remains visible when function has faded.
