2025

Explora_tory: A Playbook for Derelict Spaces

Shnaia Xu

+64 272366725
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shnaia-xu-624786227/
Shnaia axo 1140x910mm Matte
The Explora_tory Axonometric Render

This thesis began with a fascination with the forgotten, the abandoned, and the quietly decaying corners of our cities.
Wandering through the suburban fabric of Auckland, I became drawn to the silent constellation of derelict structures sitting in waiting. They exist in a strange liminal state, neither alive nor gone, quietly holding their breath as the city moves on without them.
Their mystery stirs curiosity and the desire to uncover what's left behind. Unlike the polished and pristine, these buildings tell stories that are not yet overwritten. They are repositories of memory, layered with use, wear, and traces of care that have long since been withdrawn.

Edits
Entering the behind-the-scenes city.
V10
Sunlit wallpaper, an empty chair, a rusted hinge...

My fascination deepened when I discovered the online archives of Urban Exploration communities, such as URBEX NZ and URBEX Central. These digital repositories document derelict spaces across Aotearoa. Through their images showcasing sunlit wallpaper, an empty chair, and a rusted hinge, I began to see an alternate archive of the city; one curated through curiosity and care.

 
Shnaia Section 730x2350mm Matte
Section Render

Harnessing the core ethos of urban exploration, this thesis proposes a speculative scheme rooted in igniting playful wonder and care for decaying spaces, becoming an ever growing physical documentation of derelictions so they don’t fade away without a trace. 

It questions: How can architecture invite play and exploration of the urban environment, and in doing so bring attention to the forgotten, the marginal, and the quietly vanishing?

 
Shnaia plan 900x1440 mm Matte
Site Plan
Playtifacts v2
Playtifacts

At the architectural system's core is a material archive and repair factory, taking form in a growing scaffold canvas that invites creation and imagination. Salvaged fragments from demolished or decaying buildings are deposited here and stored within a kiln tower, gradually filling up as a growing archive of the city's erasures. 

 
Shnaia ingterior 650x407mm matte
The Repair Factory Interior Render
Sec plus 1 v2
A memory repository, depository, vessel and former post.

Explora-tory is a speculative scheme of looking out; for people, for places, and for the fragments of the city that quietly fade from view. Rather than treating ruination as an end, it sees it as an opening for imagination, curiosity, and gentle repair.

It proposes that through playful exploration and collective repair, we might learn to see differently, notice what others no longer see, and give things space to exist a little longer.

 
Shnaia axo 1140x910mm Matte