An in depth view into the Concept, Process and Design behind Five selected works by HAO.
HAO HSIANG CHANG 張皓翔
WORKS INDEX
01 THROUGH THE EYES OF A RIDER
Exhibition Space in Taipei Song-Shan Airport
02 WETLAND PROMENADE
The Chung-Long Wetland Art Museum
03 THE TRANSFORMER
Next Generation Office Proposal
04 PARK DOWNSTAIRS
Public Space of a Residential Tower for the Retired and Their Families
05 CULTURAL SEEDS
Cultural Street Installation
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01 THROUGH THE EYES OF A RIDER Exhibition Space in Taipei Song-Shan Airport TSID Student Award - 3rd PRIZE After the Chinese Civil War, the defeated Nationalist government were forced to retreat to the island of Taiwan, causing the population of Taipei, its capital, to rise dramatically. In order for the refugees to have a place to live, the government rushed to expand the city without proper master-planning. This resulted in clustered street houses and narrow alleyways seen throughout the city. Which later became a nightmare for cars but a perfect scenario for the small and agile motorcycle. Now Taipei is one of the most motorcycle crowded cities in the world, and like bicycle is to Amsterdam, motorcycle became kind of a unique culture. Through The Eyes Of A Rider exhibition wishes to embark travelers on a virtual tour through Taipei by motorcycle, experiencing the city’s many wonders hidden in narrow alleyways, and seeing what the city really is from the view of the local residence.
HOW DO YOU EXHIBIT A CITY?
The brief of the competition calls for us to design an exhibition in an airport to best promote the city or country of its location. The site we chose is The Song-Shan Airport of Taipei. Growing up in Taipei, we know that it is a vibrant and complicated city with many different cultures. Choosing any one cul-
ture to exhibit would have been unfair, while choosing all would have been impossible, so why not find an element that connects each individual culture, and exhibit the city through it? Taipei is already a city known for its mass number of motorcycles, some even say it has become sort of a unique culture,
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and since many locals, regardless of background travels about the city by motorcycles, it makes perfect sense that we tell the story of Taipei through it.
WORD-LESS IS MORE?
An image is much more powerful than a thousand words, so instead of using billions of words, why not use videos and images? We propose to create an exhibition without words, displaying a series of videos shot from a motorcyclist’s first person perspective, taking visitors on a virtual journey
through the narrow alleyways of Taipei, discovering different cultures such as traditional night markets or peaceful little temples. We hope that the exhibition would act like a teaser, encouraging those who haven't properly explored Taipei to return to the city in the near future, and physically experience the
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city. As for those who have already explored the city, we wish to refresh their memories, and hopefully leave a lasting impression forever in their hearts.
CAN WE DESIGN THE EXHIBITION AS A CITY?
SITE ANALYSIS
FIVE ROUTES FIVE THEMES
We used Song-Shan airport as a center point and drew a circle of six kilometer radius, delimiting an area of a 20 minutes motorcycle ride. We than chose attractions from within the area as content for our exhibition.
Most exhibitions have only one circulation, but we believe that riding a motorcycle in the city should be free. So we categorized our attractions into five routes, each with its own themes. We want the visitors to have the choice of proceeding to the next theme, or leave the exhibition whenever they finished touring a theme.
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EXHIBITION CIRCULATION To achieve the circulation we want, we need one main road connecting the entrance to the exit and surround it with five loop circulations. We discovered that this is quite similar to a city's layout, so why not trace the city map onto our plan, use the streets as circulations and the housing blocks as exhibition volumes?
CREATE LOOPS We traced our site analysis map onto our plan, add a central circulation, and convert the five routes into loop circulations.
MINI CITY We then widen the streets and reinterpret the map, now we seem to have created a miniature city, with main roads, narrow alleys, and even parks and squares. Giving those who walk within a sense of being in the streets of a city.
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DESIGN PROCESS
OVERLAY MAP
STRETCH
CREATE ROADS
Overlay the map onto the plan.
Stretch the map to fit the plan.
Widen the routes to walkable scale.
CUT VOLUME
CREATE CITY
INVERSE MOUNTAIN VIEW
Cut volume to create housings.
Grow volume to simulate city.
Push down to create corner that can "overlook" the exhibition.
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THROUGH THE EYES OF A RIDER
Imagine walking into the exhibition, and find yourself transferred from a cold artificial airport, to the lively streets of Taipei. A local motorcyclist eagerly beckoning you to get on his bike and join him on an adventure through the city. As he zigzags through the narrow streets, you get to see the city in a
completely new perspective. We hope visitors can see beyond Taipei101, and the night clubs that Taipei had become so famous for, and remember the city as the warm, lively and beautiful city that we know.
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INVERSE MOUNTAIN VIEW
One of the attractions that we chose is the Xiang-shan Mountain, which was situated on a corner of our site. We thought it would be interesting to make the corner a place where visitors can overlook the exhibition, but due to the height restrictions, by just raising up a viewing platform wouldn't have been enough.
So instead of creating a mountain view, we decided to create an in-versed one. By slopping all the roofs of the exhibition volumes towards the corner, visitors will be able to "overlook" the whole exhibition as if looking at the skyline from the mountain top! Doing so, we also created three different types of
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exhibition volumes, first are volumes that you can walk in, the second are the ones that you look at eye level and the last are those you look down upon.
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THE CLOSER TO NATURE THE LIGHTER
We wanted to add the feeling of "The closer semi-transparent material that glows from to nature, the less pressure you feel", so the within, which acts as a buffer. material we used on the volumes closest to Xiang-shan Mountain is transparent acrylic. For the taller volumes near the entrance and exit, we used solid wood panels, as for everything else in between, we used
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FLOOR PLAN
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ENTRANCE SQUARE STORY EXHIBITION CULTURE EXHIBITION DESIGN EXHIBITION
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INVERSE MOUNTAIM VIEW NATURE EXHIBITION ROUNDABOUT CUISINE EXHIBITION EXIT
DETAIL : ENTRANCE
For the design of the entrance, we drew inspiration from what commuters see as they ride their motorcycles across the bridge to enter the city. We wanted visitors to experience watching the city unfold in front of their eyes as they cross the imaginary bridge and into the exhibition.
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DETAIL : SQUARE
In this exhibition, we wanted visitors to feel form is inspired by the infamous site of moand experience instead of giving them long torcycles swarming down Taipei Bridge. introductions, but for those who wanted to know more about specific attractions, we developed an APP to guide them. The APP can be downloaded by scanning the Qr-code from the installation in the square, which
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DETAIL : EXHIBITION
Besides the standard display screens alongside each route, each theme also has its own special display volumes, such volumes act like Easter eggs, with interesting features such as peek holes or VRs.
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DETAIL : EXIT
As visitors proceed through the exhibition, virtual travel route with others through the TV the APP tracks the routes they took or at- wall by the entrance. tractions that they looked up. These statistics would then be used to produce their own personal itinerary, available for them to download to their cell phones. Visitors can then choose whether or not to share their
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02 WETLAND PROMENADE
The Chung-Long Wetland Art Museum
Chung-Long village is a small village in the south of Taiwan. The local residence are mostly fish farmers, and fish farming requires pumping up large amount of groundwater. However, this is causing the local land to sink over three centimeters per year, making it one of the most easily flooded region in the country. The Chung-Long wetland was also created from one of such floods. Our client came up with an idea to solve the local crisis by building stilt houses so that the residence will be protected from the floods. They then built a single residential stilt house for demonstration purpose and also to bring awareness to the local crisis. As construction nears the end, our client approached us and asked if we could come up with plans to convert it into a museum. The Wetland Promenade project tackles the difficult question of how to make a decent museum out of a building that was never meant to be.
HOW TO MAKE A MUSEUM OUT OF A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING?
The site is on the east waterfront of ChungLong village, literally built on a fishing farm; and on its north runs the main highway leading into the village, making the site sort of a beacon welcoming visitors into the village.
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This stilt house that the client built was designed to be an affordable residential house. It was meant to be a demonstration to the local residence (or people who have flood issues) that they can own or built such a house too. Converting this residential house into a museum faces many challenges. Due
to the fact that it is a DEMO, we have to be a clear visitor circulation which is crucial to cautious not to completely cover up its origi- museum designs. nal residential housing form. The other issue is the service block that was placed in the middle of the structure, it divided up space suitable for residential purpose, but horrible for museums, making it difficult to create
And they built a DEMO house !
WHAT MAKES A GREAT MUSEUM?
THE EXPERIENCE
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Steven Holl once said that the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is one of the greatest museums because of the experience it gives to visitors. The design of the museum was a series of linear galleries instead of the typical isolated galleries stacked in one single mass, this gives visitors a unique experience as if traveling through different time and space.
People tend to care more about the things that they can relate to. So in order to raise awareness of the flooding problem, it is essential for visitors to be able to see the consequences caused by the floods so that they know there actually is such a crisis going on.
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MASTERPIECE
GIANT EXHIBIT
Famous museums architecture always have a unique identity. A good museum designed with a good identity becomes a masterpiece. And if placed in the right location, it might even become the identity of its town or city.
It's because of the building’s demonstration purpose, that we can't cover up the exterior and make it into some kind of unique architecture. So why not actually display the building? What if we put a giant glass display case over the building and treat it as a giant exhibit? We can still see the building through the glass, while also creating a rather interesting piece of architecture!
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DESIGN PROCESS
DISPLAY BOX
SLIM VOLUME
CONNECT FLOORS
Remove the balconies and put a big glass display case over the building.
Slim down volume to reconnect the interior with the outside.
Bend one corner to connect the floors to create a new circulation.
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ENTRANCE FOYER
SEPARATE EXIT
CREATE GALLERIES
Extend the diagonal corner towards ground level to create entrance foyer.
Separate the exit to avoid crowding in the entrance foyer.
With the new circulation, all rooms can be used as gallery spaces.
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WETLAND PROMENADE Starting out from the concept of a glass display case, we now have a museum with ample of exhibition space and a great circulation. Unlike traditional museums where you can only see artifacts or arts in confined galleries, now you can see the consequence of the local crisis – The flooded wetlands right in plain sight while walking from one gallery to another, turning what’s originally the outside into part of the museum experience. Since the galleries are now linked by promenades, it seems like we created a series of galleries instead of one single mass, and as for the exterior of the museum, it is now unique with identity but with the DEMO house still very visible.
A MASTERPIECE ?
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
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ENTRANCE FOYER BUS STOP OBSERVATION SEATS SECOND ENTRANCE OUTDOOR PROMENADE VIEWING PLATFORM
DETAIL : BUS STOP
The backside of the outdoor promenade is transformed into a shuttle bus stop, shuttling visitors back and forth from the train station.
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SECOND FLOOR PLAN
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WAITING SPACE LOUNGE GALLERY PUBLIC BATH AUDITORIUM ACCESS AUDITORIUM
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DETAIL : AUDITORIUM
In many cultural projects, the support of the local community often means the success or failure of the project. So bringing in the local community to connect with the building is the utmost importance. Aside from creating outdoor promenade and public spaces for the locals to use, I wanted to open up the
auditorium to the public. With its own separate entrance, local community can host talks, lectures or meetings in the auditorium without affecting the visitors touring the museum.
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THIRD FLOOR PLAN
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GALLERY MULTI-FUNCTION PROMENADE CAFE VOIDS OF LIGHTS
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DETAIL : VOIDS OF LIGHTS
With the new promenade replacing the ser- dows throughout, light bounces about and vice block, what purpose does the space reaches the level below. Creating the Voids now serve? Since its structure wall runs of Lights. from north to south, it is ideal to open up a window facing north, drawing light into the compact space within. By painting the space completely white, and inserting small win-
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03 THE TRANSFORMER
Next Generation Office Proposal
For quite some time, The Flexible Office has been a phrase that keep popping up in the world of interior design. The idea is that office space would be able to adapt and thrive alongside its company as it grow or change in culture. Designers from around the world have come up with numerous intriguing concepts regarding this topic, such as the Flex Work System or the Hybrid. However, these solution usually covers only the flexibility of workstations, able to accommodate both those who prefer open or private work spaces. But what about all the new work trends that might emerge in five or ten years? Ten years ago, people all work in cubicles, now, many work from home, from cafe or even from bars, so who is to say that the future role of an office wouldn’t change as drastically? The Transformer project looks into how we can maximize the flexibility of an office, and create a flexible office that can be prepared for whatever the future throws at it.
HOW DO YOU DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE?
PRIVATE
OTHER
OFFICE
OPEN OFFICE
The problem with designing for the future is that we don’t exactly know how people will work in the future, so the design must be able to adapt future work styles and functions that we have not yet imagined. My solution is to design the whole office as one big flexible space. Imagine working in an
office that have the ability to conjure up big party spaces or turn into a buzzing work environment whenever you chose, the potential is endless!
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I propose to modularize the whole office, deconstruct all the functions into a cube unit of 210*210*210. The unit is then inserted into a 3D grid structure so that it can be customized perpendicularly. Creating space for storage underneath, and even new levels should the ceiling height allow. Each units
are fully adjustable, walls can be removed or replaced and furniture can be added or stored away, it can be a private office, a meeting room or even a greenhouse for display purpose.
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DESIGN PROCESS
THE GRID
GROW THREE-DIMENSIONAL
Create a grid structure according to the length and width of the site.
Grow structure three-dimensionally to maximize the usage of space.
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INSERT FUNCTIONS
ASSEMBLE ON SITE
Insert functional units that are customizable into structure.
Assemble structure on site with additional components available for upgrades.
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THE TRANSFORMER
The 3D grid structure acts like a magic box, able to store all the functions needed to run an office, with its own electric wires running within its frame and also having its own computer facilities. It can easily store away all the work tables and transform a crowded office into a big free-flowing party space. This
leaves the rest of the space to be completely customizable, maximizing the flexibility of the multi-functional, ready for any unexpected office dramatically. future purposes. The structure can also be disassembled and reassemble elsewhere should the company move or expand, with additional components available for upgrades. Almost everything in the design is
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FLOOR PLAN
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RECEPTION COLLABORATIVE OFFICE SMALL MEETING ROOM PRIVATE OFFICE SECONDARY MULTI-FUNCTION
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PRINTING MAIN MULTI-FUNCTION MEETING ROOM COMPUTER FACILITIES KITCHEN
DETAIL : MAIN MULTI-FUNCTION SPACE
The main multi-function space is normally an open plan office. When needed, the furniture can be stored beneath the 3D structure, transforming the space in to a wide open space fit for many purpose.
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OFFICE PLAN
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DETAIL : SECONDARY MULTI-FUNCTION SPACE
The secondary multi-function space is much more private compared to the main one. It acts as an informal meeting space during office hours and a back stage during parties or lectures.
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LECTURE PLAN
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PARTY PLAN
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04 PARK DOWNSTAIRS
Public Space of a Residential Tower for the Retired and Their Families 夆禾盃 Interior Design Competition - Shortlisted This was a competition entry for a public space of a residential tower, the brief was to design this space specifically for retired people and their families. We looked into how people lived their post-retirement lives and found out the importance of socialization, and how the public park plays such an important role in most retired men and women. We also did research on the typology of modern day public spaces in residential towers and discover the lack of "public" in most designs. The Park Downstairs project set out to re-envision the public space hidden in towers, bring the public park indoors and the meaning of "public" back into the design of public spaces.
HOW DO YOU DESIGN A PUBLIC SPACE THAT IS TRULY PUBLIC?
張荷立與張皓翔 退休生活需求比較分析
We started the project by looking into the typology of modern day public space in residential towers, we were shocked by the lack of "public" in the designs, activities were isolated and the lounge areas were mere corners with chairs, nobody seems to interact in these spaces. We then looked into
what a retired person need after retirement. An Online survey we did and researches we found corresponded, both indicating the importance of public parks to retired people, either emotionally or physically. We also did a site analysis and discover the lack of decent public parks near our site.
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LIKE A PARK ?
So we started to think whether it would be possible to solve both problems at the same time - by bringing the public park indoors, and create our own park downstairs!
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DESIGN PROCESS
OPEN PLAN
ADD IN FUNCTION
Take away the walls to create an open plan public park.
Add in the functions required.
OVERLAY
RAISE AND PUSH DOWN
Overlay the open plan on top.
Raise public functions to the top, and push down the open plan.
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PARK DOWNSTAIRS
Now we seem to have a big public park in the middle of the city jungle. With main functions on the first floor plan for easy access, leaving the second floor plan free for all to use. The whole space becomes a landscape with slops and small mountains, encouraging residence to sit or play on. What's inter-
esting is the 1/12 accessible ramp surrounding the kid's space is designed to be a kind of hiking experience, parents can exercise while still keeping an eye out for their children, making the accessible ramp more than just a ramp, just like the Park Downstairs is not just a public space, but something more!
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FIRST FLOOR PLAN
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LOBBY LIBRARY AUDITORIUM MUSIC LOUNGE GAME LOUNGE
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BAR KID'S SPACE THE HIKE
DETAIL : AUDITORIUM
The auditorium sits on a gentle slope, giving those sitting on top a feeling of being on a hill in the park. Residence are free to use the space as a lounge, a place for kids to play, or even a place to picnic.
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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MEDICAL CENTER MULTI-FUNCTION GYM
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DETAIL : MEDICAL CENTER
The medical center is located on the ground floor next to the elevators for easy access. Residence can receive basic medical treatments here before heading to the hospital.
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05 CULTURAL SEEDS Cultural Street Installation
We are now living in a world of Internationalism, dominated my mass culture. While culture such as fast foods can be found almost around every corner, some other cultures, such as the indigenous culture, can only be found in enclosed museums or remote cultural parks. In addition to that, some governments may not invest enough capital to maintain these parks or museums, rendering them neglected and run down. Then again, why should culture be exhibited like how animals are exhibited in zoos? How can we do better while also lowering the cost? The Cultural Seeds project seeks to provide a solution to such issue.
CAN WE CREATE A MUSEUM IN AN URBAN SCALE?
Growing up in the city, we are used to the site of modern concrete buildings and the mass culture that dominates modern society, used to the fact that cities can only be identified by local landmarks instead of the culture that it represents. It makes it hard to imagine that the very land we live on once thrived
the indigenous people with very unique and rich cultures. Now these cultures can only be found in enclosed parks in remote areas. But why should such rich culture be exhibited like how a zoo exhibits animals? Some governments build impressive museums for their native culture, while other governments
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might not be too thrilled to invest capital on such projects, so how can we do better with a lower cost? What if we can create a culture museum in an urban scale?
We propose to free the culture from the enclosed parks and spread them out into the city. Like spreading little cultural seeds, creating a series of small installations that are impossible to miss and a giant museum when seen as a whole while still functioning as part of the city.
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CONCEPT SKETCH
We envisioned the Cultural Seeds project to be like flowers that pops up and spread seeds of culture amidst the city. The dandelion flower was what came in mind, but other than spreading physical seeds, this time it spread the seeds of knowledge through exhibits and video displays.
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DESIGN PROCESS
DISPLAY DANDELION
CUT IN HALF
DIVERSIFY VOLUME
Dandelion made up of display box.
Cut in half to stand steadier.
Diversify volume for various function.
CREATE CORE
DIVERSIFY LENGTH
PUT IN FUNCTION
Create core to house electronics.
Diversify length for better viewing.
Put in function according to volume.
CULTURAL SEEDS
The Cultural Seed project took the functions of a museum and spread it out in an urban scale. Displaying culture through exhibits and videos. We also added touches of everyday functions for the local communities, such as libraries so passersby can check out books from one installation and return
them in another and boom-boxes that you can play music simply by plugging in your phone. Doing so, this project became more than just an installation, it integrates into the lives of people and created a new form of gathering space. Reviving lost culture while making the city better!
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DETAIL : BOOM-BOX
Who says culture projects have to be dull and boring? Local kids can now plug in their phone, and instantly transforming the streets into a dance ground!
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