In 2008-2010, the Urban Carpet (都市挂毯) project resonated in the alleys of Beijing. By bringing a novel method to envision a neighbourhood, the project inspired residents to share their individual and collective memories of the local area (Figure 10.1). The residents were mesmerized by interventions engaging directly with their communities because they lacked previous experience of such meticulous maps and, more importantly, because of the unusual form and aesthetics. The first maps that Italian architects Marcella Campa (b. 1974) and Stefano Avesani (b. 1977) used for their project were provided by their Venetian university because similar records were not readily available in Mainland China at that time. With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute, movin’UP, and the Pollock Krasner Foundation, Campa and Avesani commissioned eight maps of particular old residential areas (hutongs 胡同) in Beijing to be hand-embroidered on large canvases. To emphasize the characteristics of each community, the carpets were made in different colours although without any specific relation between the colour chosen and the area in question. Each map depicted a district of around one-square kilometre and about 25,000-30,000 residents, a community of its own within the capital.