In another time and place, I would definitely marvel at the ingenious layout of bricks on the road. In the stillness of the photograph, it is a somber art installation. In reality, they are about to inflict maximum damage. Compared to the conflicts that took place in the evenings after, these mini brick structures are like child’s play. The sun sets and the universities become battlegrounds, with tear gas against molotov cocktails, rubber bullets against bow and arrows. One of the universities is sealed off to force the protesters to surrender and be registered. The city and the Hong Kong diaspora watch the stand-off with bated breath. No amount of obsessive refreshing on our screens can tell us enough information. If the last places where ideas and ideals are germinated, incubated and cultivated are taken over and controlled, will this society still have a future?
Agence France-Presse
Before we emigrated, my dad was a transportation engineer in Hong Kong. True to the engineer stereotype, he meticulously calculates, and he rarely expresses emotions. Seven months into the protests, is the cost worth it? He can’t tell yet. But he readily tells me that he is heartbroken.
Joanne Lam OAA, M Arch, LEED AP is an architect, a sessional instructor and a mother. She is a co-founder of Picnic Design, a firm that is developing a portfolio of work that is innovative, thoughtful, adventurous and filled with ingenious moments. Her design approach is inspired by many places she has lived through out the years, but especially by her hometown of Hong Kong.
on site review 36: our material future
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