Theme and subject
As a city with rapid urbanization and limited land supply, Hong Kong has been forced to intensively construct high-rise buildings with small residential units. To maximize the economic profit in the property market, the ecological elements in architecture are often neglected, as if we sometimes look at the urban residential buildings, what we see mostly are the concrete and glass panels with emotionlessness and a cold feeling. Therefore, it is hard to discover the vibrancy of the city and connect ourselves to them, no matter visually or emotionally.
However, the balcony, as a visually distinctive architectural element, can be used as a private place to explore the ecological side of the city. Generally speaking, the major components of balconies include the balustrade to avoid the danger of falling, the greenery set up by the owners and variable window design (either window openings or no window panels). There are a number of advantages to incorporating a balcony over a traditional window design, including having a panorama of the whole city, establishing a planting area, and enhancing the natural ventilation by enlarging the size of the window opening (Chan, 2015). To me, the importance of the balconies is being a place where a private life can open up to well-being, connecting the communities while promoting the ecological living style under the compressed city.
Method of conducting the research and producing the video
The methods of conducting the research include having desktop research, going on field trips and collecting first-hand information. For desktop research, the environmental impacts on the living space and citizens of the balconies are discovered in several articles. This is obvious to find out that balconies have a positive influence on reducing indoor thermal heating and fostering the air flow. What is surprising is that balconies also promote natural food production (Aydin & Sayar, 2020) and community engagement during the pandemic (Antchak et al., 2022). In addition, during field trips, photos and videos related to the balconies of different residential buildings in Hong Kong are taken to amplify the protruding characteristics of balconies. Places that have been visited are Tuen Mun, Tin Shui Wai, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui as there is a big difference in the balcony design between those in New Territories and those in Kowloon. Besides, some first-hand photos of balconies are taken at my friends’ homes to help illustrate the ecological side of balconies.
During the video production process, several photographic techniques have been used. For example, a still-shot while travelling on a bus is used in the introduction (0:09-0:33) to emphasize the sense of ‘rapid’ urban development, as well as to give actual images of the concrete jungle in Hong Kong. Also, bottom-up shots are being used frequently to showcase the high-rise characteristic of buildings. Moreover, zoom-in and out are used to concentrate the audience’s attention on the balconies and to further bring out the ‘environmental-friendly’ colour when compared to the cold colour tone of plain concrete and windows that are next to them. Moreover, a cut-shot from the balcony of my home to the public community area at 2:21 is used to strengthen the function of balconies which is to connect the inside and the outside.
Reflections
When I am assigned the topic ‘balcony’, the thoughts of taking shots of sunlight and greenery come to my mind immediately. However, I have always been forgetting the biggest component of the balcony, which is the balustrade. It is fascinating to see the different designs of balustrades in different balconies, especially that of Tong Lau. It also reminds me of the balconies shown in both local and foreign films. The balconies in the foreign film are often described as places to communicate with the neighbourhood as they are closely packed without any railings, while those in Hong Kong are often described as places for stress-releasing activities such as watering plants, enjoying sunbath or even smoking. This phenomenon triggers my thought that the balconies in Hong Kong are frequently used to release stress from society as we are often depressed under congested living spaces.
Another interesting thing in observing the balconies is that there is an invisible connection between the users and the observer. The high balconies allow users to be up there in the middle of the sky and make the users obscured to the observer (Horton, 2012), while the observers feel the same on the ground. Even though balconies are private places, their prominent location and distinctive colour make them highly visible to the observer. However, both users and observers would not mind observing each other as they cannot see each other faces clearly under such distance. For me, it is like the users are open to sharing their activities with the observers, which stimulates the connection between each other.
Biliography:
Antchak, V., Gorchakova, V., & Rossetti, G. (2022). The value of events in times of uncertainty: Insights from balcony performances in Italy during the COVID-19 lockdown. Annals of Leisure Research, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2022.2046117
Aydin, D., & Sayar, G. (2020). Questioning the use of the balcony in apartments during the COVID-19 pandemic process. Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 15(1), 51–63. https://doi.org/10.1108/arch-09-2020-0202
Chan, A. L. S. (2015, April 23). Investigation on the appropriate floor level of residential building for installing balcony, from a view point of energy and environmental performance. A case study in subtropical Hong Kong. Energy. Retrieved May 12, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054421500417X
Horton, G. (2012, August 31). The indicator: A brief history of balconies. ArchDaily. Retrieved May 12, 2022, from https://www.archdaily.com/268924/the-indicator-a-brief-history-of-balconies
YouTube. (2020). “Bella Ciao” – Balcony Sax Performance in Italy. YouTube. Retrieved May 12, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSWYSww-RlY&ab_channel=DanieleVitaleSax.
-Chan Tsz Fung, 3035796139
I appreciate your thoughtful exploration of the balcony. You also seem to have understood the word ‘ecological’ as not only related to greenery and nature, but also to social aspects. Your point about the observer is interesting and perhaps could also have been represented in the video. As you documented different balconies, it would be helpful if you noted their location in the video. Perhaps, you could also further elaborate on how their designs are different.