THE WORKING ARCHIVE

Photographs, observations, experiments and things worth keeping.
Archive status: ACTIVELast updated: 21 JUL 2026Current location: ShanghaiCurrent file: Why Some Objects Feel Like They Have Already Lived a Life
C:\ARCHIVE\PLACES\SHANGHAI

Shanghai

China · Visited: 2022 – present (current base)

Current location of the archive, the company, and the refrigerator. Shanghai is where Ecoand is being built, one refill event at a time, and where most of the recent files originate.

What the city keeps teaching: the real economy of a neighborhood happens before 7 am; rain reorganizes a street in under a minute; and every block contains at least one person doing something at a world-class level out of a space the size of a closet.

The apartment kitchen has been the test lab for every scent direction and most of the recipes. The wet market five minutes away is the ongoing masterclass.

Frequently photographed: side streets in rain, market awnings, the sink (professionally).

An empty Shanghai side street in the rain, shop signs reflected on wet pavement

Approximate location · Open larger map

ENTRIES FILED FROM SHANGHAI
PHOTOGRAPHS
A wooden shelf holding a worn mug, a ruler, a folded cloth and a small bottleDSC_0470.JPGA work desk covered in prototype bottles, sticky notes and a scaleDSC_0154.JPGAn empty Shanghai side street in the rain, shop signs reflected on wet pavementDSC_0427.JPGA kitchen sink with soap suds and a refill bottle on the counterDSC_0463.JPGMarket stall awnings in green and red, crates of vegetables underneathIMG_0842.JPG
OBJECTS ACQUIRED HERE
FOOD TRACED TO THIS PLACE