(No) Sugar AA Summer School July 11 21 2016 _ Cesar JungHarada & Susanne Trumpf
The Issue: A sugar addicted society SUGAR is delicious. And Hong Kong exemplifies our global society’s addiction to the sweet life. Life in Hong Kong is fastpaced, convenient, delicious and glittery. In Hong Kong, you will find people shopping in both luxury goods stores and fast fashion giants, dining in Michelinstarred restaurants, traveling via one of the best public transportation systems in the world and living in beautiful homes in the sky. As with the gaping cavities that result from overconsumption of sugar, Hong Kong also suffers negative consequences of its sugar addiction. The pursuit of the good life has led society to wilfully turn a blind eye to the cost and consequence of its consumption. Hong Kong is paying the toll of its addiction. Overflowing landfills, polluted air and waterways, hungry children and homeless seniors are the untold parts of Hong Kong’s story. The city that hosts the highest density of millionaires is also the home of caged home dwellers. The concentration of wealth and power have reached such extent that the whole city landscape manifests how decisions are taken: top down. Big scale investments shape the urban life. The way of financing, the use of resources and targeted clientele for the majority of projects are decided based on the expected revenue. The lack of responsible involvement and intervention is not only an emerging factor in architectural profession. Hong Kong young generation see themselves with little perspective due to unaffordable property prices and question the inequality in the city's population. The aesthetic of the city is for most “businessfriendly”, which really is sterile, technocentric, vacant of any form of spontaneity and life. How can city dwellers move away from pure consumption and reclaim an active advocacy? How can the future population of Hong Kong deal more responsibly with the offer of sugar? Can life come back in the constructed environment? How can we break away from sugar addiction and build together a sustainable city?
Hong Kong Landfill, SCMP + Elderly scavenger in Hong Kong
The Resource: Breathing a new life into materials The city that consumes luxury goods like candy is also the city that dumps astronomical amounts of waste. Recycling and separating waste seems only a topic for poor elderly, who try to make small money from collecting cardboard, styrofoam boxes or tin. But not only the domestic waste is an increasing problem, also the construction waste overwhelms the capacities of the city. Many of Hong Kong’s major land reclamation projects like Chek Lap Kok airport or West Kowloon Cultural District are completed. Prognoses vary in their time estimation, but with the the land reclamation in the West New Territories filling up quickly, Hong Kong runs out of space to dump its waste as soon as in 2020. How can a first step towards a sustainable use of material take place in a highdensity metropolis? How can Hong Kong transition from a purely “importbased parasite” into a selfsustaining system? Can our perception change and can a material that is considered being waste become a precious resource? In this profusion of waste materials, we will choose 3 materials. We will “augment” these materials into habitats, temporary hosting our lives and activities. 1. Base: a material that creates a connection to the ground the water, the soil or the existing urban fabric without harming it, it combines structure with nature. 2. Structure: a material of physical manifestation, providing strength and rigidity towards external influences. 3. Skin: a material performing as protection, a sheet material providing shelter and making use of the surrounding in order to create a balanced system.
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“Museo Aero Solar” Tomas Saraceno
“Southwark Lido”, Exyzt Architecture Collective, London (2008)
Sites: City, Mountain and Ocean 1. 2. 3. 4.
The field: Route 6 The Site: The Occupied Waterfront The Studio: School of Creative Media & MakerBay The Exhibition Space: OSAGE Gallery
Site Map and Map of proposed new highway by Hong Kong Government
1. Route 6 Route 6 is a strategic highway project undertaken by the Hong Kong Government linking Central Kowloon, the Kai Tak Development Area (former Hong Kong Airport) and the Eastern Harbour Crossing. A major part of it is running parallel to the Kwun Tong MTR line, which is connecting SCM and MakerBay via our exhibition space Osage Gallery in the middle.
Cha Kwo Ling VIllage and Lei Yuen Mun Waterfront
2. The Occupied Waterfront: Cha Kwo Ling & Lei Yue Mun We will link our proposal with the a vacant strip at the shore, visually directly connected to the former Kai Tak Airport but disconnected from the adjacent Cha Kwo Ling village by a four lane road. Also the proposed highway Route 6 will go through Cha Kwo Ling and potentially replace a large part of Lei Yun Mun, two long established squatter settlements. These communities live on the fringe of Hong Kong opulence and speed, just next to the “sugarhighculture”.
How can these existing urban settlements get reconnected to other urban areas and nature? What can be strategies for informal settlements to coexist in a beneficial and sustainable way with large scale urban projects? How will the proposed alternative architecture influence or include society and economy of the inhabitants, will it be temporary or permanent?
Makerbay Workshop and Osage Gallery
3. The Studio: School of Creative Media & MakerBay The students will rotate roles from ‘gatherers’ to ‘constructors’, transforming collected materials into a desirable constructed community in wellequipped workshops at SCM and MakerBay.
4. The Exhibition Space: OSAGE Gallery The Osage Gallery with its 40x10m exhibition area will be the base camp for our activities, a ‘nesting space’ where we gather materials, assemble them and prototype a sugarfree lifestyle. In a sense, OSAGE gallery is the archetype of a modern art space. Empty, spotless, sterile. It is not vacant from cultural references, to the contrary, it is an invitation to challenge the current cultural, societal and technological obsession.
The Challenge: City as a Living Organism Can we fill this empty space with life? Can we suggest an alternative to HK current lifestyle? Even though Hong Kong started as a fishing village, most of Hong Kong’s fish comes from distant oceans. The local waters are filled with plastic and the Pearl River Delta has become one of the world's most polluted waterways with agricultural runoffs, chemical leaks from industrial and urban areas. Despite these challenges, Hong Kong's waters represent an opportunity for escape from society. The ocean surrounds Hong Kong’s land and yet is potentially free of its addictions. The ocean is a habitat covering over 70% of the planet's surface. It is replete with renewable sources of food and energy, a fluid place of connectivity for transport, information, culture… and freedom. Several attempts have been made in the history of architecture to build for human and nature without durable success. How can we transition from being the cancer of the earth to becoming its steward? Can the twentyfirstcentury dream of modernity be "living in harmony with nature"? Can we become a truly sustainable civilisation one that improves our world instead of destroying it? The ocean is where all life comes from. Could the ocean be more than a utopia and become a place where one could live sustainably, using technology to be one with nature?
“Auroville”, India, Urban planning of an experimental township and “Urban Space Station” Jeremijenko, Borrego, Haque (2008)
“Tokyo Bay” Kenzo Tange, part of the Metabolist movement. “International Ocean Station” Cesar JungHarada (2009 and 2010)
Schedule Monday 11th Induction 10.00 Meeting at SCM at G/F Lobby 11.00 Greeting by the Dean Prof. Richard Allen 11.30 360 Presentation 12.30 Lunch at Festival Walk 14.30 Visit to MakerBay 16.30 Visit to Osage Gallery 18.00 Dinner
Tuesday 12th Factories and Dim Sum 07.45 Meeting at SCM at G/F Lobby 08.30 Meeting at Coca Cola Shatin (visit) 10.30 Return to SCM 11.00 Introduction to facilities and equipment 13.00 Lunch at the Wall City Flavor 14.00 Kowloon Walled City Park 15.30 Dim Sum Labs 16:15 Unit Presentations at Dim Sum Labs 18:00 Dinner at Lin Heung Tea House
Wednesday 13th Studio 10.00 Meeting at Studio Space 10.45 Allocation of Studios 11.00 Announcement of Studios 13.00 Lunch Studio Cesar & Susanne: Exposure This is an experiment. We will live without sugar and without consuming unnecessary things. We will make use of what the city provides us. We will observe our field and its actors, immerse ourselves at the fringe of the hyperdense future business district in Kwun Tong and the disconnected squatter village in Cha Kwo Ling. We will gather impressions, ideas and material.
Thursday 14th Studio Studio Cesar & Susanne: Debate We will note and map our experiences and share our impressions in the group. We will form our own agencies related to the group interests. We will debate on emerging topics and set the goals for the coming days.
Friday 15th Studio Studio Cesar & Susanne: Prototype I This is a hands on project. We will create prototypes, discuss and improve them in a dynamic process. We will try to use technology to live in harmony with nature, the city and its existing resources. We will use lowtech and hightech tools to exchange ideas, build physical models, communicate internally and with the local population, challenging our assumptions. We will propose a vision, principles and designs for a sustainable lifestyle.
Saturday 16th Studio Studio Cesar & Susanne: Prototype II
Sunday 17th Explore Hong Kong
Monday 18th Studio Studio Cesar & Susanne: Prototype III
Tuesday 19th Studio Studio Cesar & Susanne: Resume We will discuss the the results so far. We will document our process, validate existing structures, improve details and decide on the final prototype.
Wednesday 20th Studio Studio Cesar & Susanne: Final Prototype We will set up the final prototype at Osage Gallery. The structure will be accessible and usable by visitors of the gallery.
Thursday 21st Presentation & Exhibition 08.00 all studios move works to Osage Gallery 10.00 Exhibition Buildup, Preparation of Presentation Materials 18.00 Final Review with External Guest Critics 20.00 Celebration and Drinks
Requirements Every participant must be over 18, know how to swim and have a valid health insurance. Participants should have clothes they don’t mind to make dirty outdoors or in the workshop, a drawing pad/analog
drawing material, laptop, a camera (ideally GPS enabled smartphone), comfortable shoes, rain jacket, a headlamp, a swiss army knife, swimming gear, a towel, essentially hiking gear.
Readings & References ● ●
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Hong Kong lack of resilience: http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/08/21/hongkongsinconvenienttruth/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Kids_phenomenon World Freest economy: http://www.scmp.com/news/hongkong/article/1693954/hongkongrankedworldsfreesteconomy2 1styearrowthinktank?page=all http://feedinghk.org/hungerstats/ Interactive Land reclamation map: http://www.oldhkphoto.com/coast/Map.html http://varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk/index.php/2011/05/squatters/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism_(architecture) http://www.failedarchitecture.com/nakagin/ http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_poynter_life_in_biosphere_2 http://www.wired.com/2010/01/slimemoldgrowsnetworkjustliketokyorailsystem/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/427918/joiitosnearperfectexplanationofthenext100years / International Ocean Station: http://www.cesarharada.com/internationaloceanstation/ Urban Space Station: http://urbanspacestation.org/ Plastic, oil, radioactivity sensor: ted.com/talks/cesar_harada_how_i_teach_kids_to_love_science Post Capitalist City: http://indialoguehk.com/3942/ http://www.monbiot.com/2013/05/27/amanifestoforrewildingtheworld/
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