Bamboo Micro homes could be slotted inside Hong Kong’s old factories- Studio Affect-T

Making room-Capsule Towers in High-Density City

Architecture is the making of a room; an assembly of rooms. The light is the light of that room. Thoughts exchanged by one another are not the same in one room as in another; a street is a room, a community room by agreement. Its character from intersection to intersection changes and may be regarded as a number of rooms.

—Louis Kahn

“Architecture comes from the making of a room”, Louis Kahn graffitied on a drawing he exhibited in 1971.”The room is the place of the mind.” A room always stands for the interior, the domestics, a place of the person.” I am my world” To Kahn, architecture is “an assembly of rooms”, to us, it is an assembly of many alternative worlds.

After this summer’s visit to Japan and have a specific experience living in a Capsule Tower named Ginza Bay Hotel in Ginza District as well as visit the Nakagin Capsule tower which impress me most is the tidy and basic space with all the necessary function in it: no-smoking area, women floor, men floor, shower room, washing closet etc. It runs well with only a few servants to serve more than 100 people which shows great efficiency especially in High-density and highly developed cities, Tokyo, similar population density comparing with Hong Kong, then here comes a question that: Why there are many capsule towers in Tokyo however Hong Kong is none.

The reason is: After world war II, Japan is under high pressure to rebuild the country, Tokyo as the center of the country has the responsibility to provide cheap and comfort apartment in the heart area. Therefore the capsule tower emerged. In other words, it is a product of post-war metabolism.

However, years later, it becomes one of the most popular hotels for visitors. From the perspective of tourism, Hong Kong can also learn from that. Because of super-expensive house rent and politic issues, Hong Kong’s tourism now is under great pressure. Visitors need to spend 70% of their expenses into Hotel Fee and even live in Chong King Mansion which is considered unsafe place for visitor especially for girls. Even though social safety issues may not be solved with only one architecture, but as an architect, we should provide their more choice of living and working in the city.

Therefore, I question that whether the architecture can re-activate the tourism in Hong Kong. Capsule tower will be the first choice for visitors with its low price, high security and basic function room as well as for young generations who start their young life in Hong Kong.

The Initial Structure of Capsule Tower in Hong Kong.

I: Definition of Capsule tower.

Chances and Challenges(controllable and uncontrollable issues such as politics,        economics, environmental etc.)

II: Capsule Tower as a tool to re-activate Hong Kong’s Tourism.

III: Required resources:

Ergonomics

Research Basic Living Units in Hong Kong as well as the world.

Economics and politics: the feasibilities under economics and politics influence

Re-construction and Abandoned Projects can be the experiment area for capsule space.

Pre-fabricated Member to generated from the assembly-line.

IV: Methods (How)

Eg. Capsule Units combination in main Structure

Movable structure with Movable elements.

Learn from Containers.

Different scales of Capsule for different functions.

Materiality: Bamboo, Wood, abandoned bricks etc.

V: Expansion of Capsule in Hong Kong

Expansion of the use with capsule in Hong Kong:

For Tourists(located in Central, TST and Mountain in Hong Kong)

For Homeless(Under Bridge or Large Infrastructure)

For Elderly(Located near Hospital)

For Residence(young generation also take Re-construction project into consideration)

For Offices (such as Inflatable Capsule Unit)

For Delayed Flight and transfer Passengers in or near Hong Kong International Airport (should be supported with Government

Harbor: Hong Kong should take its own advantage that the Hong Kong Island is surround by bays and hundreds of islands. Therefore the Capsule could also be floating living unit as travel machine.

VI: Expansion of Capsule Use in other places of the world with specific design method.

Advantages to use Pre-Fabrication System:

Research Book

《My 32 sq. Apartment-A 30-year Transformation》,Gary Chang

《Vernacular Contained (香港集裝箱建築)》,Vito Bertin/Gu Daqing

Modern Modular- Prefab Houses of Resolution

Modern Modular- Prefab Houses of Resolution

Modern Modular- Prefab Houses of Resolution

<Modern Modular- Prefab House of RESOLUTION: 4 ARCHITECTURE>, Joseph Tunney and Robert Lantz

In 1998, the Hong Kong International Airport relocated to Chek Lap Kok, clearing the way for a redevelopment of the Kai Tak lands. In 2006 the Planning Department outlined plans to build two new public estates on part of this brownfield site. The two estates, called Kai Ching (啟晴) and Tak Long (德朗), opened on the former north apron in 2013/2014.[3] Like other public housing estates in Hong Kong, the construction of Kai Ching Estate made use of prefabricated components including precast facades and staircases, semi-precast slabs, and precast kitchens and bathrooms.[4] Kai Ching was also a pilot estate for the use of precast water taps.[2] The estate incorporates a number of energy and water saving features. Renewable energy sources include solar panels on the housing block rooftops, and lift motors that can generate power when the lift is carrying a heavy load down, a light load up, or under braking conditions. A district cooling system cools non-domestic facilities including the shops, kindergartens, and estate offices. A rainwater collection system is used for irrigation.

<House me Tender-Total Precast Cell Systems for Mass Customized Housing in Hong Kong and China>, O. Ottevaere, GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.1, July 2014.

Inside Prefab

Furniture House, Shigeru Ban,1995

Ban’s design for furniture house relies on the prefabrication of furniture units that both functions as place- making elements and form the structure basis of the house.

Bamboo Micro homes could be slotted inside Hong Kong’s old factories- Studio Affect-T

“Currently there are around 280,000 residents of the city who live in illegal structures such as rooftop houses, cage homes, and subdivided flats. They are generally unsafe, lacking proper fresh water supply, waste disposal, access to light, ventilation, etc,” Baker-Rice told Dezeen. “Our proposal is to use the vacant industrial spaces within the city and convert them to transitional communities for those who cannot afford housing. Residents would live in these houses for six months to seven years, which is the waiting time for public housing in the city,” he said. The Bamboo Micro-Houses were conceived and built for the 280,000 plus residents of Hong Kong who currently live without any permanent form of housing. They live without a social safety net in a city where housing prices are some of the most expensive in the world.

Dwelling for elderly occupant Many residents forgo public housing because it is constructed far away from the city centre, adding additional financial burden when they relocate far away from their family, jobs, shopping and community. The proposed dwelling units would be located within underutilized industrial buildings in the city centre. Using these industrial buildings for structure, enclosure, and infrastructure the bamboo housing is flexible, modular, easy to construct, easy to maintain and relatively inexpensive to procure.

Dwelling for disabled occupant Bamboo was chosen as it is one of the most abundant and sustainable natural resources in Southeast Asia. Growing at many times the rate of wood its strength to weight ratio exceeds steel and can be used to create structure, screening, and enclosure. We developed a system of joining bamboo using bolts and fasteners in addition to designing the houses ensuring quick and secure assembly.

Bibliography

<Prefabricated Construction using Digitally Integrated Industrial Manufacturing>, Harry Giles, ARCC Journal/ Volume 5 Issue 2, p227-243.

<Modern Modular>- The Prefab Houses of RESOLUTION:4 ARCHITECTURE, Joseph Tanney and Robert Luntz, Princeton Architecture Press, New York

<House me Tender-Total Precast Cell Systems for Mass Customized Housing in Hong Kong and China>, O. Ottevaere, GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.1, July 2014.

<Herman Hertzberger>, Wessel Reinink/ Fotografie: Klaus Kinold, UITGEVERIJ 010 ROTTERDAM.

<Inside Prefab- The Ready-Made Interior>, Deborah Schneiderman, Princeton Architecture Press, 2012

<Project Japan- Metabolism Talks>, Rem Koolhaas/Hans Ulrich Obrist., TASCHEN.GmbH,2011

<Chatter-Architecture Talks Back>, Karen Kice, Yale University Press, New Haven and London,2014

<Pet Architecture Guide Book>, Vol 2, Atelier Bow-Wow, Tokyo Institute of Techonology,Tsukamoto Architecture Laboratory& Atelier Bow-Wow, 2002.

<Vernecular Contained 香港集裝箱建築>, Vito Bertin/Gu Daqing, China Architecture and Building Press, 2004.

<My 32sqm Apartment-a 30-year transformation >, Gary Chang, Paperback – Deluxe Edition, October 1, 2008.

<Gary Chang: Suitcase House >, Gary Chang, Paperback – August 2, 2004.

<Hong Kong Typology- An Architectural Research on Hong Kong Building Types>, Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein ETN Zurich, Gta Verlag.2010.

<Kowloon Cultural District: An Investigation into Spatial Capabilities in Hong Kong>, Esther Lorenz and Li Shiqiao, MCCM Creations, Hong Kong, China, 2015.

<Components and systems: Modular Constrcution: design, structure, new technologies>, Gerald Staib, Edition Detail, Institut für internationale Architektur-Dokumentation, 2008.

<HONG KONG IN-BETWEEN香港之間>，Géraldine Borio and Caroline Wüthrich, MCCM Creations and Park Books. Established in Zurich in 2012.

<Herman Hertsberger- Artuculation>，Herman Hertzberger, Prestel Publishing, 2002.

<High rise high density>. Sergison, Jonathan and Stephen Bates. Harvard GSD, 2014.

<Prefab Architecture: A Guide to Modular Design and Construction>. Smith, Ryan and James Timberlake.Wiley, 2010. Home Ownership Scheme, Hong Kong Housing Authority

SCMP:

<Cheap Hong Kong-designed ‘container homes’ the way of the future>,

<Panel suggests prefabricated housing for families in subdivided flats>,

<Cheap Hong Kong-designed ‘container homes’ the way of the future>,

<Wood touted as next big thing in highrise buildings>

<Bamboo Micro homes could be slotted inside Hong Kong’s old factories- Studio Affect-T>- DEZEEN