Digua Community （"Digua" meaning sweet potato in Chinese) is based on the idea of the rhizome system, a network where each point is neither beginning nor end, but a connection to other points, creating an evenly distributed field. Our goal is to create this type of distributed network by opening Digua spaces in some of Beijing's 17,000 empty and unused basements, eventually opening one in each com
munity in Beijing and beyond, into other cities around the world. Within each space, Digua Community uses principles of environmental design and social research to create a platform where communities can build their own unique sharing economy, utilizing the skills, interests, and relationships that are already present within each community. Digua aims to create a new type of public space, by opening up formerly closed-off, unused basements and turning them into platforms that encourage innovation by community members themselves. Rather than merely making the basements more aesthetically pleasing, we also build connections to the existing communities surrounding them in order to create a space that best reflects their lifestyles and needs. By building relationships within the community prior to and in the process of transforming the basement, we ensure that they see the space as a platform designed for them. Our unique relationship with the residents enables us to foster a community of pro-sumers, or consumers who are also producers, who share their own creations and skills with their neighbors while also benefiting from the skills others possess. Our first basement, in Beijing's Anyuanbeili community, opened on December 24th, 2015. The current basement offers a children's play area, barber shop, library, 3-D Printing room, cafe, exercise area, and meeting rooms, in addition to the open center area which is used freely by the public. Furthermore, using a custom designed air ventilation system, we maintain healthy air quality in the basement--when the level of pm2.5 outside is over 400, the level in the basement is only 25-- responding to a major concern of many residents. Every aspect of Digua Community is carefully considered in its relationship to networks that already exist outside of Digua, whether it originates from within the community, or reflects a specific aspect of the people who reside here, giving a new meaning to the idea of environmental design. As for the future, we are currently in the research phase of creating our next basement space, in Tiancun, Beijing, collecting votes and interviews from the community surrounding what will become the next Digua basement. Furthermore, we are developing a Digua app that both offers its own content that is catered to each community, and facilitates the residents' use of the physical space, expanding Digua City's rhizomatic structure by creating connection points in both online and offline space.
