Hong
Kong has a population of 7.3 million (excluding visitors) in a territory of
1104km².
Given this brimming density, the city is already suffering from multi-layered
problems in health, environment and development issues. Most deplorable of all and especially to the underclass, basic human
conditions
are slipping by the day.
Photographic exhibition of poverty in Hong Kong at here.
are slipping by the day.
Photographic exhibition of poverty in Hong Kong at here.
The
roving exhibition in Hong Kong from October 13-21, 2012.
3D
animation originally conceived for the 12th
International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale 2010.
International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale 2010.
(photo ∣ www.infrabodies.com)
Urban Cyberspace
Co-created
by Ivan Rijavec and John Gollings, “Now and When: Australian Urbanism” toured
to Hong Kong featuring an approx. 20-minute cinematic 3D video animation and
photography in a makeshift darkroom set-up.
The quality of digital graphics was stunning, comparable to that of
Pixar-styled cinematography. Perhaps due
to budgetary or technical reasons, there was no commentary or any sound effect. The exhibition catalogue was too brief to
provide any information concept and design intents either.
Negotiating through the thick curtain on the way out, all was left
spinning in the head were endless impressions of phantasmagoric urban
landscapes of Australia in future.
Attention
seeking Ivan Rijavec with shocking statements
that breaks the day - Sunday Morning Post
October 12, 2012. (article ∣ www.scmp.com)
that breaks the day - Sunday Morning Post
October 12, 2012. (article ∣ www.scmp.com)
Sunday Treat
It was
Rijavec who made a blood-curdling statement in the local newspaper that drew me
to the exhibition show in the first place.
He suggested that Hong Kong, a well known city with massive population
should build twice as dense per capita, based on the high density of inhabitants in
the Forbidden City durig Qing dynasty. Having seen the
exhibition I chose to believe that this tiny metropolis foothold, if Rijavec’s
suggestion be implemented, would only conjure up bleak imageries from films
like Blade Runner and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Blade Runner (images
∣ Warner Bros. Pictures)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (images ∣ DreamWorks)
Machination of Image
I hate to
barb on our fellow professionals, but as an architect myself, I hope we should
offer at least minimum research studies before making wild statements in
public. This is only common to all other
professions. The reality-free video
discourses are imaginative, but they also borderline on being unscientific if
not downright nonsensical. Too heavy a dose of sensationalism will only numb
the audience as well as architect. It is
a vicious cycle that can only escalate further.
Acceptance
has been duly granted to the growing trend that architects are becoming image makers. Architecture and especially urban planning
are art form only if rigorous considerations on subjects like geography,
town-planning, economics and other relevant disciplines are met. We don’t need architects to provide mere
visual stimulus if there are already writers and film-makers in the sci-fi
markets.
This is already the best clip from YouTube:
This is already the best clip from YouTube:
Exhibition in Summary
The
stereoscopic visualization is comprised of 2 parts, namely Now and When.
Now is
a 3D photographic study by John Gollings on existing Australian urban conditions juxtaposed with mining landscapes.
(photos ∣ John Gollings)
When is
emerged from an ideas competition on exploring Australian urban planning and
architecture of the future. 17 selected entries vary
from private practices to academics. The
resulting animation was developed jointly by John Gollings and Ivan Rijavec, with
visual production by Floodslicer.
(all
below images and write-ups ∣ www.architecturemedia.com)
[1] Multiplicity - John Wardle Architects and Stefano Boscutti
Growth is no longer on its periphery but at our heart. Melbourne has grown not
out, but up and down. In the future our city will tell multiple stories. A building
of narratives and possibilities.
[2] Symbiotic City - Steve Whitford (U of
Melbourne) and James Brearley (BAU Brearley Architects and Urbanists)
Layered networks of urban and rural systems allow nature and the city to
combine in a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit.
[3] Mould City - Colony Collective
An urban system that reconfigures the relationship between humans, shelter and
collective settlements. Mould will not save us, but if we learn how to tend it,
new and rich possibilities will emerge.
The Environment Institute
Asks what strategic moves Australia would have to make to accommodate a population of 50 million people in the year 2100.
[5] The Fear Free City - Justyna Karakiewicz,
Tom Kvan and Steve Hatzellis
Tom Kvan and Steve Hatzellis
Seven desperate dreams are followed by seven desiring
dreams in a project that attempts to flush away fear and reveal the opportunities for a rewarding, sustainable city.
dreams in a project that attempts to flush away fear and reveal the opportunities for a rewarding, sustainable city.
[6] Survival vs.
Resilience - BKK
Architects and Village Well
From an assumption that cities have to be planned before they are formed, this
project explores the conventional wisdom of the multi-centred city.
[7] Ocean City - Arup Biomimetics
Tackling the large-scale migration of the Australian population from land to
sea, necessitating a rise in biomimetic practices.
[8] -41+41 - Peck Dunin Simpson Architects
and
Eckersley Garden Architecture
Eckersley Garden Architecture
Looking at how ideas recycle and morph over time, this project looks 41 years
into the past to see 41 years into the future.
[9] Sydney 2050: Fraying Ground
- Richard Goodwin
Art/Architecture and Terroir
Urban strategies of fraying, knotting and parasitism are realized through a
process of remapping and drawing across all scales.
[10] Island Proposition 2100 - Room 11
Embodying hyper-connectivity, the IP2100 spine contains a looped system of
hybrid infrastructures, initiating a new symbiotic relationship between the
urban centres and their supporting territories.
[11] Aquatown - NH Architecture
As water and resources diminish the need for a new kind of infrastructure
increases, bringing new urban forms with it. Australia’s growth cities respond
like tree roots searching for nourishment, spreading into new borders and
territories.
[12] A City of Hope - Edmond and Corrigan
A specialist city of 50,000 located on the boundary of Little Desert National
Park in the Wimmera region of Victoria.
[13] A Tale of Two Cities - Billard Leece Partnership
Excess consumption has bankrupted cradle-to-grave industrial economies and
cities have contracted, condensed and multiplied. Visible as a holographic
projection, the city’s doppelganger audits and guides the city’s development
far below.
[14] Implementing the
Rhetoric - Harrison
and
White with Nano Langenheim
White with Nano Langenheim
Optimistically imagines that by 2050 politicians and planning authorities will
have the power, conviction and know-how to decisively address critical urban
issues. Using de-fragmented design techniques we visualize a literal, undiluted
sustainable urbanism – solar amenity, strategic density increase and walkable
cities.
[15] Sedimentary City - Brit Andresen and Mara
Francis
The sedimentary city of Brisbane is layered city-on-city, its layers existing
in time and in space. New layers carry the trace of past cities with potential
to draw in missed fragment catalysts.
[16] Loop-Pool / Saturation
City - McGauran Giannini
Soon,
Bild + Dyskors and Material Thinking
Bild + Dyskors and Material Thinking
A manufactured crisis – a 20-metre rise in sea level – enables an exploration
of the future of Australian urbanism through four distinct typologies.
[17] How Does it Make You Feel?
- Statkus
Architecture
Based on the premise that gravity is able to be controlled, fundamentally
changing the way structures are realized and opening up the possibility of
floating cities.
此時，彼時，在這裡？ 〈中文摘要〉
遠道而來的《此時∞彼時：澳洲的都市計劃學》乃大約二十分鐘的建築設計及城市規劃電腦立體動畫。無疑，這個數碼影片視覺質素尚佳，甚至足以媲美荷李活動漫效果。基於不知明原因，動畫不備旁述，展覽場刋介紹過於簡陋（最後只能在網上掌握設計慨念之一二）。看畢影片撥簾而出，只覺無數建築影像在腦中不斷盤旋，混沌非常。
這次參觀原於星期天南華早報裡報道雷雅維克 (Ivan Rijavec)的展覽。但他的驚人發表確實令人感覺不寒而慄，原因他建議香港參照清代紫禁城人口之高密度情况，建築發展大可比現今提高一倍。這言論除了譁眾取寵，確實荒誕不經。我恐怕若按雷氏的方案，電影2020(Blade
Runner)及人工智能(A.I. Artificial
Intelligence)的末世蒼涼絕境將充斥於本城角落。
身為建築師一份子，我討厭批評同業。帷我真誠希望大家在發表任何偉論之前，應提供有據研究。展覽影片天馬行空式的都市影像，盡是創意，但它們同時亦介乎非科學，甚至懸堪荒謬境界。現今建築師對形象的偏嗜，只能無奈接受。不過若要致力建築尤其是都市設計，不談藝術前題，設計者應著力相關科目如地理、城市規劃、經濟等，務必通過研究過程，辯證論述。這個世代已有作家及電影從業，他們更適合提供科幻式視覺刺激，建築師恐怕不應佔這份兒。
《此時∞彼時：澳洲的都市計劃學》展覽分為二部份；《此時》Now–展示現今澳洲都市及鑛場對立的三維高空攝影；《彼時》When–都市未來建構演進的推想。
《彼時》共有十七作品，按上述英文介紹，順序分別是，一：多層之城；二：共生之城；三：微菌之城；四：南方造陸；五：無懼之城；六：生存對韌性；七：海洋之城；八：+41-41；九：悉尼2050年–崩解之地；十：島議2100；十一：水之城鎮；十二：希望之城；十三：雙城物語；十四：化言於行；十五：沉積之城；十六：飽和之城；十七：你有何感覺？
