“Architectural” Cages

/ November 7, 2016 / 3. Thesis proposal draft / No Comments

Hong Kong’s property prices are among the highest in the world. Last week, the government raised the stamp duty for non-first-time buyers for the second time in three years to dampen soaring prices. As such, lengthy waits for public housing have pushed people to live in low-income housing, including coffin cubicles, caged homes and subdivided units. Almost 200,000 people were living in 88,000 subdivided flats last year according to the Census and Statistics Department. However, these figures do not include the estimated 10,000 people living illegally in industrial buildings or in rural areas that fail to meet residential building standards. Housing has become a hot-button political issue, and housing issues are in almost every politician’s campaign platform. Two months ago, the issue of low-income housing has been under public scrutiny. The government announced a plan to criminalize landlords operating illegal flats in industrial buildings. The move could render thousands homeless.

a man living in cage

the plight of living

Recently one of the city’s landlords in Sai Ying Pun turned his 830-square-foot flat into 20 ‘space capsules’ borrowing from the capsule hotel concept that originated in Japan. Each of which is rented out for HK$5,100 per month offering lodgers a single-sized bed space with key-card access, air-conditioning and a sharing kitchen, bathroom and common area. The monthly rent for a pod is higher than a coffin home equivalent in Sham Shui Po which costs around HK$1,800, but lower than a subdivided flat that comes with an individual kitchen and bathroom. With an average four-year wait for public housing and ever-increasing rents in the private sector, many residents who live below the poverty line are forced to tolerate such conditions living in cubicle homes with no proper ventilation and suffocating from being able to breathe in fresh air. The capsule homes have become a solution to a gap that had yet to be filled offering people who want a comfortable bed, a sense of privacy and intimate space which they can call home, but not being able to pay so much money. However, due to difficulties in obtaining a warrant to enter private premises, authorities have struggled to prosecute landlords who rent out flats with modified internal structures that do not adhere to fire safety regulations. Subdivided flats and cage homes often fall into a legal grey area without fire safety concerns.

space capsules in sai ying pun

Is there a way to provide a more human-ness living to rehouse the marginal people?

In most contexts, a cage represents imprisonment or an otherwise undesirable restriction of one’s freedom. However, within the realm of architectural design, cages themselves can be freed from the negative connotation of containment: well-designed instances can dramatically enhance the structure or space they contain, framing views, creating visual dynamism, and filtering light to fantastic effect inside and out.

Although the city provides transit centers for those displaced by government enforcement or natural disasters, there are only about 400 bed spaces and they take in residents for three months. On the other hand, there are currently over 20 unused campuses and abandoned schools in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island according to Audit Commission data. As such, these places could be used to create a more temporary housing for those who would be evicted in government clearances and who were waiting for public housing to make housing more affordable.