My design world
Architectural design
The "Barrier Breaker"
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The proposed resting shelter aims to break geographic barriers and offer users suitable locales for a variety of human activities - be it an adventurous exploration of the rock formation or just the leisurely enjoyment of the refreshing views.
The planer modular assembled steel system adapts to the varying topogtaphy which ranges from rocks at the lower level to vegetation in higher zones. Adjustable levers with pivot-tilted bridging panels enable the connectable system to be applicable on whatever kind of landform, even on more complex topographical compositions.
Unbounded Living
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Humans were born to be part of nature without any in-between boundaries. The only invisible frame providing humans the perception of self-existence and external consciousness is the ever-changing medium - “time”. Over the centuries, the human civilisation's boundary for “Living” has evolved from the original “essential purposes” to the later definition of “power possession”. Thus the relationship between human and nature was torn apart.
To challenge human's persistent implementation of a so-called “modern” living style, a reversely critical mindset has to be adopted for re-thinking the original nature-human relationship.
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A Sustainable Retreat by Human
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Since ancient times, Mother Nature has provided the most essential elements as life support system for humankind. However, humanity has tended to go in the opposite direction in the name of civilisation. Pollution, excessive reclamation, deforestation, wastage from fallacious allocation of resources, etc. have built up layers of barriers to isolate human beings from nature.
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Instead of the passive sustainable development approaches, an active methodology is proposed for a “step back” system, making room for nature's participation in the new era of urbanisation.
Slopes of power
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Hong Kong, as a place with hilly topography, provides the natural context for social classification along the landscape altitude, according to one's power level of delivering influence to the commercial city. The colonial urban area began from 1850s, at the coastline of Central facing Victoria Harbour. Administration buildings were built behind the warehouses by the Harbour side. Upper and lower bazaar where full of shops operated by Chinese were allow to occupy two streets at the lower part of the uphill slope. People who possessed more power at that time, gradually built their houses tier after tier upwardly in a direction towards the Victoria Peak. Through various foundation treatments to achieve levelling on slopes with steep gradient, the architectures emerged on the podiums, exerting the social status, wealth and power of influence of the inhabitants along the altitude of the slope.
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​Different types of foundation along the altitude scale, representing various social level of population in the city. From orthogonal city grid to vernacular contouring road system, the connection networks varying from the prescribed high dense urban planning, to the upper hill low dense sub-urban with developments mainly based on individual preference. The unique city fabric formed by the circulation network, not only connected the physical architectures, but connected the key stones in the history of urban development. It evoked dialogues among the architectures of different ages. By intersecting the timeline with the evolving phenomenon of power distribution, the slopes of power have been constituting the visual image of this city successfully in the past and probably will make discourses of urbanisation for its own in the future.