Newsletter No. 180

CUHK Newsletter No. 180 19th March 2001 3 Re-experiencing Mongkok Prize-Winning Project at Internationa l Architectural Competition I magine making your way on a rainy day through the chaos o f downtown Mo n g k ok t o th e Mo n g k ok KC R station. Then imagine th e same trip sheltered all the way from adverse climate and vehicular exhaust. There i s sunlight and clean natural ai r t o greet your lungs. You need no t stop fo r pedestrian lights. Cars buzz past but there i s n o danger o f being run over. A t night, you see colourful lights and neon signs projected onto a screen above your head, like a surreal city above the real thing. Too good to be true? This was i n fact part o f a project b y architecture students o f th e Un i v e r s i t y, en t i t l ed ' U r b an Revitalization-Mongkok Phenomenon', which wo n first prize i n th e Fifteenth Membrane Design Competition 2000 held i n Tokyo last November. The event was hosted by Taiyo Kogyo Corporation, a large company which, among other things, produces membranes. The CUHK team began preparing for the competition last April. The site they chose wa s a n access path l i nk i ng th e urban centre o f Mongkok t o th e KC R station. Bu t wh y Mong k o k? ' Wh i le Mongkok i s th e busiest area i n Hong Kong, th e site around th e KCRC i s neglected and underutilized. I t has a lo t of greenery but few facilities for people's enjoyment. Th e high traffic f l ow also heavily pollutes the area. There i s a lo t o f room fo r environmental improvement i n that area,' explained the students. To retain the site as an area for public use and to contain pollution, the students grouped movements in the area into three streams: pedestrian, vehicular, an d elevated. Different forms o f membranes are adopted t o suit particular movement needs and characteristics. For th e pedestrians, th e students designed a semi-open membrane, similar to that used i n the Hong Kong Stadium, to create a more relaxing atmosphere, allowing unrestrained movement an d encouraging incidental activities. Th e membrane separates pedestrians from vehicles and their exhaust. I t also shelters th e space from strong sunlight and rain while allowing natural ventilation. Ex i s t i ng greenery i s preserved wh i le street activities such as selling and buying, eating, promoting, resting, are relocated along th e pedestrian flow. For the vehicular stream, the students were concerned w i t h capturing th e movement o f the vehicles. The design is a relatively confined tube segregating cars from pedestrians while allowing visual interaction between the two. Through the transparent memb r ane, pedestrian activities are abstracted as movements o n the screen, an d th e vehicular flow i s captured as speedy, brief, and constant signals across the tube. The elevated passage connects th e pedestrian flow t o the upper-level o f the KCR plaza a t th e Mongkok station. T o highlight i t as a point o f overlap an d interchange, th e design i s a one-piece membrane floating over the vehicular and pedestrian streams. In th e night-time neon signs an d colourful lights ar e projected onto th e membranes t o enliven the site and give i t a distinct Mongkok flavour. Natural ai r f l ow i n th e three different streams i s enabled b y a wind tower created b y th e combined effects o f the surrounding highrises and the membranes. These design concepts were captured in a stylish digital presentation with the help o f M A Y A , a professional an d expensive animation software. I t was the first time that this compe t i t i on ha d required contestants t o present their projects digitally. The jury, comprising top-notch architects an d a structural engineer i n Japan, based their judgment on three criteria: how membrane i s used, the interpretation of public space and how membrane i s used t o improve it , an d lastly, whether th e digital presentation expresses th e concepts we l l. Each member of the jury would choose the top three entries o f their choice i n the right priority, an d comment o n them. Th e CUHK entry was the all-time favourite. It wa s complimented o n th e comprehensiveness of its ideas and the clarity o f the presentation. The four students believed the most difficult part o f the process was having to juggle the competition with their final- year project. However, they did receive a lo t o f support from the department i n the f o rm o f facilities, software, an d guidance in using the software. Prof. Tsou Jin Yeu, the team's adviser, explained t o them very early o n what they should b e keenly aware of: very strong competitors, where they stood, th e distance between their budding concepts and the things they wanted t o achieve, an d th e need fo r commitment. H e also made them realize the importance o f highlighting what was unique about their project. 'Hong Kong is very unique. Among other things, i t has hyperdensity. The students need t o know how t o communicate that t o people who don't come from a hyperdense city an d who have a very d i f f e r ent cultural background,' h e said. 'The competition gave th e students a n opportunity t o demonstrate creatively what they have learnt i n th e past an d t o practise th e discipline i n a manner expected o f professionals i n their field. Newspapers often criticize that Hong Kong students lack discipline. Bu t here w e have a n example o f ou r students exercising rigorous discipline i n their endeavour t o excel' The department will formally submit th students' idea to the HKSAR government. And i f it i s indeed adopted one day, a stroll i n Mongkok might just b e a n experience that w o u l d have made Baudelaire's fl â neur smile. Piera Chen The brainchild of Alex Chan (left 2), B i l ly Chan (left 3) , Florence Hu i (right 1), and Ida Sze (right 2), four Master o f Architecture students, the design defeated 207 entries from 31 countries around the w o r l d , most o f w h i c h we re f r om practising architects o r architectural firms. The contestants had t o submit a n image based o n t he ir ideas an d a d e s c r i p t i on b y M a y 2000. A f t e r preliminary screening, 1 0 entries were chosen fo r the finals o n 15th November, when each team was asked to give a four- minute digital presentation.