Public City
In this research, a housing estate called Wo Che Estate is going to be investigated. Wo Che Estate is located in Shatin, and it is the second housing estate constructed in Shatin district. Most of its building were constructed in 1980s and have a relatively long history compared to other housing estate in Shatin. Apart from that, the architectural features of Wo Che Estate are distinctive. There are five types of buildings in the estate including Twin Tower, H Block, Double H Block, Old slab Block and New Cruciform Block. This investigation is going to focus on Twin Tower which is most commonly seen and has the largest number in the estate. The theme of the video is A Public City. My hypothesis is the special architectural characteristic of Wo Che Estate has greatly benefitted the users’ life and has facilitated its users to strongly bond together. The statement on my selected place is “more public than private”. The video essay wishes to prove that Wo Che Estate more public than private due to its special architectural characteristic, and the users can utilize the structure to benefit their lives. In this process, bonding between the users is easier to be deepened.
The method of conducting the research will be fieldwork. The community interaction in public housing estates in Hong Kong is found to be decreased gradually by numerous research.[1] It is questioned that how the layout design of the estate can influence the users’ life and whether they can benefit and enhance users’ life, especially in social aspect. I have stayed at the estate for several hours at the weekend to observe residents’ uses of the special architectural characteristics and how they communicated and interacted with others. It is found that residents tend to open the door for ventilation, especially because the square-like architecture greatly promotes it. Although door curtains are held by every household, the activity of the household can be easily noticed through the noise they produced. Moreover, residents hang out their clothes to dry in corridors showing that they also utilize the advantage of ventilation of the architecture. Additionally, unlike private housing, garbage is thrown in the garbage chamber by the residents initiatively. In the estate, garbage is put in the corridors which is nearby per household and is collected at a specific time. However, there is garbage thrown by some residents near the meter room which is not allowed according to the regulations. It shows the downside of the housing estate of being “too public”. From the above observation, we can see that Wo Che Estate more public than private due to its special architectural characteristic.
Apart from that, I also observe how residents interact with each other by using the architectural benefits of the estate. Children run and chase in the corridors and also call and shout at their friends loudly despite they are in different floors. The sound can be clearly heard due to nice acoustic conductivity of the architecture. It strengthen the communication and interaction between the residents. And for the elderly, they usually do exercises using fitness equipment in the estate and also chi-chat with their friends in the park in the estate. It is found that the special architectural characteristics of the estate have helped to a build public space for residents to make their lives more convenient and strengthen the bonding between them.
Nonetheless, there are some downsides brought by the public space. For example, noises are easily transmitted in the building and disturb other residents. And dirty environment may be created. Also, children playing in the corridors may be dangerous.
[1] Dhar, T. K.. (2007). Impact of layout design on neighborly interaction in public housing estate, Hong Kong. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5353/th_b3955877
3036076990 WONG PUI FAN
The estate you choose is quite interesting, and the content you convey does match the title “public city”. But I think it will be better if more detailed information about the square-like architectural designs could be added and introduces as well as more “public” aspects could be investigated to make the content rich. It’s a nice work!