Living on Edges: A study of the edges of isolation and intergration
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What: Edges as the place of encounter Edges, or boundaries, imply the existence of another entity, which that other being could be similar or very different. It generates a sense of otherness and self-identity, non-interference and freedom. An edge separates, but no necessarily isolates. A non-porous edge acts like a shield for isolating two beings, on the other hand, a porous one encourages one to diffuse into another, and embraces the other side of the edge as a complementary part. The idea of edge came from the observation of street environment in HK. The tram road on Hong Kong Island was one of the first developed area in the city, where in some old districts like North Point, Wanchai and Central, there are two diverse typologies of urban edges, the open street markets with hawker stalls and modern shopping malls. The thesis aims to extract ideas of edge effect on natural ventilation, lighting, dynamic use of space and interactive spaces. Why: Re-thinking streets as the vernacular On a street level, pedestrians are under the most vigorous impact of the edges between their circulation route and the shopping area. In shopping malls, streets are internalized. The shop fronts are shielded in cool and flush glass surfaces, which the products are projected as a 2-dimensional image behind the glass to the observer, implies a clear boundary between the shopping area and the circulation route. In contrast, shop fronts in open street mar- kets are relatively more interactive and dynamic to the pedestrians. The smell of the flowers, the blushing of clothes against the thighs of the pedestrians when they walk by, the sound of hawkers selling fish, these are touchable and somehow more humane reality for pedestrians to walk through. The design of hawker stalls is change- able and expandable according to need and weather, which also intrigues more unexpected encounters in the walking experience. In the urban scale, the hawker stalls in open street markets are fragmented in a way to enable pedestrians to get a sense of place and time, no matter by the sunlight or cracks of sky between the stalls. Together with the minor walkways between the stalls that link between the ground floor shops of tenement housing along- side the road, the street market provides a continuous and add-on experience to the pedestrians. On the other hand, the solid edges induced by the massive building block detach the shopping malls from the external environment, creating islands of isolation in the city fabric. This detachment dis-integrates a piece from the whole picture and does not contribute to the urban environment as a whole, which is not beneficial to a healthy city planning. In Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas described the islands of isolation as a result of the culture of congestion, and given a gridion system, each building could exercise its greatest autonomy and freedom within the edges of the plot. For the sake of efficiency and demand, a compact skyscraper might be the inevitable outcome, however, I believe the sense of isolation and detachment is not a direct result of the given constraints, rather as a one of imporous edge design of the building block and internal compartments. How: Research and testings The thesis would look into the issue of edges and their role in inducing isolation or interaction between programmes, people and the city. To analyze the effect of edges, I would look into how people maneuver and perceive their way through the façade or surface that separates. A porous edge or façade would facilitate natural ventilation, and permits natural lighting to enter the build- ing block. These openings would also visually link the city to the users within the building block, that better connect the building to the city fabric. Courtyard spaces could be introduced into the blocking to provide pockets of greenery, which improve the air quality for the pedestrians. A more dynamic shop design would al- low flexibility for future change of usage. The anticipated outcome would be a collective analysis of existing edge conditions and new proposal of edges that could be installed into the city, offering a continuous and interactive experience for the pedestrians. Bibliography 1. Rem Koolhaas. Delirious New York : a retroactive manifesto for Manhattan. New York : Monacelli Press, 1994. |
