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Friday, November 17, 2017, 18:01
Smart city, citizens smarter
By Chitralekha Basu
Friday, November 17, 2017, 18:01 By Chitralekha Basu

The HK-Shenzhen bi-city biennale of urbanism and architecture celebrates Hong Kong people’s astuteness in dealing with tricky issues of urban living. Chitralekha Basu reports.

Hysan Plaza escalators will double as a gallery for UABBHK2017 displays. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

3D-printed popsicle molds the shape of iconic Hong Kong structures. 

Planters with maps etched out in concrete — a homage to the irrepressible plant life sprouting from the terraces and cornices in city buildings, complete with directions regarding where to find them. 

Light, collapsible, functional stools, stacked together, doubling as units in a giant caterpillar-shaped installation. 

Messages put up on digital boards that push viewers to wonder if the high taxes levied on property owners might not be a necessity after all , indicating the quality living standards in Asia’s world city. 

If the list above has piqued your curiosity, brace up for more such stuff coming your way. For instance, are you in favor of a sprawling urban development pattern with gardens and cars in every home or would you rather opt for a compact city lay-out, conducive to quick movement across its length and breadth? Walk through a red or a green channel, depending on the side you are on and watch your vote being counted in real time. 

Augmented reality experiences at UABBHK2017 include reading the weather conditions in faraway locations in real time. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

These and more such fun experiences illuminating the many ways in which Hong Kong people engage with the spaces they live in could be enjoyed Dec 12 onward, when the 2017 Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture (UABBHK) opens in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Leading architect Chan Lai-kiu is the chief curator of this ambitious exposition of Hong Kong city life. Chan sums up the theme of the two-month show that runs simultaneously in eight Hong Kong venues and one in Shenzhen as “City Smarts: Density 2.0”. 

UABBHK2017 is a celebration and a showcasing of the acquired wisdom, common sense and the ability to find instant solutions to work round the tricky issues that life in a city brings in its wake. Hong Kong people seem particularly astute at dealing with these. Hence the words “city smarts” — an extension of the idea of street savvy. 

Winners of the treasure hunt will be presented with popsicles the shape of iconic Hong Kong buildings, made using 3D-printed molds. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

So what about “Density 2.0”?

Chan says if the intense weave of buildings in residential areas of Hong Kong and the way people use their smarts to come up with creative solutions to deal with constraints of limited space might be put down to “1.0”, “2.0” then is about taking the idea to the next step. 

To put the idea in perspective, she refers to two government initiatives aimed at finding residential and work spaces in a city dogged by a perennial space crunch — revitalizing of defunct industrial structures and building fresh townships in the New Territories.     

The government’s well-intentioned moves, says Chan, have worked to an extent in both cases. “But now we need to reach for the apples hanging from the higher branches on the tree. That’s why I called this show 2.0.” 

Catch a show on the move

Through the interactive multimedia exhibits, public forums, displays mounted in unlikely spaces — such as the external escalators on the façade of Hysan Plaza, which have since been rechristened “Z Gallery” for their zigzag structure — as well as app-driven guided tours and treasure hunts, Chan and her team of co-curators are trying to draw attention to the several different possible ways of optimizing the use of limited spaces. 

Collapsible stools commonly used in Hong Kong could be used to create a spectacular installation by interlocking these. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

“Our curators will propose solutions,” says Chan. “For instance, opening up the meeting room in a corporate office for other kinds of uses during weekends might be worth pondering.”

“Issues such as these will be raised at the public forums,” she adds. “We are going to invite people from different walks of life to talk on these in order to have a diversity of views.”

More unconventional venues besides the Z Gallery have been pressed into service. The space under the flyover adjacent to Harbour Building in Central will be used to demonstrate methods of urban farming. H6 Conet, the yet-unopened corridor created by the Urban Renewal Authority in the basement of The Centre building, will make for an ideal venue to host talks and interactive sessions. A timeline of the city’s architecture history will be displayed along the walls of the covered passageway on the first floor of the now defunct Central Market. A carnival held on the streets of Old Nantou Village in Shenzhen will bring on the finale in February. 

The Shenzhen leg of the show is an attempt to remind viewers that Hong Kong and Shenzhen share the same architectural legacy. 

“Many among Hong Kong and Shenzhen natives come from the same stock,” says Chan. “Surprisingly, some of these old local traditions have been preserved in Hong Kong rather than in Shenzhen.” Taking UABBHK2017 to Shenzhen, therefore, is an attempt to encourage Shenzhen natives to re-connect with their roots. 

Fai Au, curator of the Urban Renewal project, has proposed sustainable, short-term use of the small “leftover” plots between massive constructions. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Renewal with a heart

One of Chan’s co-curators, Fai Au, is exploring the possibility of urban renewal without having to sacrifice the city’s heritage and social fabric in his UABBHK2017 project. “Urban renewal is not just about the physical building,” says Fai. “When people live somewhere for a long time they build a social network, respond to the surroundings. The question is how to retain these values in the housing developments coming up now.”

One of his proposals is to redevelop old urban lofts left unused for long. However, Fai suggests conducting the overhaul in phases, as opposed to bringing about a drastic and jarring transformation. He is also trying to float the idea of utilizing “leftover” tracts of land between massive properties in downtown Hong Kong. “It’s not easy to build normal-sized housing there, but then maybe it’s possible to use these plots for building short-term, locally viable projects,” says Fai.   

Being a forward-looking carnival of urban living, UABBHK2017 will see the use of some high-voltage technological wizardry. One of these is about giving the audiences a sampler of augmented reality experience related to architectural planning. Chan demonstrates how it is possible to read the directions in which the wind blows and the shadow falls in a certain part of Tsim Sha Tsui at a particular time of the day by holding a technology-enabled iPad over a miniature model of the buildings in that area. 

Chan Lai-kiu, chief curator of UABBHK2017, says it’s time to take the clever ideas Hong Kong people use everyday to get by to the next level. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

She promises there’s going to be a lot of content involving the use of avant-garde, even breakthrough, technology at UABBHK2017, including demonstrations of how an artificial intelligence-manoeuvred robotic arm is able to build a seamlessly well-curved wall from recycled concrete. 

“It’s a good time to experiment with new technology at a time when the local government is keen on building a smart city,” she adds.

If you go

2017 Bi-city (Hong Kong-Shenzhen) Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture

Theme: City Smarts: Density 2.0

Led by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects Biennale Foundation 

Supported by Create Hong Kong

Chief curator: Chan Lai-kiu

Date: Dec 12, 2017 to Feb 11, 2018

Venue: Eight venues in Hong Kong, including Art Tube in Exit J of Central MTR station, Hysan Place and Central Market Hoarding and Nantou Old Town in Shenzhen

uabbhk.org

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