urbd5710 | 2021-22 | Studio partner: Jessica Cheung @shanzhai city
The Urban Collaborative Studio explore urban design opportunities in various scale from regional network to community public space in response to contemporary urban issues and challenges. The studio builds upon the topic of collaboration, to investigate how networks and communities function and propose positive changes through modes of collaboration, with two key questions in mind:
- Besides the top-down vs bottoms-up approach, what are the opportunities within that spectrum?
- How do modes of collaboration affect the formation of communities and public space?
Define Collaboration: what is Urban Collaborative?
A working environment that enables and empowers different stakeholders (including the developer, the district council, the local vendors and Kai Fong ….) in the community to participate, to voice their opinions, to make collective decision in the design process, and even how to mange or govern their living environment.
Studio Framework & Process
The studio is conceived as an iterative design process, roughly divided into three stages:
- Investigate: explore different urban topics to search for a topic of interest and develop research questions
- Strategize: through site study and stakeholder engagement to identify the spatial and social issue, establish a problem statement and initial strategy proposal
- Design: conceive the strategy as a system of input/output with stakeholder and components, identify specific design interventions and test a prototype as a tactical urbanism action. The process is conducted with an iterative mind with expectation to Fail – Learn – Reiterate – Improve.
2021 Project Site and Investigative Questions
The MTR Tsuen Wan Line (red line) is one of the three original metro lines in HK opened in the 1980s, connecting the business center Central with commercial district Tsim Sha Tsui, and through different communities in Kowloon and terminates at the Tsuen Wan new town. The studio project takes the red line as a framework of investigation to offer a broad view of diverse urban conditions in Hong Kong, from the Commerce & Business to Culture & Tourism, and from grass root neighborhood to first generation new town. Students will examine urban issues and conduct comparative study of the distinct urban districts. Both the metro line and the area along it has been through many changes since it’s development three decades ago. As the city is expanding with new metro lines and new new-towns, it would be a timely opportunity to review the core urban area and its transformation and implication.
threshold 內外之間 