Author: Kevin

Cat Links Fieldwork, Fieldwork, FIELDWORK, Final Video Essay, Final Video Essay, FINAL VIDEO ESSAY, Uncategorized, Workshop 1: Building Sets, Spaces & the City + Costumes, Characters & Urban Situations, Workshop 3: Designing the Video Essay

[Field-Homework 3] Disappearing City: Tradditonal Bakeries

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Video Essay Link: https://youtu.be/FSxzPgGSrV0 Introduction:  Many of Hong Kong’s cultural experiences and gems, once staples, now remain as a few traditional spots and pockets of culture. These irreplaceable third places include dai pai dongs, neon lights, cafes, and most notably local bakeries. In the past decade, these mom-and-pop shops have gone away, leaving behind the local culture and countless networks of friendships spanning generations that revolved their lives around it. In other words, losing these local bakeries is more important than losing tangible neon signs and historical buildings because it will leave Hong Kong bare of cultural heritage. In August

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Cat Links Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers, Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

[Reading Response 2] : Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance

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Abbas’s composition regarding the disappearance of historical buildings in Hong Kong raises concerns about preservation and integration. The “disappearance” is implied as a substitution for another, starting from waves of Chinese immigration and economic development changing the city into a vast network of interconnected architectural systems. The external horizontal pressures contributed to local and merely local places being demolished for vertical high-rise buildings. This is the case of the Shek Kip Mei, the first public housing estate to counter an urban crisis from the government acquiring valuable land. Simultaneously, these new spaces serve multiple purposes, mixing commercial and residential use.

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Cat Links Workshop 3

[Mood Board]: “Hong Kong Cafes – Disappearing City” Kevin Shi

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CHIN9511 Presentation12 Many traditional Hong Kong cafes with a long history are disappearing and closing down at an alarming rate. The trend is primarily caused by rapid urbanization and changing consumer tastes have strained many beloved historic eateries. However, in the past few years, it has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased household incomes and rising rent have further contributed to more closures. It’s important to note that such long-standing establishments have been an integral part of Hong Kong culture and serve as a third place many generations before have cherished.    

Cat Links Lecture 4 Everyday Spaces as Narrative

[Reading Response]: “Cuts Through Hong Kong” by Eunice Seng

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The article, “Walking in the City, and the Spatial Stories,” explores how people navigate urban environments in two modes of spatial practices: strategies, and tactics. Strategies are top-down, institutionalized plans to shape the urban space, however, NYC walkways represent a deviation from strategies. Rather, New Yorkers insist on tactics, where diverse groups crave out their paths, pushing back against planned paths, using shortcuts, and repurposing such spaces to suit the inhabitants. This form of unintentional urban landscaping work enables shorter modes to exchange goods and ideas between different cultures from the millions who walk the path leading to growth, opportunities,

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