Causeway Bay is always packed and never stationary. Every hour, everyday. Everyone is always on the move. It is the ultimate area to live, work, play. I spent a lot of time in Causeway Bay, shopping, eating and generally getting lost in the maze-like streets that follow the rolling topography. There was always something to discover and rediscover. But this is a different kind of packed. It is not leisurely. Anger and tension ricochet off the
The MTR has always been a source of pride. It is clean, efficient, orderly and serves as the prime mode of transportation for most residents. Every time I step on Hong Kong soil I put money on my octopus card and off I go. It has been the de facto escape hatch for the protests above but they now have spilt into the underground system, turning a mode of public transportation into the latest frontline. Disrupting the efficient network hits the city at its Achilles heel. Flimsy gates, subway train doors, turnstiles become meaningless. They are nothing against organised, angry, gang members who are ready with weapons to beat up protesters. They do nothing to protect those who need help, or who just happen to have been caught in the crossfire on their way home. The vast network becomes a container with blocked exits, inadvertently aiding one side, and used as a convenient excuse for the police who do not show up.
This is the opposite kind of efficiency.
South China Morning Post
Studio Incendo
buildings, underlined by a growing sense of worry. The police, known as ‘Asia’s Finest’, are supposed to keep order, but have somehow turned on the people. Suddenly, the urban maze becomes a key player. Are those narrow alleyways allowing the protesters to hide, to flee? Is the maze convoluted enough to confuse the police? Can the urban design handle life, work and protest?
on site review 36: our material future
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