2022 Blog – Page 2 – Architecture and film

[Video Essay] Inclined City: Negotiation and Collaboration within Slopes

May 14, 2023 ckristen@connect.hku.hk

Inclined City: Negotiation and Collaboration within Slopes Directed by Ho Charlotte Kristen Theme and Subject Matter The main theme of the video is slope. Slopes are one of the least encouraging urban surfaces to walk on, they make you gasp for air when going up, and put your balancing skills to the test when going down. However, slopes are pretty common in Hong Kong Island, helping to make way for hilly landscapes and connecting different elevations. To make slopes inhabitable, cooperation is needed between architecture and other urban elements within. This video investigates this matter by focusing on the slope

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2023 Blog, Final Video Essay, Final Video Essay

[Video Essay]: Disappearing City | Playground

May 14, 2023 u3608449@connect.hku.hk

Today, children spend 50% less time playing outdoors than children of the 1970s as kids nowadays choose to satisfy their need for stimulation and social contact with friends and peers by turning to video games instead of playing outdoors in the playground (Proud, 2019). Hence, children’s shifted preference over time from playing outdoors in the playground to spending most of their time indoors playing video games and surfing the internet has contributed to the lack of children in the open spaces and, therefore, the disappearance of playgrounds. The idea of the playground in the late 1800s was to provide a

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2023 Blog, Final Video Essay

[Video Essay]: Public City – Pier

May 13, 2023May 14, 2023 u3611091@connect.hku.hk

Theme The accessibility of green spaces in the city demonstrates Hong Kong’s ingenious urban planning. The island is also surrounded by the sea, which makes it perfect for panoramic viewing. Close to the Hong Kong University, along the seaside, is the Central and Western District Promenade. It spans 400 meters with a width of 6.5 meters, covering a total area of 5200 square meters. Its start is marked by a 7.5 meter tower, serving as an icon. The promenade has four piers and is situated next to the Western Wholesale Food Market. The path also is connected to

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2023 Blog, FINAL VIDEO ESSAY, Final Video Essay, Final Video Essay

[Video Essay] City Outskirts: the self preserving Ecosystem

May 13, 2023May 14, 2023 u3598701@connect.hku.hk

City Outskirts: the self-preserving Ecosystem Theme and subject matter This video essay focuses on Pok Fu Lam village, one of the last villages in Hong Kong that are at risk of disappearing and is now part of the World Monument Watch list (World Monuments Fund , 2021). The village is unique for its long history of festivals and life that can only be found once you enter through the mazes of lanes and alleyways. Thus a slow life is created, making it distinct from the outside city life that is mainly characterized by its busy and chaotic speed. Through the

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2023 Blog, Final Video Essay

[Field-Homework 3] Slow City: Tin Shui Wai’s Tram Story

May 11, 2023May 11, 2023 clh648@connect.hku.hk

Slow City: Tin Shui Wai’s Tram Story Director: CHEN LIHENG Theme and Subject This video reveals a hidden corner in Hong Kong where the slow pace of lifestyle dominates, Tin Shui Wai. Tin Shui Wai features its unique public transportation, the tram. The tram plays a significant role in residents’ daily lives. It serves the community by connecting the private residential areas and the public facilities, including parks, malls, and the MTR station. The light railway finally forms a circle in Tin Shui Wai and merges with the community harmoniously. The interactions between the residents and the landscape showcase a

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Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

Reading response: Abbas

April 6, 2023April 6, 2023 pennyw@connect.hku.hk

The writer claims that Hong Kong’s colonial space is particularly a space of disappearance. However, what he means is disappearance does not imply going entirely unnoticed. It can work really well with projects of preservation and a concern for the present. The writer brings out three examples to support his argument. They are Hong Kong Cultural Center, Flagstaff House, and Repulse Bay Hotel. He against the use of preservation as history to bring about the disappearance of history. Preservation of these architecture intentionally add Chinese elements into colonial architecture or integrate the “old” and the “new”. It leads to the

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Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

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

April 5, 2023April 5, 2023 u3600267@connect.hku.hk

The reading talks about how the buildings in Hong Kong show how the city has changed over time. The writer provides a valuable perspective on the complex interplay between architecture, colonialism, and identity in Hong Kong. It also mentions the constructed environment of the city reflects a process of “disappearance,” and draws attention to how colonial influences are gradually being replaced by a more Chinese identity. The reading also offers a helpful analysis of the role of architecture in shaping cultural individuality, based on the reading, the term “disappearance” involves a shift from the colonial history of Hong Kong, which

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Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers, Uncategorized

Reading Response: Abbas, M. A.

April 2, 2023April 2, 2023 u3597773@connect.hku.hk

Just from the article’s title “Oh No, There Goes Tokyo” we can understand Tsutsui’s view on the destruction of Tokyo in science-fiction movies. Tsutsui agrees with the many Japanese filmmakers who take on the genre in a playful and humorous way. Japan’s traumatic history: atomic bombings and natural disasters prompted the creation of many fantastical creatures in the science fiction genre. Such creatures have a dual function: it serves as a therapeutic way for filmmakers to understand and confront their own fears, whilst also being a source of comfort for filmgoers who relate to such anxieties. Tsutsui mentions the concept

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Lecture 7: Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

[Reading response: Abbas, M.A.]

April 1, 2023 u3606431@connect.hku.hk

In the article, the writer mentioned that Hong Kong is an open city that is exposed to all architectural styles and influences, however, architecture has frequently been built and rebuilt due to the rapid economic development. I would like to express the feeling of regret on this point that Hong Kong will eventually lose its cultural memories, for example, Central mentioned in the text, remains only a little vestige of this History. We cannot change the fact that Hong Kong’s architecture is inscribed in building space as capitalism, owing to the hyperdensity and the economic status. Hong Kong is a unique

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Lecture 6: Housing Stories

Reading Response: Ancuta

March 25, 2023 u3595264@connect.hku.hk

The reading from Ancuta criticize urbanization in the cultural perspective. Using ghosts to reflect the failure of urbanization, Ancuta outlines the “loss of humanity” in the process where rural populations move into the city. Urbanization, with the build-up of sky scrapers using cold indifferent concrete, has turned into monsters with the shell of technology. Specifically in Hong Kong, due to the high population density, skyscrapers have to be built closely together, with little space left between them, making it the ideal setting for horror movies. The apartment’s inhabitants, often vulnerable and fragile with little exposure to nature, stares at the

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