(almost) 24/7
(almost) 24/7 Andi Schmied
(almost) 24/7 is a project that portrays the spaces where the porters of Wong Chuk Hang (黃竹 坑), one of Hong Kong’s industrial and residential towns, are spending most of their time. Wong Chuk Hang is a disconnected area from central Hong Kong, due to the lack of an efficient public transport system and lack of development. Wong Chuk Hang grew steadily until World war II and just after in the 50’s and 60’s industry and commerce developed thanks to the low elevation and broad space.
For the same reason, in 1977, the only attraction for visitors of the area, Hong Kong’s most popular amusement park that is totally detached from it’s physical context, Ocean Park (香港海洋公 園), opened to give a different, fake reality to the neighbourhood, and fill it with people putting themsleves in an altered mental state for an afternoon and then leave. On the other hand there are the real inhabitants of the area; Wong Chuk Hang road is the main road where all the industrial buildings stand. All of these buildings have a special small place at the entrance where its guard sits, “lives” from Monday to Saturday, 6 AM to 9 PM.
Most of the porters have been guarding the very same building for more than 25 or 30 years; they’ve lived most of their lives in the same square metres or in some cases just on a chair. (almost) 24/7 explores these spaces and shows the loneliness and the individuality of their inhabitants.
黄竹坑是香港的一个以工业和 住宅区为主的小镇，“(几乎) 24/7”是一个描绘当地的那些 门卫的生存空间的项目，他们 几乎花费了所有时间在那边工 作生活。 黄竹坑和香港市中心的联系不 是非常紧密，其原因在于其缺 乏高效的公共交通以及对发展 建设的投入。 黄竹坑在战争之前一直稳步发 展，战争打响后没多久就慢慢 停滞下来了。好在当地地势相 对平坦开阔，在五六十年代， 其工商业得到了一定的发展， 同时，由于相同的原因，在
Sungbin Industrial Centre
1977年，海洋公园建成了。它 是这个区域内现当下唯一的旅 游景点，也是香港最受欢迎的 主题乐园，其完全脱离于当地 的城市形态，对外营业后一直 给人一种不同寻常的、脱离于 当地社区实际氛围的感觉。游 客们在这种气氛的充斥下可以 让自己整个下午都变得异常兴 奋直到离开。 另一方面来说，当地也有居住 在那边的人；黄竹坑道是当地 的主路，在它的两旁分布着所 有的工业建筑。所有这些建筑 的入口处都有一处特别小的空 间，供门卫安坐。周一到周
六，从早上六点到晚上九点， 天天有人在岗。大多数的门卫 都在同一幢楼的前面站了有大 约超过25到30年的光景了，他 们在同一个小的空间内，有的 甚至就在同一张椅子上度过了 他们大部分的时光。“(几乎) 24/7”展示出了这些空间， 并且揭露了当地居民内心的孤 寂。 这本书包含了处于同一条街上 的35个不同的空间。
Lee Fund Centre
Leader Centre
Tin Fung Industrial Mansion
Derrick Industrial Building
Benefit Industrial Building
E Wah Factory Building
Remex Centre
Li Fund Centre
Yali Industrial Mansion
Good Prospect Factory Building
Zung Fu Aberdeen Garage
Heung Wah Industrial Centre
Perfect Tech Building
Jetoo Building
Evergreen Industrial Mansion Podium
United Industrial Building
Vita Tower
Sing Teck Industrial Building
Man Hing Industrial Mansion
Victory Factory Buliding
Po Chai Industrial Building
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN IN HONG KONG, 2012 速