{"id":1296,"date":"2016-11-04T23:18:11","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T15:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/?p=1296"},"modified":"2016-11-18T00:35:49","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T16:35:49","slug":"market-innovation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/market-innovation-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Market Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Market Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Key words:1. Problematic Market ; 2. Historically Valuable Site 2. Market and City; 3. Market Innovation;<\/p>\n

1.Thesis Statement\u00a0[WHAT]<\/strong><\/p>\n

This thesis aims to focus on the typology of traditional market and explore the methodology of market innovation. Market is a large-scale public space where people may touch with everyday, however, market is also a place that easily causes problems, such as management difficulties, safety problems, traffic problems, hygienic problems and so on. Those traditional markets in Hong Kong have a long history that presents the development of vernacular architecture. On the one hand, the historical value<\/strong> of traditional markets should be taken seriously. On the other hand, the traditional markets may not adapt to the contemporary urban design<\/strong>, which will have a great influence on the surroundings and create a lot of problems. Therefore, those traditional markets may need a renovation in order to accommodate to the current context. This thesis will figure out the methodology of dealing with problems of traditional markets as well as the balance of tradition and modernity in the renovation. Moreover, renovation means the second design that reminds us to think about what kind of market is suitable for the current situation and what innovation we can make in redesign. Therefore, this thesis will also discuss whether the market can merge with infrastructure, landscapes, arts or even more public activities to create a new type of market. In this thesis, Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market in Kowloon is chosen as the specific site.<\/p>\n

2.Description of contexts and key ideas driving the thesis [WHY]<\/strong><\/p>\n

YMT fruit market was found in 1913 as some temporary structure. At that time, the market was selling not only the fruits but also the vegetable, poultry, fish and dry goods (see Fig.1)1<\/sup>. Until 1920s, the government started to build brick buildings that are the basic form of the market right now (see Fig. 3). After 1965, the fish and vegetables market were moved to the other places in Hong Kong, thus YMT market became specialized in fruit trading (see Fig. 2). During more than one hundred years, the fruit stalls expanded from16 to 200 which traded 50 thousands fruits everyday2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Because of\u00a0the long history of market and its importance on the cultural of Yau Ma Tei District, YMT fruit market was rated as a Grade 2 heritage site. Although this market has a great historical value, it is still facing many urgent issues right now. The first issue is traffic problems<\/strong>. There is not enough storage space in the market so that the streets nearby become the new area for storing the fruit, which seriously affected the normal traffic (See Fig.4). Secondly, the nearly hundred-year buildings have the serious safety problems<\/strong>, which resulted in a three – alarm fire in September this year(See Fig.5)3<\/sup>. Thirdly,the waste<\/strong> of fruit and rubbish<\/strong> has also affected the surrounding environments. In addition, the working time for fruit trade is from 1a.m. to 8\u00a0a.m., which causes much noise<\/strong> at night, however, in the daytime, almost all the shops are closed, which makes the market become “dead”<\/strong> and lose the value of land<\/strong>(See Fig.6). All the issues above have a great influence on the people who live and work here as well as the whole environment. Since 2007 to 2013, the government has received about 1533 complaints on the market4<\/sup>. Actually the government has planned to move the market to other place since 1963, however, until now, there is not a clear schedule for this plan because of many factors, such as the management and location5<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Footprint\uff1a<\/span><\/h6>\n

1.Wikipedia, \u201cYau Ma Tei Fruit Market,\u201d last modified September4, 2016,https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Yau_Ma_Tei_Fruit_Market<\/p>\n

2.Hong Kong Institute of Architects, \u201cVisit : Yau Ma Tei Local Community\u201d Hong Kong, 2012 , 11.<\/p>\n

3.Orientaldaily \u201cOne-hundred-year Fruit Market Preserved The Prewar Architecture \u201d Last modified June14,2010. http:\/\/orientaldaily.on.cc\/cnt\/news\/20100614\/00176_099.html<\/p>\n

4.Apple Nextmedia,\u201cAudit report: Hong Kong Government\u2019s proposal of moving Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market has no result yet since 1969″Last modified April 20,2016. http:\/\/hk.apple.nextmedia.com\/realtime\/news\/20160420\/55008026<\/p>\n

5.Press Communique\u201cThe legislative council:No.6 Item Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market\u00a0\u201d Last modified July 24,2009. http:\/\/orientaldaily.on.cc\/cnt\/news\/20100614\/00176_099.html<\/span><\/p>\n

3.Description of Project Intended to Test the Thesis Statement<\/strong><\/p>\n

This thesis is going to put forward a proposal that the market can be renovated at the current site and how to deal with the issues mentioned above through the urban plan and architectural design. The project needs to be considered in two aspects. One aspect is what the valuable traditional resources exist and how to protect them, including the vernacular architecture, the landmarks, and the cultural of the market as well as the memory of this place. The other aspect of project is how to make innovations on the market. There are some ideas that will be tested in the thesis.<\/p>\n