Hong Kong Fantasies – a PermaCity Project
‘Hong Kong Fantasies – a PermaCity Project’ has been organized in the framework of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU) by the Delft University of Technology, the Berlage Institute Rotterdam and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) as a special contribution to the Business of Design Week (BoDW) 2008 in Hong Kong. Beside the a.m. institutions the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Beijing University of Technology were participating.
The project, financially supported by the Dutch Ministry of Economy, consisted in three parts: - A master class with the title ‘Hong Kong Fantasies’ for students of the participating institutions that took place in October 2008 in Hong Kong;
- A movie with the title ‘Hong Kong Power’, visualizing the results of the master class, that has been shown in the framework of the BoDW in December 2008 in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center (HKCEC);
- A conference with the title ‘Hong Kong Fantasies: The Future of the City’, organized as well in the framework of BoDW 2008 on December 10 in Hong Kong.
Master Class ‘Hong Kong Fantasies’
The master class ‘Hong Kong Fantasies’ was held from October 19 – 31, 2008 at CUHK. Directed by the Dutch architect Winy Maas (The Why Factory) almost 70 students from 5 different universities from the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Beijing were collaborating in a joint studio to explore possibilities and to generate design concepts for the future development of Hong Kong.The theme of the master class was the sustainability of cities. Focusing on the city of Hong Kong and the region of the Pearl River Delta, research and design interventions have been elaborated to improve the sustainability from different points of view. The following questions have been addressed:
- Which spatial interventions can contribute to a sustainable urban environment under the conditions of an explosive growth of the region and in view of global ecological threats?
- Which spatial interventions can strengthen the economical position of Hong Kong, can support the competitiveness of the region and can combat the effects of the global economical crises?
- Which spatial interventions can combat segregation and deterioration and can contribute to a more integrated urban society?
- Which spatial interventions can support the cultural identity of city and region?
Supervised by mentors of the participating institutions, the students worked in groups on 7 different sub-themes, related to the spatial conditions of Hong Kong. Besides, two different excursions have been organized: a round-trip through different public housing areas of Hong Kong, offered by Hong Kong Housing Authorities, and a trip to Shenzhen, including a visit of the Planning Bureau of Shenzhen.
At the end of the master class the students presented their work in public to a panel of professors and professional experts.
The movie ‘Hong Kong Power’
The movie 'Hong Kong Fantasies' shows the results of the master class as 3D animation in a comprehensive way and proposes a series of visions for the future of Hong Kong. It analyses the city's strengths and weaknesses and indentifies its potentials. Instead of regarding the city's spatial restriction as limitation for further urban development, such restriction could create inventive solutions, as for instance the vertical extension of hills to enlarge the ground space. A new housing typology or approach to residential design could help reduce migration to Shenzhen or other cities. A combination of living, working, retail and culture along the waterfront could facilitate creating an attractive waterfront development. The implication of new building guidelines, such as the creation of canopies and increase of shaded areas could counteract Hong Kong's need for cooling and therefore reduce its high energy demand.
The movie has been continuously presented on a big screen in the framework of the BoDW 2008 exhibition.
Conference ‘Hong Kong Fantasies: The Future of the City’
As part of the BoDW detour program the conference ‘Hong Kong Fantasies: The Future of the City’ was organized on December 10 in Theatre 1 of the HKCEC. Based on the results of the master class the conference discussed the opportunities and threats of a sustainable development of Hong Kong (and of ‘The City’ in general). The conference started with 3 statements:
1. What makes a City attractive? (Meng Yan, Urbanus)
2. What makes a City worth living? (Li Shiqiao, CUHK)
3. What Makes a City sustainable? (Jurgen Rosemann, TU Delft)
Afterwards, the movie ‘Hong Kong Power’ was presented by Winy Maas and discussed by a panel of experts.
