The Chinese immigrant residing in America is filled with internal, unresolved emotional conflict as heritage and identity are challenged in the face of assimilation. What is passed down from one generation to the next becomes a hybrid heritage, molded through the pastiches of the suburban American environment and population. From this emerging identity comes the dilemma of which customs to pass down, often favoring customs of the new environment rather than ancient, domesticated rituals. The modern Chinese American is thus confronted with how to pass down their culture in an ever changing social landscape. The only way to extend cultural longevity is adaptation of practices for a new generation.

The domestic sphere of the Chinese American home is a promising site where contentious identities and memories of routine are at play. In the kitchen, engaging with the ritual of food making—a natural human endeavor—fosters reconnection and reconciliation with a past identity long forgotten. Architectural extrapolation is then seen through means of practices like fermenting vegetables and observation of domestic rituals between the individuals and their surroundings—whether it be the orchestration of food (the process), the jar in which the vegetables and the brine rest (the vessel), or the patterns of kitchen utilities being used (the environment).

From de-familiarizing these built constructs, we aim to challenge the often independent and disconnected nature of pickling by focusing on reconstructing objects made for the new Chinese American diaspora. These objects will be constructed to reflect their emerging sensibilities, providing intrinsic comfort in the practices they dictate and serving as a living heirloom echoing a forgotten identity.