HK City Block ver. 2.5

Mixed Programming in both old and new city blocks; Hennessy Rd. Percival St.

Thesis Statement: For the later half of 21^st century Hong Kong, a new city block typology must emerge in order to maintain vitality for this mature metropolis. Learning from the tenement building, podium tower and satellite town, each has its individual impact and contribution to the city. Although they have historically proven density capable, the future needs more. The city needs a strategic redistribution of residential and commercial spaces at an architectural level; that will be tested in a prototypical city block design.

Project Description: Urban impact by proximity, diversity and flexibility in tenement buildings will continue to be valid, yet they had served beyond their capacity and must be physically replaced. Verticality in podium towers will continue to embrace density but their composition must be revised to induce urban interaction. Opposing the satellite town commuting model, people ought to live and work in proximity to improve on traffic and community. Furthermore, it is imperative to maintain land value not only by location, but by urban activity and image. The city cannot afford to have plots occupied by preservation, muted by autonomy or isolated by homogeneity. The city “center” must propagate with vibrant commercial activity and skyline to every plot of land, simultaneously supported by a closely housed working population. The city’s “back of house” needs to be integrated closely to support the expanding “stage”.

 Method: As plots of land are bought up and merged, the whole city block will be developed as one building complex. This scale of development embeds capacity for multiple programs on a single plot. Based on the revised model of living and working, the city block will juxtapose programs intensely in section. Mixed programming will hybridize the different residential classes and commercial activities within towers to ensure constant urban activity. Proximate privacy, controlled circulation in vertical communities will bring different population groups to live closely apart. This will all be contained within the single city block.

Annotated Bibliography:

The imagery in Francisco Mujica, The City Of The Future by Antonio Sant’elia in 1928 embraced the high dense, vertical and multilayer metropolis, which is the futurist spirit of urban development that motivates this project.

The illustration in Narkomtiazhprom by Vesnin Brothers in 1934 highlighted possibilities of the constructivist skyscraper, shedding light on verticality and tower merging composition.

The art work in Frozen Assets, A Cross Section Through The City by Diego Rivera in1931 depicts segregation in New York, the city fueled by the mistreated working class; Hong Kong is confronted with the same problem and ought to be addressed in design.

The phenomena of Torre David shows great urban impact of homeless invasion in a deserted office tower under specific circumstances. The unfinished curtain wall of the office tower provided a hybrid aesthetic of residential and commercial, implying a schizophrenic tower. Much visual inspiration for localized mix programming, vertical community and urban proximity.