{"id":2086,"date":"2016-11-08T11:29:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T03:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/?p=2086"},"modified":"2016-11-09T17:00:14","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T09:00:14","slug":"hong-kong-pop-cont-from-abstract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/hong-kong-pop-cont-from-abstract\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong Pop (cont. from abstract)"},"content":{"rendered":"

HONG KONG POP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reconstructing the cultural identity of Hong Kong People, and how to move forward<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Snapshot<\/a>

Snapshot of the City<\/p><\/div>\n

Fig.1 Picture on the left:\u00a0\u00a0Gustave Caillebotte, Le pont de l\u2019Europe. <\/em>1876, Oil on canvas,\u00a0124.7 \u00d7 180.6 cm.\u00a0Mus\u00e9e du Petit Palais,\u00a0Gen\u00e8ve. From: Wikimedia, http:\/\/wikimedia.org (Access: 23 September, 2016)<\/p>\n

Picture on the right: zosuen,\u00a0Causeway Bay with @oh.leemon<\/em>, 2016, Instagram, 1080px x 1080px. Instagram. From Instagram (Accessed: 23 September, 2016)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TL; DR:<\/u> <\/em><\/strong>This thesis designs a street<\/strong> in Hong Kong that takes care of not only economic<\/strong> feasibility but cultural<\/strong> and psychological<\/strong> aspects of Hong Kong people.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Please read first: Thesis abstract*<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crisis: Stagnation on all fronts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hong Kong is at a crossroad. Now more than ever, it is anticipating an incoming of salvation or a disaster once and for all.<\/p>\n

Current architectural design and development excels in securing profit among developers, investors and home buyers. However, with meager income that barely grew in the past 10 years, many cannot afford a proper home that comes with a huge price tag. Tasked to tackle housing shortage, the Government largely focuses only on the shortage of land supply, (knowingly, or unknowingly) unaware of the bigger picture such as coordination of urban planning and immigration control.<\/p>\n

The dilemma of conservation or development has exceeded the traditional realm of heritage protection. With the growing prevalence of mega shopping malls featuring chain stores, part of public opinion has reacted with an infatuation towards nostalgic small local shops and restaurants. Whenever local shops gave way to a large chains store, people would typically mourn the loss of places that they used to go.<\/p>\n

Worse still, current political conflicts have dominated the center stage of public debate. It has drawn the public\u2019s awareness away from local urban issues that are becoming more crucial than ever.<\/p>\n

The thesis while acknowledge the limits of architectural design to affect sociopolitical issues, aims to theorize a new paradigm to address social, cultural and economic issues in Hong Kong. The architectural project situates itself at the intersection of public space, commercial space, transport and residential space<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

0\/\/ Methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two dynamics at work in the thesis. The first dynamic is an anatomy of the identity of Hong Kong people<\/strong>. It is a research to highlight issues that correlates (be it direct or indirect) with the specificity of geographical and physical urban condition in Hong Kong. For instance, patterns of production and reception of popular culture (online\/offline, physical\/intangible), patterns of commercial activities and patterns of public space usage. The objective of the research is to make sense of the characteristics and identity of Hong Kong people vis-\u00e0-vis the city<\/strong>. Thereby mapping out the strengths and deficiencies that is common among Hong Kong people.<\/p>\n

The research is crucial. While the existing paradigm of urban development optimizes efficiency in terms of time and money, the cultural and psychological effect of architectural development are often not sufficiently discussed. Amid Global\/ Local, East\/West influences, the multi-hybridity of Hong Kong also makes it difficult to conclude what Hong Kong is. The question \u2018What is Hong Kong People?\u2019 drives the research to uncover hidden connections between People and Architecture in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

The second dynamic begins from an architectural design project<\/strong>. While the selection of site is still debatable, it is projected that the site will be a segment of street in one of the busiest urban districts. It is acknowledged that a site too large would be unmanageable hence undesirable. Therefore, the physical site is anticipated to be just enough to address spatial relationships between public space, public transport, commercial and residential use at least. Options of site include Wan Chai, Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei. The architectural design will pick up signals from the research thereby theorizing a mode of architectural development and design that is not only economically feasible, but ultimately takes care of the psychological need of Hong Kong people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1\/\/ What is Hong Kong People? \/ Identity of Hong Kong People vis-\u00e0-vis the City<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.1\/\/ Multi-Hybridity<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is hard to pin down the identity of Hong Kong People because it is constantly changing. This can be briefly illustrated by \u2018types\u2019 of fashion style unique to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

\u2018MK\u2019 (Mong Kok style)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Source: Next media.\u00a0Image by Unknown.<\/p>\n

Prevalent from early 2000s to around 2010. This is regarded as the local fashion style that is unique to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u507d\u97d3\u2019 (Pseudo-Korean)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Presslogic\u00a0(31 May 2016). 5\u6b3e\u5fc5\u8cb7\u97d3\u7cfb\u55ae\u54c1\u00a0[.PNG]. Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/girls.presslogic.com\/2016\/05\/31\/article\/11992\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Prevalent from early 2010s until today. This is regarded as an impact of importation of Korean pop culture (K-Pop). Influences of K-Pop ranges from music, drama, movie, to cosmetics, clothes, from language to mobile messaging apps.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u507d\u6587\u9752\u2019 (Pseudo-hipster)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lai, Michael. (1 October 2015). \u300a\u771f\u507d\u6587\u9752\u300bOfficial MV [Video]. Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/acSyIAALyKA\/maxresdefault.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

Prevalent from mid 2000s until today. They are regarded as young people who wish to appear learned and cultivated, yet do not have a habit of reading at all.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u507dABC\u2019 (Pseudo-American Born Chinese)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Apple Daily. (8 August 2015). \u507dABC\u5c31\u5927\u7d04\u4fc29\/1\u621610\/0\u5206\u754c\u982d [JPEG]. Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/hk.apple.nextmedia.com\/realtime\/magazine\/20150808\/54065621<\/a><\/p>\n

Prevalent from early 2010s until today. They are described as people that speaks a combination of Cantonese and English with a seemingly-American accent, although in fact having been born and raised in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Fashion is only one of many phenomena that has multiple roots. This part of the research aims to develop an understanding of Hong Kong People through studying Hong Kong pop culture. Subjects of investigation includes TV, music, drama, advertisements, fashion, mobile apps.<\/p>\n

1.2\/\/ Undercurrent: History of Hong Kong People<\/strong><\/p>\n

This part of the research considers the historical elements that lead to the complexity of Hong Kong people. It questions the roots of Hong Kong people.<\/p>\n

1.3\/\/ Urban activities<\/strong><\/p>\n

This part catalogs urban activities within 3 or more critical urban sites to illustrate pattern of spatial utilization. Media includes photography, film, interviews.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

2\/\/ The Street \/ Architectural Design<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.1\/\/ The Locus<\/strong><\/p>\n

A design of a segment of street in Hong Kong that is geared for the future. Attention will be given from details such as road curb and lamp posts, to urban layout.<\/p>\n

2.2\/\/ Projected Deliverables and Testing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apart from producing drawings and models at studio, the production of the thesis seeks to be interactive. A website will be setup to deliver the updates of the project while collecting opinions from the online community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles Baudelaire, The Painter of Modern Life and other essays (London: Phaidon Press, 1995)
\nChuihua Judy Chung, Jeffrey Inaba, Rem Koolhaas, Sze Tsung Leong, Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (Cologne: Taschen GmbH, 2001)
\nDouglas Rushkoff, Present Shock: when everything happens now <\/em>(New York: Penguin Group, 2013)
\nGeorg Simmel, The Metropolis and Mental Life in The Sociology of Georg Simmel (New York: Free Press, 1976)
\nWalter Benjamin,\u00a0The arcades project<\/em>\u00a0(Cambridge, Mass. ; London: Belknap Press, 1999)
\nWalter Benjamin,\u00a0Illuminations<\/em>\u00a0(New York: Schocken Books, 2007)
\n\u9673\u51a0\u4e2d, \u4e0b\u4e00\u500b\u5341\u5e74<\/em> \u9999\u6e2f\u7684\u5149\u69ae\u6642\u4ee3 <\/em>(Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2008)
\n\u5289\u8700\u6c38\uff0c\u7c21\u660e\u9999\u6e2f\u53f2<\/em> (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 2016)
\n\u912d\u5bf6\u9d3b\uff0c \u9999\u6e2f\u83ef\u6d0b\u884c\u696d\u767e\u5e74<\/em> \u98f2\u98df\u8207\u5a1b\u6a02\u7bc7<\/em> (Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 2016)
\n\u5468\u6c38\u65b0\uff0c\u9999\u6e2f\u4eba\u7684\u8eab\u4efd\u8a8d\u540c\u548c\u50f9\u503c\u89c0<\/em> (Hong Kong: Chunghwa Book, 2016)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HONG KONG POP Reconstructing the cultural identity of Hong Kong People, and how to move forward   Fig.1 Picture on the left:\u00a0\u00a0Gustave Caillebotte, Le pont de l\u2019Europe. 1876, Oil on canvas,\u00a0124.7 \u00d7 180.6 cm.\u00a0Mus\u00e9e du Petit Palais,\u00a0Gen\u00e8ve. From: Wikimedia, http:\/\/wikimedia.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28],"tags":[79,177],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2192,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions\/2192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}