The Indie Map – Playground for the Denied
A_Thesis Title The Indie Map – Playground for the Denied B_Thesis Statement [WHAT] The flock of budding creatives moving into industrial buildings during the decline of Hong Kong’s manufacturing era has led to an organic flourishing of local creative industry. Despite the out-of-date policies that prohibit most of the cultural activities to take place in industrial buildings, habitants managed to get by and built their own nurturing grounds for creativity. Yet, recent schemes to formally “revitalize” these buildings are sabotaging the already dynamic micro-community instead. This thesis aims to develop a typology suitable for repurposing vacant industrial buildings with minimal intervention based on critically re-thinking the “top-down” redevelopment mind-set. C_Description of contexts and key ideas driving the thesis [WHY]
D_Description of Project Intended to Test the Thesis Statement The project is to develop a typology that intervenes minimally so as to allow the creative class to create maximally. The typology should help preserve the organic ecosystem that naturally manifested itself in industrial buildings. Much like a playground, where no instructions (but only restrictions) are provided, users decide for themselves ways to create the most fun out of the supplied equipment. The area of focus would be set at the Kwun Tong industrial district, as it is a district urgently facing a drastic change in its land use fabric. Investigation on how economic events had naturally changed and repurposed the intended use of industrial buildings would help explore the kind of architectural intervention that intervene the least, while confronting with the existing industrial building regulatory constraints. Ultimately, the project aims to challenge the traditional mindset of “redevelopment”, where “culture” only serves as wrapping papers[3] and “sub-culture” is packaged only as marketing products, as symbols for higher social class to show off their image and lifestyles. [4] E_Methodological Processes/ Outline of Research/ Design Experiments [HOW]
F_Supporting Original Visual Materials/Artifact Photographed by Melissa Chan. Taken on September 25, 2016 at Hidden Agenda 3.0.G_Annotated Bibliography/ Precedents Bibliography Chan, M. [陳銘冲]. (2012). “An analysis of the revitalization of industrial buildings in Hong Kong. (Thesis).” University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5353/th_b5025445 Kwun Tong District Council. “The Renewal and Development of Kwun Tong Industrial District Study.” Accessed September 22, 2016. http://www.kwuntong.org.hk/tc/publications.html Wen, Jiling. “觀塘區獨立音樂的發展——從Hidden Agenda說起”. 專題文章: 熟悉和陌生的香港 (June 2014). Lingnan University, Hong Kong SAR. Accessed November 1, 2016. http://www.ln.edu.hk/mcsln/40th_issue/pdf40.pdf Zukin, Sharon. “Public Art: Tracing the Life Cycle of New York’s Creative”. International Symposium: Urban Regeneration through Cultural Creativity and Social Inclusion. URP GCOE Document 9. 2011. Osaka: Urban Research Plaza, Osaka City University. Accessed November 1, 2016. http://www.ur-plaza.osaka-cu.ac.jp/wp1/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/doc_vol9.pdf Zukin, Sharon. Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. To be looked at: Henri Lefebvre, Walter Benjamin… Precedents
Greenwich Village (1880s – 1920s), Soho (1960s/1970s), East Village (1970s/1980s), Williamsburg (1990s), Bushwick and East Williamsburg (2000s) as highlighted by Zukin
(Image Source: JCCAC Website http://www.jccac.org.hk/?a=doc&id=5983 )
(Image source: Fly the Flyover Operation Website http://www.ekeo.gov.hk/en/pmp/flyover_operation.html )
[1] Jiling Wen, 觀塘區獨立音樂的發展——從Hidden Agenda說起 (Hong Kong, Lingnan University, 2014), 23. [2] Sharon Zukin, Public Art: Tracing the Life Cycle of New York’s Creative (Osaka: Osaka City University), 29. [3] Jiling Wen, 觀塘區獨立音樂的發展——從Hidden Agenda說起 (Hong Kong, Lingnan University, 2014), 60. [4] Sharon Zukin, Public Art: Tracing the Life Cycle of New York’s Creative (Osaka: Osaka City University), 33. |