月 汐 島
ISLE OF LUNAR-SEA Reclaiming Hong Kong’s Waters as a Traditional Refuge Victor Tsz Hin Leung PG13
How can the principles of Hong Kong’s dwindling water-based architectures be employed to reconnect its marginalized population to the traditional refuge of the marine environment?
香 港 水 域
HONG KONG’S WATERS AND ISLANDS Hong Kong’s Archipelago, a Traditional Shelter for Indigenous Boat People Long ignored, the city’s waters have been inhabited by Tanka Boat People since before the Tang Dynasty, identifying its archipelago geography’s protective features, but often relegated to mental and economic peripheries. Its floating population had once reached over 135,000 post-World War II, adapting their architectures to the local climate, but gradually depleted to a population under 2,000 positioned as the “Merely Local” within the local psyche. Today, their environmentally attuned built environment has nearly disappeared, with proposals for a 1,700 hectare artificial island, “Lantau Tomorrow Vision” ignoring the local marine heritage and facing threats of impending climate change.
Fishermen returning to Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, at the urban core of Hong Kong.
水 上 人
“largely belonging to another historical era, existing now, if they exist at all, mainly on the economic margins of the city,” with those on “sampan boats adapted as live-work space… ‘repatriated’ to dry land to look for more conventional work and more conventional living space.” - Ackbar Abbas on Hong Kong’s Boat People, the “Merely Local”
111BC
960-1127
1368-1644
Since N. Song Dynasty, floating boat people discriminated on land
Early Qing Coastal Evacuation Orders, arrivals to HK waters
early 1800s
British Colonial Officers guided by HK boat people through HK
1850-64
1930s
1941-5
1950s
1960
YUEH/TANKA PEOPLE ORIGIN REGION FUJIAN PROVINCE
Ming Dynasty incense/salt trading ports Aberdeen/Tai O
1660s-70s
1841-2
SOUTHERN CHINESE MARINE REFUGE
Yueh Tribe exiled to sea by Han Dynasty expansion
British flag planted in Hong Kong 2,000 boat people or 35%
GUANGXI ZHUANG AUTONOMOUS REGION GUS BOORGEEST SUNSHINE ISLAND
MING/QING-ERA SALT FARMERS
GUANGDONG PROVINCE
NOMADIC HOKLO
1850 onwards
1950s - 60s
TAIWAN
1368 - 1841
Boat people arrive in Hong Kong amidst Taiping Rebellion
Increasing thousands of boat people in HK waters
Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong
SUBDIVIDED FLAT RESIDENTS
Colonial fisheries mechanization boat people turned squatters
NOMADIC TANKA
Marine population reaches 136,000+
111BC onwards
1960s-80s
Extensive land reclamation clearing traditional boat people
1983
“Dwelling Vessel” regulation passed, boat inhabitation illegal
1991
Boat population dwindles to just above 10,000
REMAINING SUNSHINE ISLAND RESIDENT
HAINAN ISLAND
BRITISH COLONIALISTS 1841 - 1997
2016
Few remaining boats, Lantau Tomorrow Vision proposed
REMAINING MARINE INHABITANTS HONG KONG’S MODERN FRINGE COMMUNITIES
Colonial Clearance Justifications Sister Mui Moved onshore to land-based housing with many of her fellow boat people, but was one of few to retain her houseboat in Shau Kei Wan, where she predominantly resides.
Visual Relief Political Security Labor Vitalization Land Sale Income Greater Hygiene/Safety
Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter Boat Population
55,000 6,000
in 1960s
in 2020
TANKA “BOAT PEOPLE”
BREAKWATER (1945)
“an aboriginal tribe, speaking an altogether different language from the Chinese. On the land they are like fish out of water. They are said never to intermarry with landlubbers... Each family has a boat, its own little kingdom, and, there being plenty of fish, all look better fed than most of our land neighbours.”
Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter Population
40,000 30
in 1960s
in 2020
- Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, 1921
RED
“fringe dwellers… formerly boat people who now live in squatter boats… often neither land or water… [regarded as] human flotsam and jetsam, more or less neglected by the authorities for either element – except when we wish to move them.”
TRA BREAKWATER (1945)
- Secretary of Chinese Affairs, 1966 “largely belonging to another historical era, existing now, if they exist at all, mainly on the economic margins of the city,” with those on “sampan boats adapted as live-work space… ‘repatriated’ to dry land to look for more conventional work and more conventional living space.” - Ackbar Abbas on Hong Kong’s Boat People, the “Merely Local”
A CLE
Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter Population
10,000s 10,000s 0
in 1960s
in 2020
Reclamation Histories
DIT
ION
AL B
OAT
LIVE
LIH
OOD
SW
ITH
IN T
YPH
OON
SHE
LTE R
S
T
E
LAIM
EC OR
SE
-BA
ND D LA
TES STA E D
Amidst the Post-WWII influxes, many of sampan communities grew dense and unsanitary from arriving refugees. This was increasingly seen as untolerable by the Colonial administrators, who introduced public housing as a way of exerting control and organization upon the population for economic recovery and land generation for sale. Those shifted to public estates were removed from houseboats’ original squalor and extreme fire risks.
SANITIZING “BOAT SQUATTERS”
UNLCOS
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982
Hong Kong’s waters lie within the boundary of the Hong Kong SAR, therefore is in territorial waters and under its jurisdiction.
HKSARG
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
Continued Land Reclamation Land reclamation often targets typhoon shelters where boat people have resided for the past decades. Waters
MarDep
Marine Department of the Hong Kong Government
Government Land Sale Revenue Land sale income and stamp duty comprise 35+% of modern HK government revenue.
“Under a law instituted in 1983, yachts, cruisers and open cruisers are supposed to be used exclusively for pleasure purposes and it is not legal for such vessels to be used solely as a dwelling.” “Lawyers such as Potts argue that terms such as ‘pleasure purposes’ and ‘dwelling vessel’ are open to ‘very liberal interpretation’”
“estimate[d] that between 1,000 and 2,000 people live on [yachts]” “Boats cannot be used as an address, so owners must find land addresses for official correspondence. Jones, for example, pays HK$5,000 a month to share a small flat with a colleague in Tung Chung, near Hong Kong International Airport.” Sister Mui and Boat People
THE FUNCTIONAL DWELLING VESSEL - THE SAMPAN
Commonly used for ferrying services, and periodically, floating homes. Ubiquitous across Hong Kong’s waters.
Permit - Floating Structures Only 4 permits have been in circulation for dwelling vessels. An Inhabited Sampan
Waters Cap. 548 Sec. 89 Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Dwelling Vessels) Regulation restricts boat inhabitation
Cap. 548 Sec. 89 Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Dwelling Vessels) Regulation
Islands
Islands
AFCD
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong Government
AFCD
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong Government
LandsD
Lands Department of the Hong Kong Government
Islands
DevB
Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Government
Cap. 476 Marine Parks Ordinance (if in Marine Park) Director of AFCD required for approval.
Cap. 208 Country Parks Ordinance (if in Country Park) Director of AFCD required for approval. Cap. 499 Schedule 4 Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance Mitigation of Environmental Impact in a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Government Sites incl. Vacant School Premises Applications can be submitted by nongovernmental organisations or social enterprises to rent such sites for community, institutional or non-profit making uses on a short-term basis
Funding Scheme to Support the Use of Vacant Government Sites by NGOs HK$1 billion earmarked to provide NGOs with support to make vacant government sites fit for a variety of short-term community, institutional, or other non-profit making uses. Maximum Funding/project: HK$60 million
Hong Kong’s Marine Territory
What about living on the sea or islands? Since 1983, one must be licensed within a “dwelling vessel” to reside permanently on water, but only four licenses exist outside the continued populations residing in typhoon shelters. Living on a “pleasure vessel” is largely unenforced however, though land addresses are required for government services. People have fantasized of the seastead, away from government, but what if the seastead became nature’s reclamation of people, much like the dying practices of the Tanka People?
“DWELLING VESSEL” LEGALITY
Sometimes Blocked Windows Wardrobe
Microwave
3/4-person Bunk Bed A
Food Preparation Work Desk
Subdivided Flat
Fridge B
KITCHEN
C
TOILET 137 ft2
2.9m
D
LIGHTWELL
square feet
A
HK$5,000
2.2m
126 ft2
641 ft2
641 ft2
~130
2.9m
E
monthly rent
F
10.1m
210k+
G H
4.3m 128 ft2
Source: SCMP
147 ft2
residents
I
BALCONY
Original Building
Fire Risk Locked exits, blocked passageways and many split electrical meters leave fire risk high and escape difficult.
Sanitation Risk Poor ventilation, installation of poor internal toilet drainage leaves unsanitary conditions for residents.
Social Health Risk Social isolation, low self-esteem and domestic conflicts are common within the small confines of subdivided flats.
THE SUBDIVIDED FLAT
Mr. Chan’s Subdivided Flat Family
“The number of caged homes is declining... but we don’t want society to think people living in subdivided units is acceptable, that it’s somehow a step up, because it’s not... If you look at Hong Kong’s economic and financial situation, you can’t say it’s all right we have thousands of families living in such poor living environments.” - Angela Lui, The Society for Community Organization
Subdivided Flat Conversion
A
Blocked Fire Passages
F
Defective Fire Doors
B
Locked Exits
G
Split Electricity Meters
C
Unventilated Rooms
H
Non-Fire Resistant Internal Doors
D
Blocked Light Well
I
Gas Stoves near Doors
E
Narrow Hallways
Post-war housing crises were faced with countless mountainside squatter huts and overflowing waterborne communities. Today’s housing crisis has been rendered far more invisible following countless squatter restrictions and clearance initiatives. Subdivided flats form the invisible alternatives of traditional “boat squatters.” Often averaging 130ft2 many of these subdivided homes face continued sanitation, fire and social health risks within their small legally grey conditions.
INVISIBLE SUBDIVIDED FLATS
Lam Chi-Ngai, Sunshine Island Guardian
Gus Boorgeest’s Sunhine Island Refugee Camp
mid-1953 to 1960s Leased Land Borgeest leased uninhabited Chau Kung To for 34USD per year, nicknaming it “Sunshine Island.” Lam Chi-ngai And His Wife
Productive Lifestyle Arriving refugees grew fruits and vegetables whilst also rearing pigs to retain a a “sense of dignity”. Refugee Graduation By 1962, over 600 refugees had “graduated,” moving on at the aid of Borgeest and his family.
Sunshine Island (Chau Kung To) Current Population: 1 Size: 56 hectares
“establishing a model for resettlement and rehabilitation of refugees that enhances their self-respect and productive capabilities.” - Ramon Magsaysay Award, 1961
1978 to now
56ha area
120 m
highest elevation
1
population Chau Kung To (Sunshine Island)
Lam Chi-Ngai
THE SUNSHINE ISLAND INHABITANTS
The Elderly Guardian 76-year old Lam Chi-ngai has lived on Sunshine Island for over 40 years, now its only remaining resident. Environmental Connection Lam sleeps with snakes, traverses the island’s four hills and roams its two beaches on a daily basis. Protecting Reclamation Lam opposes the proposed “Lantau Tomorrow Vision” artificial island’s effects on the marine environment.
“Personally, I love the quiet, I dont really like the noise and bustle of the city. So living here, I feel very relaxed and my mind feels unobstructed and carefree” - Lam Chi-ngai, 2020.
Sunshine Island holds a history unique to all of Hong Kong’s 250+ islands. Once entirely uninhabited, a Shanghainese refugee, Gus Borgeest, leased it for 34USD/year post-war for use as a refugee camp for Chinese farmers escaping political unrest. Today, it is inhabited by 76-year-old Lam Chi-ngai alone. He found new meaning here, a safe refuge from the city. Its sole guardian, he faces the threat of destruction by the reclamation of the Lantau Tomorrow Vision artificial island.
SPIRIT OF SUNSHINE ISLAND
reclaimed island
1.1million
35+% HK$180kk HK$180 5.5-year 5.5year
government revenue from land price
to be housed
per m2 housing prices
Increased Typhoon Storm Surges Typhoons have been intensifying in the past decade, creating storm surges over 2.3m above tide height.
Reduced Water Security Despite an increase in rainfall, there will be a similar increase in consecutively dry days.
Increased Temperatures 2100 temperatures are projected to increase up to 5°C °C under high concentration conditions
waits for public housing
The Lantau Tomorrow Vision Plan
Sunshine Island Proposed Site of Lantau Tomorrow Vision
SITE OF LANTAU TOMORROW VISION
1700ha.
Modern Day Housing Crisis
LO
ECL
GR
YIN W-L
O
NM
TIO AMA
ED
ECT
FF ST A
2100 Climate Risks
over 4°C 4°C +13 over 10% over 2.3 2.3m m
PRO
temperature increases
JEC
annual consecutive dry days
typhoon intensification
typhoon storm surges
Safer Marine Inhabitation?
TED
STO
RM
SUR
GE
EVE
NTS
Today’s government has proposed the reclamation of a 1,700ha. artificial island surrounding Sunshine Island. Following Hong Kong’s post-war land reclamation strategies, the plan neglects traditional marine heritage of floating inhabitation, instead threatening biodiversity and water quality. The future island’s low-lying reclamation itself faces threats of or even amplifies storm surges.
LANTAU TOMORROW VISION
The Chans decide to leave the subdivided home, looking to go to Aberdeen to find a friend.
Sister Mui picks up the Chans on her sampan and they leave at the dead of night.
Under the moonlight, they travel from Hong Kong Island towards the waters of East Lantau.
The Chans awaits Mr. Chan’s friend, Sister Mui, a longtime resident of Aberdeen’s houseboats.
MR. CHAN & FAMILY
A Subdivided Flat
Having spent the past few years in Hong Kong’s subdivided housing, Mr. Chan and his family waited in line for public housing allocation. Upon meeting Sister Mui at the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter, he chose to travel together to construct part of the founding settlement on Sunshine Island. He and his family plan to live there until the inshore residential modules are constructed so that a new set of families can move in.
Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter
THE NEWCOMER Subdivided Flat Resident
The Chans and Sister Mui meet with Lam Chi-Ngai, the longitme sole resident of Sunshine Island.
SISTER MUI
Hong Kong’s Waters
Sister Mui previously lived in a typhoon shelter ferrying sightseeing tourists. Amidst declining typhoon shelter tourist numbers, Sister Mui sought a new way to maintain her connection to the sea as part of Hong Kong’s indigenous boat people population. She provided her two boats (smaller sampan and larger fishing boat) for both herself and Mr. Chan’s family to travel to the Sunshine Island Founding Settlement.
LAM CHI-NGAI THE ISLAND GUARDIAN Sunshine Island Resident Lam Chi-Ngai is Sunshine Island’s sole resident and its guardian, choosing to find a natural refuge away from the city on the otherwise uninhabited island. Against the Lantau Tomorrow Vision plan, Lam can aid the arriving subdivided residents and boat people to set up a naturally connective camp on the shores of Sunshine Island, forming the basis of a new marine community that utilizes his island as the founding settlement.
Sunshine Island
THE INDIGENOUS INHABITANT Tanka Boat People
The Beginnings of Isle of Lunar-Sea
CREATING ISLE OF LUNAR-SEA
Mr. Chan considers new alternatives to his (hopefully) temporary subdivided flat.
28 5°
5° 25
270°
r Term 冬至
30 0°
0° 24
st
1s tM oo n
-1
ar Ye w Ne ar un L 節 宵
元 oon st M of 1 5th al 1 stiv
e rn F ante ng L Spri
LUNISOLAR COMPONENTS
of
農 曆 新 年
eu gY un Ch
2 2 5 ° l va s ti Fe ng
12 10 °
20
小滿
s Form Corn
0° 15
誕
Tin
Ha uF est
iva l
-2 3rd o
f3 rd Mo on
天
后 誕
Chi ng
Min g Fe
30 °
TH 2020 ARY MON RCAL INTE
th Moo n
端午節
° 60
th of 5
° 75
Tuen Ng Fe stival -5
Hung Shing Festival - 13th of 2nd Moon 洪聖爺誕
5th Term 清明 節
Corn on Ear
15 °
夏
ins eg rB me Sum
立
stiv al 1st of
芒種
清明
Clea r&
-2 1 Mod 夏至 erat e He at S ummer S olstice
5-6
5-6
春分
2 0-21
4-5
AUTUMN 秋
2 1-2 2
5
2 2 1- 2
Vernal E quinox
23 -24
小暑
6
雨 Wh eat Ra in
5° 16
ON EAS S N OO PH Y T
7 -8
SUMMER 夏
Brigh t
Fro st
霜 降
22-23
8-9
Cold Dew s
寒露
180°
Gr eat He at
7
0°
穀
19 5°
秋分
3
waken Insects A ers Show ing 驚蟄 Spr
5-6
暑
-2 4
雨水
SPRING 春
Autumn Equin ox
ns egi gB rin Sp
20 19-
° 5 3 1
THE CHINESE LUNISOLAR CALENDAR (2020)
5° 34
4-5
23
大
90°
Parades, dragon dances and opera performances held over 5 days. Parades are held on land and water by boat people to celebrate sea goddess Mazu. Lanterns are lit to symbolise the Buddha’s enlightenment. Dragon boats are raced throughout the city. Extended families clean ancestral graves and lay out food offerings n.
4
10 5°
Hung Shing Festival Tin Hau Festival Buddha’s Birthday Tuen Ng Festival Chung Yeung Festival
20 -21 1
7-8
洪聖爺誕 天后誕 佛誕 端午節 重陽節
秋 ins eg nB um Aut
13th Day of 2nd Moon 23rd Day of 3rd Moon 8th Day of 4th Moon 5th Day of 5th Moon 9th Day of 9th Moon
WINTER 冬
Sev ere Co ld
大 寒
8
立
Key Holidays/Festivals - Other Lunar Dates
暑
Final day of the New Year Festivites, glutinous rice balls in soup often eaten. Food offerings, burning incense and joss paper is prepared for the deceased. Moon worship for bounitful harvest, lanterns representing fertility are held.
4
Spring Lantern Festival Ghost Festival Mid-Autumn Festival
9
2 3-2
元宵節 鬼節 中秋節
12
5-6
Cold
2
12 0°
1st Full Moon 7th Full Moon 8th Full Moon
11
21-22
7-8
Mode rate
小寒
春 立
7-8
23 22-
冬至
大雪
10
7-8
Key Holidays/Festivals - Full Moons (15th Day)
處 aws dr With Heat
Beginning of many New Year festivities, largely honoring elders.
白露
Key Holidays/Festivals - New Moons (1st Day)
White Dew
鬼節 h Moon 15th of 7t Ghost Festival -
Family gathering and shared meal. Ancestral tomb cleaning, praying and offerings.
小雪
Winter Solsti ce
Heavy Snow
B
ay thd Bir a’s h d ud
of 8th
4t
n佛 oo hM
4 5 °
Construction
節
立
w t Sno Ligh
Salt Production
o
重 陽
ns egi rB nte Wi 冬
Day 9 (9th Moon)
Key Holidays/Festivals - Solar Terms
Lunar New Year
0° 33
- 15 th o f
8th M oon 中 秋節
Day 8 (8th Moon)
Day 15 -Full Moon (1st, 7th, 8th)
農曆新年
10°C
75 mm
Day 13 (2nd Moon)
1st New Moon after Winter Solstice
20°C
m
150 m
KEY LUNAR DAYS
Winter Solstice Ching Ming Festival
30°C
m
~29.57 Days in Month
冬至 清明節
40°C
m
225 m
Day 5 (5th Moon)
1st Day of 1st Solar Term 1st Day of 5th Solar Term
Typhoon Sheltering
th
oo n
2.5 m 2.0 m 1.5 m 1.0 m 0.5 m 300 m
Day 1 - New Moon (1st)
Day 23 (3rd Moon)
° 5 1 3
-9
f9 th M
The start of the spring season. Implies the coming of rain. The start of thunder awakens insects buried in the earth. Vernal equinox; equal parts daytime and nighttime. Pure Brightness; weather is warming, grass is greening. Rainfall is increasing for crop growth. Summer is beginning. Plant seeds are getting full but not ripe yet. Wheat and barley are readying for harvest. Summer Solstice; a hot summer is coming. Days are getting hotter. Days are hottest of the year. The autumn season begins. The hot summer ends. White dew condenses at night time. Autumn Equinox; equal parts daytime and nighttime. Temperature lowers further and more dew appears. White frost begins to emerge. The end of autumn and start of winter. Small levels of snow are beginning to appear. Great levels of snow. Winter Solstice; the arrival of the coldest time. Days are getting colder. Days are coldest of the year.
Fest ival
立春 雨水 驚蟄 春分 清明 穀雨 立夏 小滿 芒種 夏至 小暑 大暑 立秋 處暑 白露 秋分 寒露 霜降 立冬 小雪 大雪 冬至 小寒 大寒
Mid -Au tum n
0° 15° 30° 45° 60° 75° 90° 105° 120° 135° 150° 165° 180° 195° 210° 225° 240° 255° 270° 285° 300° 315° 330° 345°
Winte r Solst ice - 1s t of 1st S ola
The 24 Solar Terms 節氣
G HONG KONG’S WA LAIMIN TERS REC
210,000+ total residents
MR. CHAN & FAMILY Subdivided Flat Residents
10,000~
remaining floating inhabitants across Hong Kong
SISTER MUI
Traditional Boat People
SUNSHIN
Lam Chi-Ngai
LAM CHI-NGAI
Sunshine Island Resident
KEY FUTURE INHABITANTS
D
E ISLAN
1
RETURNING TO THE CITY’S WATERS
How Can Hong Kong’s Relationship with Nature be Reconsidered? Hong Kong’s waters and islands have long acted as a place of refuge, protecting rebellious Qing farmers, divine Taoist emissaries and outcast Tanka boat people, amongst many others. Today, following years of Colonial organization strategies, land reclamation aspirations and hyper market-driven housing markets, many are left locked out of the city’s natural landscape, with anonymous towers forming sharpedged collisions to neighboring mountains and the below harbor.
The Lunisolar Cycle 1 Leaving the Modernist Estate 2 Returning to Lantau Island’s Waters 3 The Spirit of Sunshine Island 4 The Symbol of the Sampan 5 Dignity for HK’s Subdivided Residents 6 Space of Development for Housing Waitlisters 7
Taking from the spirit of Friend Gus Borgeest’s 1960s “Sunshine Island,” Hong Kong’s relationship with nature must be reconsidered to allow the city’s people, and particularly its most marginalized, to regain a sense of dignity atop its ecological archipelago landscape. Such developments will eventually allow this unique natural body to be reclaimed as a greater place of belonging for its many residents.
艇 家 漁 村
FLOATING COMMUNITIES & ISLAND INHABITATIONS Declining Traditional Marine Adaptations to Climate and Geography Hong Kong’s oldest marine communities trace back to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127AD) or before, over 1,000 years ago. Exiled by Han Dynasty expansion, people moved to places such as Tai O to remain hidden from administrators, but yet within reach of trading routes throughout Southern China, and particularly the Pearl River Delta. Locating bays and inlets throughout the territory, they gradually rooted deeper into their surrounding environments, either through self-sufficient boat cities or overwater stilt houses. Mainland Chinese political unrest post-war brought intense influxes of populations and administrative measures, leading to the unique communities that barely remain today.
Archival image of Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter
ABERDEEN TYPHOON SHELTER
Aberdeen
Fish Marke
t (FMO)
A Series of Static and Roaming Components 1 Internal Kaito Ferries 2 Long Distance Ferries 3 Fishing Vessels Forming Walkways 4 Speedboat/Sampan “Streetscape” 5 Roaming Noodle Boat 6 Anchored Houseboats 7 Anchored Fishing Vessel
Predetermined Path Predetermined Path Freeform Freeform Freeform Semi-static Freeform
1950s Aberdeen - Chains of sampans forming walkways
Ferry to Sok Kwu Wan
Ferry to Yung Shue Wan Ferry to Po Toi Island
Kaito Ferr
y Route
Fishing Vessel
Roaming Noodle Boat
Houseboat Sampan/Speedboat
2020s Aberdeen - Larger fishing boat as communal dining space
Hung Shing Temple
Kaito
Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter (similar to Sister Mui’s Home)
Ferry
e
Rout
Within the village itself, the many boats and residents form an ever-changing system of circulation. Rows of boats line up to allow for their parallel decks to serve as walkways. Though most ships leave the typhoon shelter during the day to trawl for fish, most return by night to form rows of docked boats, naturally leaving marine streetscapes in between. The shelter has its own ferry, transporting passengers across the harbor, and its own roaming food boats, ordered from by phone.
SPATIAL NEGOTIATIONS
TAI O FISHING VILLAGE
Ki Sun
)
aved
et (P
Stre
Open Terrace with Table
DGE
RE RIVE
Open Kitchen
Seating Area B
House interior partially used as a cafe
Open Kitchen/Cafe
A
To W
orks
C
hop
Plank Walkway
E
Stilted platform opening directly to street with chair assortment
Communal Storage Areas
D
Stilt House
D Rooftop Deck Communal meeting/storage on plank walkway with a dark home entrance Open Deck D
F
TAI O CREEK
H
G
Stilt House “Stages”
Fourth-Gen Upper Deck
A
Clothes-drying Frame
B
Covered Deck Kitchen
C
Working/Communal Deck
D
Seafood Drying Frame
E
Ladder to Ground/Boat
F
Moored Speedboat
G
Kwun Din Wood Structure
H
Sun Ki Street Stilt House Cluster
Along Tai O’s main pathway on Sun Ki Street are stilted platforms with varying chair and table designs, seemingly brought from home, all leading towards a community workshops used for home and boat repair. From this pathway though, one can reach the many stilt homes of the village, mazily organized along creaky stilted plank walkways. This creates a gradually increasing level of privacy, deterring intruders from first entering small courtyard areas and later the dark hallways of individual homes.
MARINE CONNECTIVITY
Broken Timber Planks
METABOLIST RE-USE
Spare Fish Barrels
Hong Kong has 28 licensed mariculture zones, each with a bay, harbor or inlet hosting a large variety of anchored floating timber rafts with net-based aquaculture grown between a year to 3 years. Boat people in typhoon shelters used broken timber from their ships to form cages for excess fish catchment in a Metabolist-like development of their existing marine vessels. Eventually, their success led to the expansion across the city, with Sok Kwu Wan the largest zone. Raft inhabitation is illegal, but an unclear number still live on the sea.
SOK KWU WAN MARICULTURE
東 大 嶼 水 域
THE WATERS OF EAST LANTAU Traditional Marine Adaptations to Climate and Geography Hong Kong’s oldest marine communities trace back to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127AD) or before, over 1,000 years ago. Exiled by Han Dynasty expansion, people moved to places such as Tai O to remain hidden from administrators, but yet within reach of trading routes throughout Southern China, and particularly the Pearl River Delta. Locating bays and inlets throughout the territory, they gradually rooted deeper into their surrounding environments, either through self-sufficient boat cities or overwater stilt houses. Mainland Chinese political unrest post-war brought intense influxes of populations and administrative measures, leading to the unique communities that barely remain today.
Aerial Image over Lamma Island, Hong Kong Island is in the background
EAST LANTAU
ABERDEEN FLOATING VILLAGE
HONG KONG
LUNISOLAR MARINE COMMUNITY RECLAIMING NATURE CLEANING PEARL RIVER WATERS
DONGGUAN
TAI O FISHING VILLAGE
DEEP BAY MARINE COMMUNITY
SHENZHEN
ISLE OF LUNAR-SEA
MACAU ZHUHAI
ZHONGSHAN
GUANGZHOU
DELTA T FLOW RIVER N PEARL IAL NUTRIE TR INDUS
ERN
T WES
EC AU T
ION AR YA RE A
3
PR
NA
ER
ST
WE
NO
AG
HOR
ANC
2 E NO
E AG
OR
H NC
KAU YI CHAU DEAD ZONE
115m
WES
INSHORE
T LA
MM
AS
BLACK CORAL SPECIES
KAU YI CHAU DANGEROUS
OCTOCORAL SPECIES
PUN SH AN SHEK ANCHOR AGE
38m
GOODS ANCHORAGE
PIN
GC
HAN
NEL
SM09 Water Monitoring Station
EAST LANTAU Southern Water Control Zone Water Quality Objective
SIU KAU YI CHAU
WESTERN ANCHORAGE NO 1
HIP
<0.1 mg/L Total Inorganic Nitrogen 1 km Average Water Conditions 23.8 C 30.4 6.1 mg/L 86% 8.0 4.3 NTU 10.7 mg/L 0.34 mg/L 0.67 mg/L 0.019 mg/L 0.03 mg/L 6.4 ug/L 6-64 cfu/100mL
105m
INTERTIDAL ZONE
PENNY BAY TEMPORARY QUARANTINE FACILITIES
SUNSHINE ISLAND [SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST]
92m
HARD CORAL SPECIES
SED
DISU
SPOIL
Temperature Salinity Dissolved Oxygen Dissolved Oxygen pH Turbidity Suspended Solids Total Inorganic Nitrogen Total Nitrogen Orthophosphate Phosphorous Total Phosphorous Chlorophyll II-a E. Coli
UND
GRO
Average Sediment Conditions
96m
35% 8.1% 0.5% 540 mg/kg 180 mg/kg 39.3 mg/kg 7.8 mg/kg 38 mg/kg 34 mg/kg 45 mg/kg 24 mg/kg 0.3 mg/kg 140 mg/kg
HEI LING CHAU CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION 120m 138m
HONG KONG DISNEYLAND
NEI KWU CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
MARINE TERRACE HEI LING CHAU 181m
PENG CHAU
Total Solids Total Volatile Solids Total Carbon Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen Total Phosphorous Total Sulphide Arsenic Chromium Copper Lead Nickel Silver Zinc
TAU
LAN OCTOCORAL SPECIES
ORR
TOM
AM AD P HIP
S TA
AS
HEI LING CHAU TYPHOON SHELTER
N
TAI LEI ELECTRIC SUBSTATION
VISIO
SM10 Water Monitoring Station
OW
LAI SUN CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
ING
HARD CORAL SPECIES
NEL AN CH
ST03 Water Monitoring Station SS08 Sediment Monitoring Station
NO
EXPLOSIVES DUMPING GROUND
O
CH
AN
GE RA
SM11 Water Monitoring Station
DISCOVERY BAY TAI SHUI HANG NIM SHUE WAN VILLAGE
KAU SHAT WAN GOVERNMENT EXPLOSIVES DEPOT
LANTAU SOUTH COUNTRY PARK
CHEUNG CHAU
A A
B
Peng Chau
Siu Kau Yi Chau
C
D
Kau Yi Chau
E
Hei Ling Chau
Chau Kung To (Sunshine Island)
5.6 ha
24 ha
193 ha
99 m
38 m
115 m
120 m
120 m
6,487
0
0
N/A
1
4
0
0
2
0
area
area
highest elevation population
highest elevation population
temples (1 Tin Hau) Current Functions
highest elevation
Current Functions
population
temples (Tin Hau)
temples Current Functions
C
highest elevation
highest elevation population
population
temples
area
area
area
B
56ha
99 ha
Current Functions
D
temples
Current Functions
E
fisheries
N/A
leper colony
near-abandoned
radar station hospitality
electric substation
refugee camp
Past Functions
Past Functions
kiln factory
N/A
Past Functions
match factory
propsed superjail
Past Functions
Past Functions
prison
uss regulus wreck 5 Qing villages
Lam Chi-ngai
proposed airport
Gus Borgeest’s refugee farming community drug rehab center
typhoon shelter
The islands surrounding the Lantau Tomorrow Vision have all hosted eclectic functions in the past. Different administrations over the past two centuries have used Hong Kong’s outlying islands to house unwanted and unseen functions of society, making it a suitable place for the starting points of a new marine community based on Sunshine Island’s ideals.
THE OUTLYING ISLANDS
LITTORAL ZONE CONDITIONS 1:2000
u
g Cha
Hei Lin
y Bay - Sand
able
arine C
Subm
79
40 30 Peng
Chau
- Cen
tral F
erry
Hei Ling Chau - Peng Chau Submarine Cable
44
30
2020 Min. Low Tide
+0.0m
2020 Mean High Tide
+1.4m
2020 Max. High Tide
+2.3m
2018 Typhoon Mangkhut +3.5m 2100 Typhoon + Sea Rise +4.5m
Site of Special Scientific Interest Conservation of Bogadek’s Burrowing Lizard
Sunshine Island
79
39
o Mui W
erry
tral F
- Cen
Intertidal Zone
Marine Terrace
Depth 0 - 5m
Depth 3.8 - 4.4m
a
Ad
ta
s ma
el
nn
ha
C ing
ipp
Sh
Inshore Zone Depth 7.5 - 8.3m
Full Moon
3rd Quarter New Moon - Largest Tidal Range
1st Quarter
Mixed and Semidiurnal Tide ~2-3 Days After First Quarter Full Moon Third Quarter New Moon Mean
Tidal Ranges 0.9 m 1.9 m 1.3 m 2.3 m
First Quarter - Low Tidal Range High Tide 1.8 m 2.3 m 2.3 m 2.5 m
Low Tide 0.9 m 0.4 m 0.9 m 0.2 m
1.4 m
Full Moon - Large Tidal Range
Third Quarter - Low Tidal Range
Nov. 22-23 First Quarter
Nov. 26-27 Gibbous
Nov. 30 Full Moon
Dec. 4-5 Gibbous
Dec. 8 Third Quarter
Dec. 11-12 Crescent
Dec. 15 New Moon
Dec. 18-19 Crescent
New Moon - Largest Tidal Range
HONG KONG’S LUNAR-TIDAL CYCLE
New Moon
HONG KONG’S ISLANDS
明 日 填 海
RECLAIMING HONG KONG’S WATERS Using Reclamation to Induce Environmental Reconnection Hong Kong’s waters and islands, historic places of refuge that have protected rebellious Qing farmers, divine Taoist emissaries and outcast Tanka boat people amongst many others, must be reclaimed by its people as a place of belonging. The site of Lantau Tomorrow Vision can be a testing ground for the reclamation of nature rather than that of land. Four key natural reclamation systems - desalination, salt production, sediment collection and oyster cultivation - can guide a new marine community that allows the city’s ecological landscape to return to being not only a site of weekend allure, but a space of greater belonging both within the natural processes and traditional lunisolar cycles.
Salt Production Module
Solar Roof
Aquaculture
Wave Energy
Aquaculture Net
Solar Energy
Shared Communal Space
To Floating Homes
Aqua/Hydroponics
Arrival Pier
Hydro/Aquaponic Cultivation
Hydro/Aquaponics
Energy Store
PV Panel Roof
Food Processing/Drying
Semi-open Kitchen/Dining
Wave Roller
Aquaculture
Sectional Diagram
Anaerobic Digestion
Recycling of Goods
Minimized Waste/Pollutants
Wave Roller Energy Generator
At the center of each cluster of floating city, similar hubs form the core of the circular metabolism that the homes and their residents undergo, flexible to shared needs. This hub generates energy locally using both solar energy and hydronamic wave energy harnessed from the motions created by ships passing on the Adamasta Channel. A large amount of food can also be locally generate via hydroponics alocally with traditional means and consumed by residents. The organic waste products of the building can be reused as energy created by anaerobic digestion, whilst goods can be recycled.
CIRCULAR METABOLISM HUB
INSHORE ZONE
8m Depth Aquaculture Net
Fish Sorting + Anaerobic Digester
Container Ships with Generated Wake
Traditional Brining and Sundrying of Seafood Local Ferries
Modular Floating Home
At the center of each cluster of floating city, similar hubs form the core of the circular metabolism that the homes and their residents undergo, flexible to shared needs. This hub generates energy locally using both solar energy and hydronamic wave energy harnessed from the motions created by ships passing on the Adamasta Channel.
This inshore zone model responds to the different ships moving across this area, particularly on the busy Adamasta Channel. A barrier here produces energy from the wake of these ships, reducing the wave disruptions to the core mariculture process. This is laid out in linear fashion, with 8m deep nets at one end, sorting mechanisms in the middle and sun-drying racks at the other, with a linear railway transporting the fish through. Floating residences are inserted in between these different functions.
MARICULTURE & WAKES
INTERTIDAL ZONE Tidal Facade
Passive Cooling Wall
Rainwater Agriculture
At the center of each cluster of floating city, similar hubs form the core of the circular metabolism that the homes and their residents undergo, flexible to shared needs. This hub generates energy locally using both solar energy and hydronamic wave energy harnessed from the motions created by ships passing on the Adamasta Channel.
In the intertidal zone, a static structure can harness the dynamism of the tide and the shore. Mechanisms such as pulleys can be utilized to amplify the tidal changes for environmental effects. Further, troughs of seawater can be held during low tides below a building to allow for below-floor cooling systems.
NATURAL COOLING
Retractable Typhoon Cover
B
Rain Capture Roof Channel
C
Rotational Tidal Windows
D
Goods-drying Panel
E
Hanging Net Culture
F
Tidal-operated Floor
G
Recycled Concrete Artificial Reef
MARINE TERRACE
A
A
B
C
2100/Typhoon
D E
Within this 3-4m deep terrain which does not have particularly large currents, wind conditions or ship traffic, spaces for oyster and coral cultivation can be made. Artifical reef blocks can form a structure to hold several living units above.
High Tide
F
Low Tide
Within the relatively shallow marine terrace area, structures can reach the ground to allow for more tidal mechanisms. Here, changing tides correlate with changing levels of ventilation. As the tide rises, facade panels are pushed open for cross-ventilation as the bottom floor height shrinks. When the tide is lower, the facade panels close to allow for shaft ventilation through a taller bottom floor.
G
TIDAL MECHANISMS
TIDAL ELEMENTS
Chinese New Year
Spring Lantern Festival
Large open space (highlighted) connecting all layers for gatherings and festivities.
Smaller gathering areas for rice ball making, larger open hall (highlighted) for lantern display.
1st New Moon Solar Rotations 0° Lunar Rotations 0°
Buddha’s Birthday 8th Day of 4th Moon Solar Rotations ~98° Lunar Rotations 105°
1st Full Moon Solar Rotations ~15° Lunar Rotations 180°
Ghost Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival
People leave to burn incense, or particular spiritual building constructed on periphery.
Connected layers forms large walkway for mid autumn lantern display with path to water edge.
8th Day of 4th Moon Solar Rotations ~249° Lunar Rotations 120°
People usually go to ancestral graves to provide offerings, need to look into this festival more.
Circular Arcs of Rotating Structures
5th Day of 5th Moon Solar Rotations ~125° Lunar Rotations 60°
Narrow openings for the launching of dragon boats for races between surrounding residents.
Chung Yeung Festival
Static Structures on Outer Layer
Tuen Ng/Dragon Boat Festival
People leave to temple and general holiday creating gaps of recreation.
7th Full Moon Solar Rotations ~180° Lunar Rotations 180°
Central Sundial Tower
8th Full Moon Solar Rotations ~210° Lunar Rotations 180°
Agri/maricultural Core Tower
Clockwise, 1 rotation/lunar month
Counter-clockwise, 1 rotation/year
Counter-clockwise, 1 rotation/lunar month
An exploration of a physical manifestation of the lunisolar calendar. Multiple layers of arc-shaped buildings could exist in parallel, rotating with different periods in accordance with the rising and falling tide, creating unique lunar-dependent spaces and areas for the residents.
LUNAR-SEA TEST
Residential Module
2
1
4
SO
LA R-
7 5
G
N CI FA RNA LU
FA CI
NG
3
1 Living Space 2 Tidal Hub - Oyster Breedstock, Agriculture 3 Drying Area 4 Bamboo Loading Area 5 Larval Culture Tank 6 Sheltered Net Culture Zone 7 Lunar Platforms
6
Floating and Stilted Modules
Employing a largely bamboo construction, floating residences, enabled by the water’s flexibility, can freely move across stilted modules in the water reflecting the mariculture processes of seafoods such as oysters. A central hub for the collection of productive functions can serve as a static core of a greater masterplan of floating modules, allowing people to gather to enhance their relationship with the surrounding environment, the tide and the lunar cycles. Additional spaces can be additionally attuned to suit the lunar-tidal cycle and its tidal ranges.
FLOATING RESIDENCE
3
3
1 2
4 1
4 1
2
Seawater Input Solar Chamber Brine Collection Freshwater Collection
Low Tide Ladder Floating Buoy Tidal Pulley Salt Pan
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
SALT PRODUCTION [STATIC]
DESALINATION [STATIC/ROAMING]
2
1
1 2 4
3 3 4
Canopied Resting Bench Oyster Net Culture Oyster Drying Racks PVC Flotation Barrels
1 2 3 4
OYSTER CULTURE [STATIC/ROAMING]
Sediment Net Rotational Stand Oyster Larval Tanks PVC Floatation Barrels
1 2 3 4
SEDIMENTATION [ROAMING]
水 上 新 社 群
A NEW MARINE COMMUNITY Continuing Boat People’s Adaptive Heritage and Spatial Practices Climate and Geography: (1) identifying/creating new geographic typhoon shelters; (2) utilizing depth-based conditions; (3) recycling/downcycling construction materials; (4) establishing physical and visual lunar-tidal connections; and (5) overall architectural climate reconnection, suiting 2100 climate projections. Spatial Organization: (6) flexibly negotiable organization; and (7) marine-based spatial structure.
Intertidal Zone
Shipyards & Legal Recuperative Residences M
L
N
Island edges are first used as founding settlements and shipbuilding workshops of the greater community, later forming the basis of periodic legal permanent residence for the floaiting population. These act as a break from working on waterscapes, as residents gather in lunar theaters to rest below reflected moonlight.
O K
P Q
J
Tidal Reclamation Waterscape
H
Connected to the shallow depths through stilted construction and anchored modules, residents engage the 6-hour tidal cycle and Hong Kong’s mixed tides. At low tides, mariculture cages can be fed, whilst at high tides, dried salt and desalinated water can be retrieved. At peak tides, living modules and reclamation modules can be rearranged across the marine terrace waterscape.
B
Reclamation - Desalination
E F G
Reclamation - Sediementation
Reclamation - Salt Production
Inshore Zone
Internalized Communities & Agri-/Maricultural Sustenence Individual floating living modules form localized communities protecting internal canals for community shipbuilding and trade. Floating agricultural terraces and mariculture rafts fill the remainder inshore zone, increasing self-sustainability. Northwest of the Kau Yi Chaus are modules that specifically act as a filtration barrier, comprising oyster culture and sediment collection from the rich waters flowing from the industrial Pearl River Delta.
Lunar Observatory/Tin Hau
Key Elements Chronological Development
Sunshine Island Community
Reclamation - Oyster
C D
Dragon Boat/Launching Channel
Bamboo Workshop
Living Blocks
A
Seasonal Floating Expansion
Marine Terrace
I
A
Sunshine Island - Intertidal Founding Settlement (Recuperative Legal Living + Shipyard)
G
Dragon Boat Channel
M
Kau Yi Chau Intertidal Settlement (Recuperative Legal Living + Shipyard)
B
Sunshine Island Harbour - Inshore Living Modules
H
Community Center and Floating Docks (Central Workshop, Tin Hau Temple, Central Forum)
N
Oyster Culture Waterscape
C
Leisure Swimming Pools
I
Floating Inshore Living Module with Lunar Canal
O
Floating Inshore Living Module with Lunar Canal
D
Reconfigurable Marine Terrace Living Modules
J
Mariculture Rafts
P
Reclamation Module Workshop + Sediment Collection Waterscape
Q
Siu Kau YI Chau Intertidal Settlement (Recuperative Legal Living + Shipyard)
E
Reconfigurable Marine Terrace Module Waterscape (Desalination, Salt Pans, Cage Culture)
K
Desalination + Agriculture Pond Wake Barrier
F
Hong Kong Ferries Channel
L
Timber/Bamboo Store + Harvest Hub
A newly established marine community can expand according to East Lantau’s underwater plateaus. This will largely expand through intertidal zones on island edges, the marine terrace between Peng Chau, Sunshine Island and Hei Ling Chau, as well as the deeper inshore within the boundaries of the primary shipping channels.
INITIAL ZONAL MASTERPLAN
PRODUCTIVE RESIDENTIAL MODULES Island Shore Settlement Elevated Residential Units with Tidal Salt Production
Island Shore Settlement Expanded Agriculture Modules and Central Node outside Residential Units
Marine Terrace Expansion Residential Modules with Canal Formations
Inshore Zone Modules Agriculture/Mariculture over Atoll Structures
Both subdivided flat residents and traditional boat people arrive together to form the initial shore settlement.
Marine Terrace Atoll Shelter
Inshore Zone Canal Organization
Marine Terrace Atoll Shelter
Intertidal Shore Settlement
Lam Chi-Ngai simply awaits their arrival.
SUNSHINE ISLAND FOUNDING SETTLEMENT
Sunshine Island
Intertidal Shore Settlement
Lam Chi-Ngai remains on Sunshine Island aiding new arrivals, whilst boat people, if they choose to remain on their boats, moor within the artificial shelter. The subdivided flat residents shift into new housing on the peripheries of the atoll shelter.
Inshore Zone Canal Organization Arriving subdivided flat residents are the primary users of the canal organization, living in large floating structures over water.
The founding settlement of the masterplan begins at Sunshine Island, Lam Chi-Ngai’s home. Here, the original subdivided flat residents and remainder boat people arrive on the island to first construct an initial settlement on the Intertidal Shores of Sunshine Island’s beach. Following this, further expansion continues deeper over water in the construction of artificial typhoon shelters/ atolls on the Marine Terrace Depth Zone. The remaining boat people largely fill these safer waters as new arriving subdivided flat residents then move on towards constructing a residential canal along the Inshore Zone.
FOUNDING SETTLEMENT
Both subdivided flat residents and traditional boat people arrive together to form the initial shore settlement.
Intertidal Shore Settlement
Lam Chi-Ngai simply awaits their arrival.
SUNSHINE ISLAND FOUNDING SETTLEMENT
Sunshine Island
Intertidal Shore Settlement
Lam Chi-Ngai remains on Sunshine Island aiding new arrivals, whilst boat people, if they choose to remain on their boats, moor within the artificial shelter. The subdivided flat residents shift into new housing on the peripheries of the atoll shelter.
Inshore Zone Canal Organization
Marine Terrace Atoll Shelter(s)
Marine Terrace Atoll Shelter
Inshore Zone Canal Organization Arriving subdivided flat residents are the primary users of the canal organization, living in large floating structures over water.
The founding settlement of the masterplan begins at Sunshine Island, Lam Chi-Ngai’s home. Here, the original subdivided flat residents and remainder boat people arrive on the island to first construct an initial settlement on the Intertidal Shores of Sunshine Island’s beach. Following this, further expansion continues deeper over water in the construction of artificial typhoon shelters/ atolls on the Marine Terrace Depth Zone. The remaining boat people largely fill these safer waters as new arriving subdivided flat residents then move on towards constructing a residential canal along the Inshore Zone.
FOUNDING SETTLEMENT
Both subdivided flat residents and traditional boat people arrive together to form the initial shore settlement.
Intertidal Shore Settlement
Lam Chi-Ngai simply awaits their arrival.
SUNSHINE ISLAND FOUNDING SETTLEMENT
Sunshine Island
Intertidal Shore Settlement
Marine Terrace Atoll Shelter
Inshore Zone Canal Organization
Inshore Zone Canal Organization
Marine Terrace Atoll Shelter
Lam Chi-Ngai remains on Sunshine Island aiding new arrivals, whilst boat people, if they choose to remain on their boats, moor within the artificial shelter. The subdivided flat residents shift into new housing on the peripheries of the atoll shelter.
Arriving subdivided flat residents are the primary users of the canal organization, living in large floating structures over water.
The founding settlement of the masterplan begins at Sunshine Island, Lam Chi-Ngai’s home. Here, the original subdivided flat residents and remainder boat people arrive on the island to first construct an initial settlement on the Intertidal Shores of Sunshine Island’s beach. Following this, further expansion continues deeper over water in the construction of artificial typhoon shelters/ atolls on the Marine Terrace Depth Zone. The remaining boat people largely fill these safer waters as new arriving subdivided flat residents then move on towards constructing a residential canal along the Inshore Zone.
FOUNDING SETTLEMENT
B
A
Sunken Salt Field
B
Anaerobic Digester & Waste Store
C
Lunar Reflectors & Theater
D
Ship Maintenance Dock below Residential
E
Desalination Channel
C D
SUNSHINE ISLAND FOUNDING SETTLEMENT
Sunshine Island
A
Intertidal Shore Settlement
E
Marine Terrace Atoll Shelter
Q
P F G H
R
F
Tidal Frame and Stilted Residence
G
Atoll Path & Sediment Nets Below
H
Mariculture/Agriculture Raft
I
Communal Platform & Sea Temple
J
Seasonal Festive Space
K
Floating Residence (Moored)
L
Desalination Raft
Free-floating Structures Culture Grid
P
Market Waypoint
Q
Floating Residence
R
I J
M K N O L
P
Inshore Zone Canal Organization M
Canal Residence
N
Workshop and Hydroponic Allotment
O
Central Canal
P
Lunar Reflector Walkway
In this masterplan, the scale of each spatial organization has gotten notably larger, though the overarching formations across each depth zone are largely the same. Notable additions include the range of free-floating and free-roaming structures that tie the masterplan together. One is the Culture Grid, allowing agricultural/maricultural modules to moor, positioned along each organization’s peripheries, tying each greater element together. Another is the Market Waypoint, positioned on a large grid, guiding boats through the community. A final element is the Floating Residence, attachable to Culture Grids.
MODEL MASTERPLAN
Salt Production
Sunshine Island Intertidal Settlement
Residential Module + Workshop
Culture Grid
Market Anchor
Marine Terrace Typhoon Shelter
Stage 1 Founding Settlement
Stage 2 Marine Terrace Expansion and Culture Grids Residential Module + Skillshare Space
Residential Module + Skillshare Space
Culturist Modules
Stage 4 Culture Grids and Further Expansion
KEY SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS
Stage 3 Canal Construction and Culture Grids
MASTERPLAN PROGRESSION
Inshore Zone Canal Organization
Residential Module
Workshop + Allotment Module
INTERTIDAL ZONE
Daylight/Moonlight Rays
Wat
er C
olle
ctio
n Po
ol Sun
shin
Mai Adju
nten
stab
le R
efle
Res
ctor
s
iden
Cau
stic
Ship
Ship
-mo
Tida
l De
Wal
kwa
y to
Eas
sali
nati
ving
Rain nten
anc
eW
ning
bin
wat
Mai
t Di
s Ca
er C
anc
eW
aitin
e Is
land
g Ar
ea
Tab
le
han
nel
orks
hop
Plat
form Daylight/Moonlight Reflectors
on P
od
The founding settlement is an entirely static construction on the shore of Sunshine Island. Its key elements are a communal area and workshop space, with residential cabins elevated above it, each with ventilated downward openings.
t La
ntau
Subdivided Flat Residents
Mui Jer
Lam Chi-Ngai
The workshops below allow ships to arrive for deconstruction into recycled construction materials for use in another structures across the masterplan. Further, lunar reflectors at the ends of boardwalks reflect moonlight into the covered communal area, with the internal channel then reflecting caustics to illuminate the cabins.
SUNSHINE SETTLEMENT
Living Layer
INTERTIDAL ZONE
Caustics Illumination
Reflected Moonlight
Masterplan Walkway
Communal Working Layer
Towards East Lantau Waters
Caustics Illumination
Nighttime Caustic Lighting
Communal Laundry Area Desalinated/Rainwater Collection Pool
Ship-moving Platform
The homes of the island settlement thoroughly employ the marine surroundings. Their elevated position leave them less susceptible to flooding, whilst the waters below generate evaporative cooling in the enclosed cabins during hot summers. At night, the lunar reflectors at the ends of boardwalks reflect moonlight into the waters of an empty workshop, which further dissipate onto the roofs above and into each cabin. The space below then equally funcitons as workshop and communal spaces including desalination and rainwater pools, kitchens, laundry areas and dining spaces.
CAUSTIC ILLUMINATION
Tidal Joint
FREELFLOATING
1/4 Market Anchor Structures
Tidal Movement
Floating Walkway
Moored Sampan
Mooring Walkway Central Gathering Space Stilted Structure
Anchored Mariculture Net
Market anchors are located in set positions across the site, stilted on the seafloor. These act as waypoints for returning residents or fishermen. Due to their stilted structure, these operate according to tidal shifts, with four corner elements capable of rising and falling with the tide. A floating walkway with hanging mariculture nets remains on the surface of the water, allowing boats to moor, with fishermen going aboard to sell fish. The central space between the four elements is a communal area for festive gatherings, whilst the floors above are viewing platforms.
MARKET ANCHOR
MARINE TERRACE
Bamboo Tidal Frame
Communal/Productive Platform
Atoll Structure - Raised at High Tide
A barge-like atoll structure allows for the control of seawater to generate a maintainable marine environment for use in mariculture. Residential structures can then be constructed on the surroundings of this atoll.
Sunken Hydroponic Test Beds
Mariculture Atoll
Living Space
This fragment depicts a small residential block on the edge of the atoll, punctured with a tidal frame, a small bamboo construction that rises and falls with the tide, contrasting a constant water level in the atoll, but allowing for a tide-based program. The atoll structure itself can also have controlled climates for agricultural test beds within.
TIDAL FRAME ON ATOLL
MARINE TERRACE The next iteration of the atoll is far larger, instead taking the form of a tpyohoon shelter, bound by deployable sediment nets that are both productive and protective. Productive mariculture and desalination rafts fill this space, whilst residential modules straddle its edge. The residential modules, stilted outside, connect to the shelter through tidal frames, with a floating skill-sharing space positioned on the shelter’s interior.
Shelter Entrance with Sediment Nets
Tidal Frame Straddling Shelter
There is also a communal platform for boat mooring and festive gathering to worship sea deities.
ATOLL SHELTER
INSHORE ZONE D
C H
A
Hydroponic Racks
B
Evaporative Cooling
C
Rotational Reflective Louvers
D
Rainwater Collectors
E
Salt Pan Courtyard
F
Commnunal/Workshop Space
G
Barge Structure
H
Rotational Elements
A E B
F G
B
H
Several culturist centers line the area of the Inshore Zone Canal Organization. These host both shipbuilding/ maintenance workshops and hydroponic allotments for residents use. The lower floor holds open channels to encourage this maintenance functionality, upper floor primarily consists of the allotments as well as the communal courtyard. The building itself is also lined with details to encourage the collection of rainwater, productive self-sufficiency and ventilative cooling.
CANAL CULTURIST CENTER
INSHORE ZONE Living Space
Seafood Production
On-site Construction
The canal residential module lines next to the culturist center, extending into the water from the shared canal walkway. Bars of residential flats face opposite directions from each other with a communal working/productive space besides them with ample sunlight for activities such as seafood-drying, equipment maintenance etc.
Series of Residential Modules seen below
Early Residential Module Model
Altogether, these elements also rest above a large floating barge structure, allowing the entire module to be towed elsewhere by several sampans or larger ships when needed.
CANAL RESIDENTIAL
FREE-FLOATING Desalination
Salt Production
Sediment Collection
The canal residential module lines next to the culturist center, extending into the water from the shared canal walkway. Bars of residential flats face opposite directions from each other with a communal working/productive space besides them with ample sunlight for activities such as seafood-drying, equipment maintenance etc. Altogether, these elements also rest above a large floating barge structure, allowing the entire module to be towed elsewhere by several sampans or larger ships when needed. Marine Agriculture
Floating Residence
Walkway Module
THE CULTURE GRID
CULTURE EXPANSION
Culturist Assembly
Typhoon Disassembly
Culture Grid Assembly
Reclamation Module Construction
Sampan Tow
Culture Grid Mooring
Construction of a Culture Grid extending from an intertidal founding settlement extending from Sunshine Island.
A reclamation module is first constructed and launched from the workshop of Sunshine Island’s founding settlement.
The reclamation module is then towed by the sampan to the cultural grid nearby, alongside other reclamation modules launched.
The reclamation module is further moored within the cultural grid, alongside other modules, for productive use throughout the year.
Culture Grid Opening
Towed Modules
Culture Grid Disassembly
Typhoon Shelter Protection
During typhoons, the cultural grid is prepared for disassembly in case of high winds. This allows for the moored modules to be removed.
The sampans return to the culture grids to tow out the remaining reclamation modules for sheltered placement.
The culture grid and its components are gradually dismantled and stored within the founding settlement until the end of the typhoon season.
The sampans tow the reclamation modules into the aritificial shelter for typhoon protection during the summer months.
A
B
C
SUNSHINE ISLAND INTERTIDAL ZONE
D
G
E
H
F
I
MARINE TERRACE TYPHOON SHELTER
J
K
M
N
L
O
INSHORE ZONE CANAL
FREE-FLOATING STRUCTURES
A
Lunar Reflectors
B
Caustics-illuminated Cabins + Workshops
C
Tidal Salt Production Field
D
Floating Sediment Collection Pathway
E
Sea Deity Temple + Communal Space
F
Typhoon Shelter Tidal-operated Residence
G
Moored/Free-roaming Residence
H
Desalination Module
I
Temporary Festive Space
J
Communal Workshop + Allotments
K
Canal Residence
L
Elevated Lunar Reflector Walkway
M
Anchored Market Waypoint
N
Culturist Grid + Free-roaming Residence
O
Mariculture Module
MARINE TYPOLOGIES
Plan (6 Units/Floor)
A
Rainwater Collection Channel
B
Residential Unit
C
Residential Facade Balcony
D
Dismantle-able Bamboo Facade
E
Production Space
F
Rainwater Collection Pouch
G
Communal Gathering Space
H
Controlled Microclimate Test Bed
CANAL RESIDENTIAL MODULE
A
Winter Sun Path
A
Summer Sun Path
B
Ventilative Louvers
C
Cross-Ventilation
D
Sea-drive Evaporative Cooling
E
Rainwater Channel
F
Rainwater Collection Pouch
G
B Normal Phase
F C
D
Typhoon Disassembly
E
Typhoon Rolled Rigidity
G
CANAL RESIDENTIAL MODULE
HEI LING C H AU
SUNSHINE ISLAND F
E
C
A
Sunshine Island Shore Settlement
B
Marine Terrace Artificial Shelter
C
Inshore Zone Canal Organization
D
Free-floating Market Anchor
E
Free-floating Cuture Grid
F
Free-floating Residential Module
B A
D
100m
FOUNDING MASTERPLAN
月 汐 島
ISLE OF LUNAR-SEA Using Reclamation to Induce Environmental Reconnection Incoming residents to the floating community, the marginalized of the city, not only establish a stake within the city, but also deeply reconnect with the surrounding physical environment. Through their inhabitation and expansion of the marine community, the residents eventually create Isle of Lunar-Sea, living alongside the cycles of both the moon and the tide within the environment. The establishment of a new marine community serves as a model for continued water-based inhabitations that can spread throughout Hong Kong’s waters, allowing the beginnings of a new marine heritage, taking from that of the soonbygone traditional boat people.
APPENDIX
Existing Typhoon Shelters that Housed Refugees
Tai O Village
Phases of Colonization (1842, 1860, 1898)
Primary Walled Village Locations by the Water
Lantau
Tuen Mun
2000BC Han Dynasty
1368 - 1644 Ming Dynasty
1841 - 1941 Early Colony
Post-WW2 1945 - 1980s
Forced Shift to Marine Livelihoods
Escaping Mongol-led Dynasty
Safe Haven for Trade and Shipbuilding
Floating Refuge to Escape Civil War
Indigenous Nanyue people of coastal Southern China escaped from the expansion of the Han Dynasty empire by shifting to the sea to live in exile on boats. A mix of this tribe and Han Chinese formed Tanka people, carrying on the marine legacy. They were however often discriminated by land-dwellers for their highly-exposed lifestyles causing dark complexions. Tanka were forbidden to live ashore or marry land-dwellers.
Clans of families including the Tang (Deng, 鄧), Hau (Hou, 候), Pang (Peng, 彭) and Liu (Liao, 廖) and Man (Wen, 文) arrived in Hong Kong to escape from the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. Salt, pearl and fishery trades relied upon for income. Any Tanka people were not included in censuses as they were considered outcasts. They were still forbidden onshore.
Following the First Opium War, Hong Kong was colonized to protect British trading interests throughout Asia and particularly Guangdong. Its deep harbor served as a hub for shipbuilding and repair. Amidst the Taiping Rebellion, many Chinese people also fled to Hong Kong. Tanka people continued to live along Hong Kong’s waterways sheltered within protective harbors.
Following World War II, many boat people across China fled to HK by sea, forced to squat illegally on ships anchored within typhoon shelters. These were often impoverished, unsanitary and with severe fires due to incredible density. Many would also come to illegally reside in Tai O fishing village. The village was a large ungoverned smuggling hub and center of many fires.
Hong Kong and Whampoa Dockyard, 1920
Ming Dynasty Map of Hong Kong viewed from the mainland. Tsing Yi island is highlighted. Hong Kong Island sits at the top of the map.
Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, 1960s
Hong Kong’s waters have long acted as a geographic safe haven for indigenous boat people, away from the ostracization of land-dwellers. This was even prior to its colonization by the British, who used it as a safe harborfor the repair of ships and trading vessels. Post-World War II, Hong Kong’s population exploded amidst the Chinese Civil War, with countless refugees living in crowded boats along the coast, forming self-sufficient societies.
PROTECTIVE BAYS
Dwindling Environmentally Adaptive Boat People
Rare Interactions between Urban Landscape and Marine Environment
Environmental Heritage Largely Disappeared
Mountainous Island Landscape
Hong Kong today holds many places where the urban edge is halted by the sea or met with the sharp incline of a mountainous landscape. Yet, the common imagery associated with the city is often with its financial center, deeply neglecting the deep influence of its boat people. Modern evelopments are free to do as they please outside protected natural areas, yetspeak little to Hong Kong’s unique natural condition and forgoes the adaptive built heritage within the safe haven of its waters.
URBAN - NATURE COLLISIONS
Described by some as the origin of Hong Kong’s modern name, Aberdeen Floating Village, situated in the harbor between Ap Lei Chau Island and Aberdeen on Hong Kong island, predates the arrival of the British Colonial government in the 1800s. Its population of Tanka and Hoklo people exploded postwar alongside an influx of Chinese refugees, peaking at near 150,000 and thousands of samapans and houseboast, creating a self-sufficient city.
ABERDEEN TYPHOON SHELTER
The only marine community in Hong Kong with stilt houses at this scale, Tai O is seen as a unique marine community, even by the city’s other floating inhabitants. Still a semi-functional fishing village, many people go out to sea on a daily basis, with seafood sales from boats or at waters edge to random passer-bys. Metal-sheeted stilt houses organized themselves along Tai O River, each with large decks for multipurpose drying, crafting and neighborly meals, alongside ladders to descend to personal boats. Narrow timber plank walkways weave between them and directly into open homes.
TAI O FISHING VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT FRAGMENTS