Soft Infrastructure
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This thesis explores a new direction of shops on street level and the housing above. With Kennedy Town as the site, the focus of the redeveloping urban form is the small shops of variety as well as open space, which make up for its identity of food culture and recreation. With the MTR upgrade in Kennedy Town, a frenzy of redevelopment has been brought about in the area. However, the design concern of the developers is only within the plot on thebuilding itself, without regard of the whole neighborhood. Therefore the thesis of soft infrastructure result in exploring a more urban-conscious redevelopment away from the typical podium tower typology.
WHAT? An urban slot from the hillside of Kennedy Town to the seafront is taken as a test site for Soft Infrastructure. With the tool of density as an indicator, the street condition along the slot from the new MTR infrastructure is analysed and to be informing the design decisions, to maintain or increase the vibrancy along the slot. On the one hand, developers can generate more shop revenue with a denser pedestrian flow, on the other the identity of Kennedy Town is maintained with the conservation of street life and open space. WHY? The Smithsons basically recognize the street as a social arena, and developed the “as found” concept as well as the “street in the air”, of which both try to enhance the social aspect of the street. The housing development in the past two decades have been generating podium towers, which could still house shops which is vital for the street as a social arena. However with the recent intend to producing high-end housing, the podiums are internalized with private clubhouses or internal malls, leading to a loss of social arena, and in other words the street life and identity. Hypothesis: The current model of redevelopment will create podium towers with blank walls and reflective glazing on the ground level, where the street will lose its cultural and spatial quality of simply a straight void between two mass. Argument: a new ground where the tower lands will be created, in which the efficiency of such architecture will be analysed by the number of shops x the density of people. The higher the efficiency equals to more shop revenue for the developers, making it more economically viable. HOW? 1.0 Kennedy Town Background to construct an understanding of what the identity of Kennedy Town, then further explore the cultural, spatial and architectural components making up the identity -research in shop density and type
-research in relation of shop, storage and house -research in pedestrian density as an indicator of shop efficiency 2.0 Project Development to device the small shops as a design tool and identify the optimum ratio of open space and shop area, then to apply to the urban slot according to different scenarios along the slot -minimum shop area study -shop extension study -outline zoning plan and joint practice notes study for generation of open space within plot 3.0 Final Proposal to design urban structure along the slot, consisting of open pedestrian street with shops where the tower sits on -master layout plan design -individual block design Bibliography Seminal Texts Rem Koolhaas. “Delirious New York: a retroactive manifesto for Manhattan.” Monacelli Press, 1994 Contemporary Projects Steven Holl, Storefront for Art and Architecture, 1993 |
