Heterogeneity of Shopping Mall

MALL AS CITY GENERATOR
HONG KONG

Mall has different meanings in the world and is related to different aspects, but there is only commercially driven meaning in Hong Kong. Mall is also the core activity area for Hong Kong people and tourists, they exist everywhere in Hong Kong and become a huge network. Because of the consumerism, the programs and space are designed for tourists, rather than the locals. So what is the meaning of mall to Hong Kong people nowadays.

WHAT

My thesis is looking for a new series of shopping mall typology, aiming at the standardized and typical mall design produced under the influence of consumerism in Hong Kong nowadays, including 1. privatized public space; 2. internalizaion and bigness of shopping mall design which results in zero relationship with the context; 3. repetitive programs which caused a monotonous life style and wating space.

WHY

The core of a city can reflect the value and the culture. When looking the Hong Kong from a top view, the core is missing since the high density and high-rise buildings, but it could be found from the section of a city, and the core is shopping mall, which occupies so much space in Hong Kong at lower level. Social activity is often happened inside, rather than the outside, the narrow streets or little parks. As well as the podium area, where actually is a privatized public space governed by a developer and not open for all public. In Hong Kong, there are 2 types of malls, one is developed by the Governments, malls are always located at the focal point of a public estate; second type is done by private developers, most of them are located underneath housing or commercial towers and some of them are even connected directly to MTR. Due to the monopolization and privatization of a few developers, they make mall design to be standardized in order to maximize the retail area to make more profit. Eventually, the actual public space is getting less and the role of shopping malls is getting important in a city, when all shopping malls are trying to connect with bridges in order to expand the network, so what the malls can bring us is only a monotonous and restrained life.

HOW

A collection of shopping malls
Chapter one comprises 3 parts, part one is a collection of Hong Kong’s shopping malls, which is the exploration of the relationship between shopping mall space, living space and public space in each selected district in Hong Kong; Part two is a collection of the Government’s and private shopping malls; Chapter two is design part with isometric drawing as demonstration tool to take care the influence to the plan and section of a city.