informal

 Working on my Hong Kong design project, I keep thinking back to my visit to Tai O and how interesting it was to see how the residents there have constructed their living environment. Informality is a quality that is often sought after in architecture but rarely [i.e. never] achieved as successfully bottom-up developments like Tai O. What I hope to take from this place is the ability to adapt to surroundings.. something very much reflected in the streets, homes and structures of the village. It was a really inspirational place to visit.

My trip to Scandinavia was wonderful.. I should have some photos to share soon!

harbour to peak

 A few photos following a journey from Victoria harbour to The Peak. The view from up there is pretty amazing.. we were lucky to have a fairly clear night. One of the coolest things in Hong Kong is the Mid-levels Escalator [second to last photo]. Because it’s so steep in Hong Kong, they built a series of escalators going from the residential  areas up the hill down to the business district. The elevation change is something like 135 meters, and the escalator goes down during the morning and uphill for the rest of the day.. cool huh?

I had my P2 presentation yesterday and got a “go” from my professors and the external reviewers so I was pretty happy about that! The graduation process at this school is pretty regimented.. the next go/no go presentation will be in May I think. I basically have a free week now so I’m looking forward to getting out of the apartment and making a few small trips around NL. Will try to get some new film developed too.

 

collage

 I’m working on making a collage as part of my design proposal/strategy for my presentation and was looking through some of my Hong Kong photos for inspiration. Still having a bit of a tough time determining a direction though..

What do you do when you’re in need of some inspiration?

urban condition

Hong Kong is a fast city. One thing I’ve learned from visiting and researching the city is that things change at a pretty rapid pace in Hong Kong.. and the area that I’ve chosen to study is no exception. Most of the neighbourhood is comprised of post-war tong lau, 6-7 storey walk ups with commercial space on the bottom. Wing Lee street, where most of these photos were taken, is one of the rare spots in the city where older tong lau still exist. The area was slighted for demolition but the decision was reversed after a movie filmed at the site won an award at the Berlin Film Festival. Some of the nearby housing blocks are still under threat and luxury towers have begun to pop up around the area. While it’s easy to overly romanticize the worn and lived-in nature of these areas, there is something to be said about preserving the tong lau typologies as an alternative to the massive housing towers which are both out of scale and out of touch with their surroundings.

Hopefully I’ll be able to address some of these issues with my design project. Anyway, Hong Kong has turned out to be a fascinating and complex place to study.. super glad I chose this studio!

I’m heading home on Sunday.. can’t wait to be back in Vancouver for a few weeks

stanley beach

I think this is one of the only times where I can say I’ve enjoyed spending the afternoon at the beach in November. Making the relatively short trip to Stanley that Sunday with a few classmates was definitely worth it. Stanley is just on the other side of Hong Kong Island and it was a nice [and much needed] break from the busy city environment where we had spent most of our time. One of the best parts of the trip was the fact that my studio mates and I were able to spend time together in a totally different environment than the usual classroom setting, and I’ve made some great new friends because of it.

Even though it’s not that cold in Delft yet [hanging around 10 degrees], I definitely would like to be back on this beach!

tai ping shan

 My favourite little neighbourhood in Hong Kong! Tai Ping Shan Street has an interesting mix of old and new, as well as lots of small creative businesses and boutiques. Originally I thought of choosing it as the site for my design project but I decided to choose another place nearby, but use this area as a kind of case study.

I’ve got loads of stuff to do in the next 2 months before my P2 [big, serious design presentation] and I want to try and get as much of it done before I go home for the holidays. Looks like it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.. and wow, it’s going to be December in 2 days.. where does the time go?

different but familiar

I’ve been back in Delft for almost two weeks now but Hong Kong is still on my mind. The best way I end up describing it to people is “different but familiar”. There was something about Hong Kong that made me feel sort of comfortable, but at the same time there were always so many new and different experiences and things to see to keep it exciting. These photos were taken close to my site in Sheung Wan and at the Graham Street Market in Central. I was amazed to see the printer [in photo 3] still using a very old style printing press.. really fascinating to watch.

I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been super busy since I’ve been back, but now that I finally have some film developed I’ll have more to share. Hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of November!

first twenty four

There are just a few of the photos I took on my first full 24 hours in Hong Kong. I have lots [really lots] more to share, including some film photos once I get around to developing them, which will hopefully be soon. This city is amazing and every day I’m discovering more and more reasons to come back. I’ve also been able to get to know my studio mates better which has made the experience all the more enjoyable.

I’m looking forward to crossing a few more things off my list during my last weekend here, then it’s back to NL late Monday night. Hope you all are having an amazing autumn!

hong kong

It’s my fifth full day in Hong Kong today and I’ve been super busy so far [and thankfully not very jet lagged]. I hope to have some more time later this week to share some of the photos I’ve taken. It’s a really amazing city and I’m looking forward to trying to design a project to fit in with this landscape.

stanley park

 I’m glad I was able to spend some time in Stanley Park with my mom before I left Vancouver to head back to school. We had a nice walk around the Seawall, around Beaver Lake, through the gardens and finished up by sharing some salmon and chips. Stanley Park is another one of those places where at times it’s really easy to forget you’re actually right in a major metropolis. I’m really envious of the great “indian summer” Vancouver is apparently having.. although I think we’re supposed to be getting a little more sun here over the next week.

Well school mode is finally starting to set in..looks like a lot of work ahead. Although I am pretty freaking excited that I booked my flight to Hong Kong last night! Our design studio is studying Hong Kong and will be making a project situated there for our graduation thesis and I’m really looking forward to learning about the city and paying it a visit in November.

I hope to find some time in the next few days to go and get some more film developed…I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do!