This book traces the atypical journey of the Dacheng Flour Factory as a significant industrial heritage in Shenzhen's Shekou Industrial Zone.

It spans from its inception at the beginning of China's Reform and Opening Up in the 1980s, its role as a venue of an international biennale in 2015, to its present-day condition of a ruined site with uncertain fate. Perspectives from diverse angles - urban planner, site owner, biennale organizer, architect - are interwoven to provoke reflections, with images capturing each pivotal stage of its journey.

Built in 1980, Dacheng Flour Factory was the first wholly foreign-owned and exclusively operated enterprise introduced to Shekou Industrial Zone, Shenzhen, After years of flour production, it ended its operation in 2010 due to the industrial upgrading and transformation of the area. In 2015, the factory was selected as the main exhibition venue for the 6th Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB) as a remarkable industrial legacy, and it was revitalized and brought to life through the design and renovation by NODE. However, the buildings in the renovated area started to demolish only six months later after the biennale. The remaining part of the factory fell in silence again with uncertainties beside the new rising bustling world-class homeport.

Witness to the different stages of the city, Dacheng Flour Factory represents an exceptional yet universal case within the rapid urbanization process of the Pearl River Delta region in China. By revisiting and retracing its history through close observation and research, the book reflects on the current state of this industrial heritage, fosters conservation of urban regeneration on a broader scale, and hopes to promote changes in the reality.

Doreen Heng LIU, founder and principal of NODE Architecture & Urbanism (NODE), The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Chartered Architect; Doctor of Design, Harvard University; Member of the Architectural Society of China. LIU and her studio NODE have been based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, conducting diversified architectural and urban design practices in the PRD and wider region for years. LIU has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, ETH Zurich and University of California, Berkeley. Since September 2020, she has been appointed as Distinguished Professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Shenzhen University, and Director of the Greater Bay Area Innovation Design Lab.
Based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong for years, LIU and her studio have been conducting diversified architectural and urban design practices in the Pearl River Delta and wider region. Focusing on urban space and public life, insisting on ontological research and practice, pursuing innovation on foundations of rigorous pragmatism, exploring architectural concepts' own logic in relation to openness and compatibility. Through inter-disciplinary interaction and stimulation, the studio maintains its forward-looking and experimental nature in architectural design practice. In recent years, the main directions of design practice have included: urban design, urban regeneration and renovation, cross-border infrastructure research and design practice, public cultural and educational buildings, small experimental buildings, etc.