Category: 2022 Blog

Cat Links Fieldwork

[FIELDWORK] I BELONGED TO YOU, TESTBED 2 Art Center

Posted on u3594825@connect.hku.hk

I BELONGED TO YOU，DIR. Zhang Yibai, 2016 TESTBED 2 Arts center, Yuzhong district Chongqing   [Left: City Radio, where the hero Chen Mo works, scene from I BELONGED TO YOU (2016), directed by Zhang Yibai. Right: The roof of the City Radio in the setting sun, scene from I BEONGED TO YOU (2016), directed by Zhang Yibai]   I BELONGED TO YOU is a 2016 Chinese romantic film directed by Zhang Yibai. The film is a touching romantic tale revolving around two radio disc jockeys and the world they inhabit. They find the audience they reach reflects their love and

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Cat Links 2022 Blog, Fieldwork

[FIELDWORK] COUNTERING LIGHTS, JIANGNAN SHIPYARD

Posted on u3309322@connect.hku.hk

COUNTERING LIGHTS, DIR. YINAN DING (1982) Jiangnan Shipyard, Shanghai, China The film ‘Countering Light’ is released in 1982, tells the story of the male protagonist breaking through the obstacles of secular thinking and class solidification, and finally falling in love with the female protagonist in the background of China’s reform and opening-up policy. In this era of rapid development of modern civilization, many traditional architectures still exist, such as the poor shantytowns (1842) (demolished in 2020) in Shanghai. While the Jiangnan Shipyard stands out as the only modern industrial building featured throughout the film.   Left: The manager of Jiangnan

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Cat Links 2022 Blog, Fieldwork

[FIELDWORK] KUNG FU HUSTLE, LONG CHANG APARTMENT

Posted on ccxii@connect.hku.hk

KUNG FU HUSTLE, DIR. STEPHEN CHOW (2004) Long Chang Apartment, Shang Hai, China Stephen Chow released ‘Kung Fu Hustle’ in December 2004. The film describes a wannabe gangster defending the notorious “Axe Gang” using extraordinary Kung Fu support with residents who hold excellent power from a poor housing called “Pig Sty Alley.” Therefore, this report will analyze the interrelationship between the building application of “Pig Sty Alley’’housing and film creation. The “Pig Sty Alley” building is the central architecture set in the film intercuts in the variable storyline. The first sight of the housing in the movie represents the poor

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Cat Links 2022 Blog, Fieldwork

[FIELDWORK] THE LAST EMPEROR, Palace Museum of the Manchurian Regime

Posted on u3595173@connect.hku.hk

THE LAST EMPEROR Bernardo Bertolucci(1987) Palace Museum of the Manchurian Regime, Chang Chun [Left: Tong De Hall in the Imperial Palace of Manchu State. Scenes from THE LAST EMPEROR(1987), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci; Right: Tong De Hall in Palace Museum of the Manchurian Regime now]  The last emperor released in 1987 was made by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, which was honored by nine awards of the 60th Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Writing, Best Cinematography, and so on.1 The film retells the miserable life of the last emperor, Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, of the Qing Dynasty. From when he was only three years old, crowned at the Forbidden

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Cat Links 2022 Blog, Lecture 5: Urban Infrastructure as Event

Reading Response: Michel de Certeau

Posted on kuangy1@connect.hku.hk

It is worth pointing out the distinguishment between Space and Place. Place is a location which is mapped by urban planners, but it may be transformed to a space due to people’s actions. For instance, people in different moods may change their behaviors, such as exploring new paths, creating a new space. In this case, I wonder about the values of planning a place adopting top-down strategies since the space users will make enormous differences on the places afterward. Is it better to leave more rooms for users to design by themselves? In addition, people’s activities may be influenced by

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Cat Links Lecture 2: Filming the Modern Asian City

Reading Response:Abbas

Posted on Lexie

The architectures in the films give the first impression of the city to the audience, which is one of the most direct ways to know about the city. However, when the city is simply defined by the architecture, the history and culture which isn’t shown by the architecture may be ignored by people. HK has a very complicated social background and history, where is affected by China, its colony and its own special geographic and economic condition, resulting in three typical kinds of architectures——Placeless, Merely Local and Anonymous. In this case, the receptivity of HK is extremely high, which causes

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Cat Links Lecture 5: Urban Infrastructure as Event

Reading Response: Jennifer Yoos and Vincent James

Posted on qshirley@connect.hku.hk

Looking through the history of skyway made me reflect that such a common thing in our daily life is an avant-garde pedestrian system in the 1960s. I understand it as “socially produced and produces the social” based on Ackbar Abbas’s (2010) summary of the space. The skyway was designed to fulfill different kinds of urban city needs. From the view of city planning, this vehicle-free zone can help manage traffic while the interior connection makes people comfortable and safe. Commercially, the convenient access to multi public spaces (e.g., transit stations, shopping malls, leisure places, real estate) helps downtown economics under

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Cat Links Lecture 5: Urban Infrastructure as Event

Reading Response: Michel de Certeau

Posted on kyk1105@connect.hku.hk

“Ever story is a travel story- a spatial practice.” If architecture is what turns a place into a space through designs and physical structures, then the people inside it is what gives the space its story and meanings. Thereupon, maps display simple directions of a city as a whole in an objective manner; while movies are like tours that bring viewers on a journey to view the details of a series of spaces. As the plot draws viewers to immerse themselves into the distinct spatial experience, the originally ordinary place is then subjected to their own perception and sensory, hence

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Cat Links Lecture 5: Urban Infrastructure as Event

Reading Response: Michel de Certeau

Posted on Lexie

The place and space actually transform bilaterally. The place which has a clear geographically boundary is limited and concrete, and can be determined by the dead objects. However, once mobile activities, experience or history relate to the place or dead objects, the space is formed. In another word, the dynamic narration makes a place spatial. There are different periods of history and various experiences within a space, and each of them seems to fragment the space, but actually, they facilitate the formation of special vibe, ideology and culture of a space. Thus, the personality and cognition of people in the corresponding space are influenced by the general environment; meanwhile, the activities of

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Cat Links 2022 Blog, Lecture 5: Urban Infrastructure as Event

Reading Response: Michel de Certeau

Posted on u3592431@connect.hku.hk

After reading the chapter about spatial stories, I would like to share my opinions on one of the main issues raised by the author—Place&Space. The writer says in the text, ”a space is a practiced place.” Honestly, even I read through the whole text, I still wonder why this is the case, but not the other way round. To me, a place should not have boundary, but a space does. I guess this may be quite different from all of you may think of. Let me explain why: To me, a place contains not only practical objects, but also the

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