Open-Source Urban Common — The Future of Dai Pai Dong

OPENSOURCE URBAN COMMON THE FUTURE OF DAI PAI DONG

Open-Source Urban Common—The Future of Dai Pai Dong by NGAN Wing Sze Gillian Supervised by Prof. Tat Lam A thesis submitted to the School of Architecture, CUHK in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture School of Architecture The Chinese University of Hong Kong Š May 2020, NGAN Wing Sze Gillian

OPEN-SOURCE URBAN COMMON THE FUTURE OF DAI PAI DONG

2

THESIS ABSTRACT This thesis explores a strategy to perpetuate the roles and spirits of Dai Pai Dong, an important cultural asset of the city, while addressing the necessity for urban redevelopment.

Dai Pai Dong is a type of open-air food stall in Hong Kong that provides cheap local dishes.

The numbers of Dai Pai Dong have significantly dropped due to urban renewal plans and tightened hygienic policies, which triggered concerns about their coming future.

Inspired by the resilient, flexible and ephemeral nature of Dai Pai Dong, an open-source design framework is proposed to preserve the beauty of Dai Pai Dong’s bottom-up construction technique. The proposal of a flexible sub-system along with a series of open-source and component-based plug-ins takes advantage of the know-how of inhabitants and empowers them to design their own interventions. These interventions can be plugged in freely into the building framework, transforming and upgrading over time to adapt to urban and environmental changes.

The project is situated in Yue Man Square in Kwun Tong. The contrast of the area being the poorest district in Hong Kong, but also undergoing Hong Kong’s largest redevelopment plan generates a challenging, yet desirable setting for the exploration of a bottom-up and adaptive design. Supplemented with programs like communal kitchen, food bank and office for social enterprises, the project has the ambition to gather and empower the grassroots to set up their own businesses, bolstering the social and economic roles of Dai Pai Dong. The thesis project envisions to be an urban common that invites citizens to not only share space but also resources, knowledge, ideas and many more, it hopes to unleash the potential of Dai Pai Dong and provides a sustainable alternative to the monolithic redevelopment plans.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

2019-2020 has been a challenging year, series of protests and the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic have interrupted our normal studio life. However, the events stimulated new ways of design communication and medium of presentation, generating a distinctive process of carrying out this thesis design.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Prof. Tat Lam, for his guidance and support throughout the tough year. Without his valuable feedbacks, the project would not have been as complete.

I would like to thank Carol Chan for the assistance to arrange an interview between me and her parents who own a Dai Pai Dong. Thank you Mr. Chan and Mrs. Chan, the owners of Wai Kee Fishball Noodles, for taking the precious time to interview with me.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and friends for their unconditional support and continuous encouragement throughout the years of architectural studies.

CONTENT Introduction Definitions CHAPTER 1.0

Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong 1.1 Past: Origin and History 1.2 Present: Defining and Identifying Dai Pai Dong 1.3 Future: Preservation vs Redevelopment 1.4 Site Selection and Analysis

P. 14-31

CHAPTER 2.0

Tectonic Interpretation 2.1 Dynamism 2.2 Colour, Materiality and Mechanism 2.3 Participatory Design: User as Architect 2.4 Emergent Design: Envisioning the Unknown

P. 32-49

CHAPTER 3.0

Authentic Culture: In Search of the Essence 3.1 Dining and Walkthrough Experience 3.2 Untrammelled Environment 3.3 Unique Workflow and Dimension

P. 50-59

CHAPTER 4.0

Preserving Social and Economic Impact 4.1 The Commensal and Community-bonding Environment 4.2 Grassroot Empowerment 4.3 Kitchenless City

P. 60-67

CHAPTER 5.0

Final Design 5.1 An Urban Common for the Neighbourhood 5.2 The Framework 5.3 Design Visualisation

P. 68-97

Appendix - Case Studies Bibliography Image Credit

8

INTRODUCTION CHANGE IN NUMBER OF DAI PAI DONG NUMBER 1400

1337 1252

1312

1267

1323

1200 1015

1000 800

797

706 566

600

484 411

400 200

33

0

28

24

2015

2011

2002

1987

1983

1973

1970

1965

1961

1956

1950

1946

1940

1936

YEAR

This thesis attempts to explore possible strategies to preserve and reinterpret Dai Pai Dong under the inevitable redevelopment and urban renewal in Hong Kong. Dai Pai Dong has long been the affordable food source that feeds hundreds and thousands of labourers and grassroots families. Owners of Dai Pai Dongs or other kinds of street food stalls themselves are also grassroots as licenses were only given to qualified socially vulnerable groups. As important as it is, the number of Dai Pai Dong has significantly dropped from over a thousand in the 1970s to just twenty-four in recent years. The plunge raised my interest in preserving this unique type of food stall, as it does not only represent the food culture and unique streetscape in Hong Kong, but also epitomized the grassroots spirit and identity of Hong Kong.

The research starts by defining ‘Dai Pai Dong’ in the first place in Chapter 1.0. While preservation refers to ‘the act of keeping something in its original state or in good condition’1, the subject of what being the ‘something’, in other words, ‘what to be preserved’, needs further clarification. Surviving for more than half a century, the secret for the viability of Dai Pai Dong obviously lies more than its physical components. Therefore, this part of the research dissects Dai Pai Dong’s essence, role and qualities in order to find out the felicitous ingredient for preserving it while synchronising with the fast-paced urban development.

1. “Preservation.” In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2020. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/ preservation.

Introduction

â–˛

10

top/ Photos of the hawker activies in Kwun Tong bottom/ Mind map to dissect the elements and essence of Dai Pai Dong

The tectonics of Dai Pai Dong are scrutinised in Chapter 2.0, in which an open-source design framework and manual is developed, acting as a strategy for the symbiosis of preservation and redevelopment. Recognising the capability of the stall owners to design their own structure, the open-source framework aims at providing the proper and accessible tools to empower the public to design and innovate. The proposal of a flexible sub-system and component-based plug-ins allows the interventions to upgrade and evolve over time, adapting to urban and environmental changes. This new collaborative approach of design supersedes the traditional top-down and permanent building design, flourishing the ideas from the public. It provides insights into the possible future version of Dai Pai Dong, and at the same time, suggested an alternative language for a responsive and resilient redevelopment.

In Chapter 3.0, the hidden culture of Dai Pai Dong is discussed. Dutch architect and theorist N. John Habraken commented that ‘we should recognize that the built environment is an autonomous entity that has its own ways, and the architect should study that and explain how and why he can participate in a largely autonomous process.’2 Without doubt, culture is not something we could reproduce. The project, therefore, focuses on the optimisation of the infrastructure—the open-source system, anticipating the culture to be cultivated and reappears itself through the collective driving force by each and every stakeholder.

Through a higher level of user participation in the design process, the system enables the inhabitants to design their own intervention based on their own custom, workmanship and preference. The component-based design approach reinterprets the beauty of the bricolage technique, namely ‘do-it-yourself’ technique, practiced in Dai Pai Dong’s construction, allowing inhabitants to mix and match different handy materials. The architecture is therefore not just a container but a social and cultural protagonist, preserving the essence and authenticity of Dai Pai Dong.

2. Habraken, N. John. “Personal communication as Adjunct Editor.” (December 2013)

In Chapter 4.0, the social and economical roles of Dai Pai Dong are identified. While we always concern with cultural values during preservation, the roles performed by the subject of preservation are seldom addressed. This chapter discovers the different roles Dai Pai Dong have in the society, in order to amplify its potential influence through the project.

The last chapter introduces the final design, illustrating the strategies, programs and systems designed. The design endeavours to create a common ground for the ‘kai fongs’ to encounter and gather, it also functions as an urban common in which resources and ideas could be shared and exchanged. Series of culinary programs including communal kitchen, cooking school, food bank are integrated to support and empower the community, carrying on the social role of Dai Pai Dong as a community space and an affordable food source.

Introduction

12

DEFINITIONS

Dai · Pai · Dong 大牌檔

Kai · Fong 街坊

(n.)

A traditional licenced street stall, typically with outdoor seating area, selling cooked food at low prices; (now more generally) any food stall of this type. /Oxford Dictionary (n.)

An association formed to promote and protect the interests of a neighbourhood (later more fully kaifong welfare association). Also: a member of such an association, in early use esp. a leader or senior figure in the community. /Oxford Dictionary

Open · Source Ar·chi·tect·ure

(n.)

Open Source Architecture (OSArc) is an emerging paradigm describing new procedures for the design, construction and operation of buildings, infrastructure and spaces. Drawing from references as diverse as open-source culture, avant-garde architectural theory, science fiction, language theory, and others, it describes an inclusive approach to spatial design, a collaborative use of design software and the transparent operation throughout the course of a building and city’s life cycle. /Various authors, Open Source Architecture, Domus 948 (June 2011)

Bri·co·lage

(n.)

Bricolage refers to the construction or creation of an artwork from any materials that come to hand. /Tate Modern Art Terms

As·sem·blage

(n.)

Assemblage is art that is made by assembling disparate elements – often everyday objects – scavenged by the artist or bought specially /Tate Modern Art Terms

Ur·ban · Com·mon

(n.)

Urban commons present the opportunity for the citizens to gain power upon the management of the urban resources and reframe city-life costs based on their use value and maintenance costs, rather than the market-driven value /Tate Modern Art Terms

Definitions

1.0

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

Past: Origin and History Present: Defining and Identifying Dai Pai Dong Future: Preservation vs Redevelopment Site Selection and Analysis

1.1

1847 -2010s

PAST: ORIGIN AND HISTORY

OF 1847 ESTABLISHMENT HAWKER LICENSE Early street food hawkers ran their business on a perambulatory basis.

They carried their food around and peddled along the streets. Each hawker specialized in a specific type and flavor of food, ranging from congees to soup, vegetables to dim sum etc.

OF 1858 ESTABLISHMENT MARKETS’ ORDINANCE Markets’ ordinance stated the type of food that licensed hawkers could lawfully hawk, including green vegetables, fruit, bean curds, congee, confectionary, and soup.

1920s

GREEN VEGETABLES

FRUITS

BEAN CURD

CONFECTIONARY

CONGEE

SOUP

CLASSIFICATION OF STALL-HOLDER /ITINERANT HAWKER License fee for itinerant hawker: hkd$ 4 License fee for stall-holder hawker: hkd$ 24 Stall-holder hawker size: 6 feet x 3 feet

OF URBAN 1936 FORMATION COUNCIL/DECLINE OF -1941 HAWKER STALLS During 1930, Cholera went viral in Hong Kong, causing over a hundred casualties. It provided a reason for the newly formed Urban Council to confiscate the license of hawker stalls, resulting in a plunge in the number of street food hawkers.

PAI DONG IN 1956 DAI POLICE STATION

3 Dai Pai Dongs were invited to station 24hrs in Sham Shui Po Police Station in order to serve the police who worked long hours during the 1956 Riot, breaking the usual opposition relationship between two parties.

16

NUMBER OF STALL-HOLDER HAWKERS & ITINERANT HAWKERS IN YEAR 1936-41

CHOLERA

YEAR

NO. OF STALL-HOLDER HAWKERS

NO. OF ITINERANT HAWKERS

1936

706

5140

1937

617 (-12.6%)

2606 (-49.3%)

1938

557 (-9.7%)

2148 (-17.6%)

1939

509 (-8.6%)

1848 (-13.9%)

1940

484 (-4.9%)

1474 (-20.2%)

1941

413 (-14.7%)

992 (-32.7%)

OF 1960 PROTOTYPE DAI PAI DONG

Together with the publication of implementation rules of hawkers in 1960, the design of the prototype of Dai Pai Dong is illustrated. Size of the stall increases to 7 feet x 4 feet, equipped with 4 wheels and retractable roof. The design remains valid until today.

DESCENT OF

1970s DAI PAI DONG

The shifting of factories to mainland China resulted in a decrease in demand for Dai Pai Dong. Moreover, with the rise of fast-food restaurants equipped with air-conditioning, Dai Pai Dong became an old- fashioned thing with a poor reputation of causing Cholera, resulting in the downfall of the industry.

During the early 1970s, 95% of the Dai Pai Dong licenses were compassionate based, meaning the license is owned by the less privileged.

OF 2011 RENEWAL DAI PAI DONG

In 2010, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department started to consider the conservation of Dai Pai Dong, allowing inheritance of Dai Pai Dong license to the next generation, which is otherwise not permitted since 1970s. However, the policy only applies exclusively to the 6 stores in Central, neglecting the plan for the one in Sham Shui Po and other areas, leaving uncertainties for the future of Dai Pai Dong.

2016 FISHBALL REVOLUTION Unlicensed street food hawkers have traditionally sell products during the Chinese New Year holidays, however, in 2016, FEHD attempted to forcibly remove the stalls in Kwelin Street night market. The incident triggered agger among some people in Hong Kong, more and more people came to support the hawkers. Crowd control by the police further aggravate the public and caused violent clashes between two parties.

Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

2020s 1.2

PRESENT: DEFINING AND IDENTIFYING DAI PAI DONG What is Dai Pai Dong?

WEATHER

The origin and definition of the name Dai Pai Dong(大牌檔) have always been controversial, researcher Zhong, concluded in her publication about Dai Pai Dong that it was since the 1960s that the phrase became official in media. Alongside with the policy change to unify the fee of ‘large’ (大牌) and ‘small’ (小牌) cooked food stall (熟食檔), the term Dai Pai Dong has become generally recognised to refer to all sorts of cooked food stalls serving in a street Chong, Yuk Sik. 街邊有檔大排檔 setting.3 Therefore, despite the several official prototypes established throughout the history, (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 2011) the indigenous term Dai Pai Dong actually refers to a larger picture than certain prototypes and could have many possible forms. To classify the generic saying of Dai Pai Dong as all kinds of street food stalls, ‘Dai Pai Dong’ with a quotation mark will be used when referring to the specific stalls with Fixed-Pitch Hawker Licenses (First Category) defined by the government.

There are only 4 locations where we can find the most authentic kind of ‘Dai Pai Dong’, namely Central, Wan Chai, Sham Shui Po and Tai O, while many others were relocated to indoor cooked food markets for easier management.

PEDESTRIAN TRANSPORTATION

PEDESTRIAN EDGE

TRANSPORTATION NATURE

The thesis research starts by scanning through all variations of street food stalls, from historical one to modern one, from street hawkers to larger cooked food stalls, in order to grasp a general picture and idea about what Dai Pai Dong really is, as it forms an important basis for BUILDING the whole study.

NATURE

WEATHER BUILDING

PEDESTRIAN

TRANSPORTATION

WEATHER

PEDESTRIAN EDGE

TRANSPORTATION NATURE

BUILDING

EDGE

NATURE

BUILDING

WEATHER

PEDESTRIAN

3.

18

STREET

TRANSPORTATION

INNER STREET

SLOPE

▲

Locations of the remaining ‘Dai Pai Dong’

Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

Fixed-Pitch (Cooked Food or Light Refreshment) Hawker Licenses

4. ‘LCQ3: Cooked Food Hawker Licences.’ Press Release, March 22, 2017. https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201703/22/P2017032200586. htm.

20

According to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, there are three categories of Fixed-Pitch (Cooked Food or Light Refreshment) Hawker Licenses, according to the locations.

The first refers to on-street cooked food stalls (Dai Pai Dong), the second category relates to stalls located in cooked food hawker bazaars and the third relates to stalls located in public housing estates (Cooked Food Kiosks). 4 Before the 1970s, there were only on-street cooked food stalls in Hong Kong. Cooked Food Kiosks and Cooked Food Hawker Bazaars only existed since 1983 when the government decided to relocate Dai Pai Dong for easier control of hygienic issues and management of the license.

Therefore, stalls in cooked food kiosks and Cooked Food Hawker Bazaar still adapt the Dai Pai Dong style with open kitchen and extended outdoor seating. The name Dai Pai Dong continues to refer to all three types of fixed-pitch hawkers despite the classification.

Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

Cooked Food Hawker Bazaar as the alternative for Dai Pai Dong

5. Peter Cookson Smith, The Urban Design of Impermanence: Streets, Places and Spaces in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: MCCM Creations, 2006), 31.

While the concentration of Dai Pai Dongs seems to facilitate agglomeration economies, most Cooked Food Hawker Bazaars experience the opposite, as many of them are located in inconvenient abandoned places. Such approach contradicts the original intent of the Dai Pai Dongs to provide an accessible food source for the neighbourhood. The limited amount of customers resulted in the closure of the stalls and hence a large vacancy rate in many of the bazaars.

Government policies also account for the vacancy as the government refuses to give out new licenses and bans the license to be inherited.

Moreover, such solution disregards the factors accounting for the viability of Dai Pai Dong.

Different from other ordinary restaurants, the alfresco setting of Dai Pai Dong creates a unique and ever-changing dining experience—real-time tracking of the cooking process, spontaneous interaction with pedestrian and traffic, sensation in the fluctuation of nature and weather, etc.

Being temporal and adaptable, the architecture and environment of Dai Pai Dong are also capable of reflecting and adapting to new behavioural patterns and city changes, providing a social space serves the evolving community requirements.

â–˛ Vacancy problem of Cooked Food

Hawker Bazaar

22

Other Types of Street Food Stalls Besides Fixed-Pitch Food Hawkers, it is not hard to bump into different kinds of street food hawkers in the streets of Hong Kong. They include both licensed itinerant hawkers and illegal pop-up hawkers in alleyways, back door, car park entrance, etc. Their nature of ephemeral operation time and unpredictable location creates urban immediacy that attracts pedestrians to interact spontaneously, adding diversity and vitality to the otherwise mundane walkthrough experience. Architect and urban planner Peter Cookson Smith describes this scenario delicately as a ‘cultural animation of space’.5 Moreover, various organisations often organise weekend markets for grassroots to earn money by selling their signature snacks or dishes. Different local food markets are also set up during festivals as there will be an increasing influx of pedestrians. Different types of food stalls illustrate the hidden talent and potential of the locals to start their own business and to contrive devices for plugging into the city. Their existence depicts vividly the self-reliance ability and persistent spirit of many Hong Kong people, especially the grassroots.

▲

Pop up hawkers in Kwun Tong

▲ Other types of street food stalls

and markets

Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

1.3

2020s 2030 2070 2050 -????

2040 2060 FUTURE: PRESERVATION VS REDEVELOPMENT

Despite the sparked concerns on preserving the disappearance of unique local eateries and stalls, government policies and redevelopment plans continue to impede their survival. Permeable and diversify streetscape is replaced by functional and bridges, vital and spontaneous street activities are taken over by commodified and homogeneous shopping malls, social rituals and indigenous cultures are being eradicated.

24

â–˛ Collage juxtaposing the old and

new buildings in Kwun Tong

Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

Redefining Redevelopment

6. ‘Redevelopment,’ Urban Renewal Authority, accessed April 4, 2020, https://www.ura.org.hk/en/redevelopment

7. Lauren James, “Hong Kong’s Gentrification in Spotlight of Urban Renewal Lecture Exploring How Districts Evolve,” South China Morning Post, January 1, 2020, https://www.scmp. com/magazines/post-magazine/ short-reads/article/3043268/ hong-kongs-gentrification-spotlight-urban)

8. Hazel Conway and Rowan Roenisch, Understanding Architecture: an Introduction to Architecture and Architectural History (London: Routledge, 2006), 46.

9. “Zeitgeist,” Zeitgeist - Designing Buildings Wiki, January 21, 2019, https://www.designingbuildings. co.uk/wiki/Zeitgeist)

In order to build up the modernized and international image of Hong Kong, many old districts are forced to be redeveloped. As claimed by the Urban Renewal Authority, ‘through comprehensive planning, redevelopment improves the built environment and infrastructure in old urban districts while providing more greening, public open space and community facilities.’6 The propaganda seems to be appealing and glamorous, but it conceals the top-down and centralized decision-making approach adopted during the planning process, with inadequate user participation. Focusing merely on developing an organised and functional space, the government often overlooks the merits of the community in the kaleidoscopic old districts. The vivid example of Lee Tung Street illustrates how the short-sighted design eradicated the community of the traditional printing industry and replaced it with a gentrified European-style boulevard that is out of context.7 Whilst it is undeniable that redevelopment is essential for a city’s evolution, the formula of the planning and designing process should be carefully considered.

The thesis questions the executing top-down, result-oriented and bureaucratic way of redevelopment, as it does no more raising rental prices and depriving the livelihood of the grassroots, it also underestimates the value of the cultural assets in the neighbourhood. The thesis hence proposes a redevelopment that could manifest and evolve with the Zeitgeist: the spirit of the age of a place, in order to create a sustainable redevelopment. Zeitgeist is a theory connoting the history as a progressive process, giving rise to evolving beliefs and spirits that prevail and summarize the human endeavour of a place, in a certain period.8 Different architects in the Modernist movement attempted to interpret their respective view of Zeitgeist differently: Futurist embraced and facilitated Machine Age, Brutalism promoted the reveal of material and social utopianism, Modernism celebrated the pure functionality and sought for structural innovation.9 These styles or manifesto, unfortunately, were only able to represent the belief translated through the eyes of these architects, instead of a true Zeitgeist that should be defined and shaped by the whole society.

The thesis holds the belief that only through engaging the users and releasing the decision power to the public can the redevelopment reflect and respect the authentic core value, the Zeitgeist of society. The proposal suggests empowering the users to develop their own way of preserving the Dai Pai Dong, along with other cultural assets, to self-organise their way along with the evolution of the city. This helps to achieve a synchronised process of preservation and redevelopment, resolving the dilemma of sacrificing either one. It has the ambition to replace the existing bureaucratic planning by the government and architects with a new collaborative and adaptive way of redevelopment. The role of architects, in turn, is repositioned as a facilitator, stimulating the interactions and synergy between the inhabitants.

26

CONSERVATION

HYGIENE

NO MORE LICENSE WILL BE GIVEN OUT

FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE DEPARTMENT

URBAN RENEWAL

BRIDGE SYSTEM

Dai Pai Dong have been moved into temporary markets / cooked food stalls

Large-scale/ programmatic-based developments

Elevated pedestrian walkway system

Identical chain-store everywhere due to globalization

Passageway are only designed for transition purpose

CENTRAL

Deemed to be tourist attraction

Allow inheritance to the next generation

OTHER AREAS

GENTRIFICATION

DOESN’T allow inheritance to the next generation Uncertain furture

URBAN PLANNING

Essence of Dai Pai Dong is losted

Vacancy due to reduced number of visitors

Increased rental /housing price

Formal/rigid spaces

Displacement of hawkers and habitants

Obliterate minor cultures and informal traditions, destroying the long-developed social network

Fragmented neighbourhood

Lost of characteristies of STREETS Informality

Spontaneity

Diversity

Vitality

Adaptivity

Multi-layered

â–˛ Diagram mapping out the con-

sequences of various policies

In terms of hygienic policy, the government relocates Dai Pai Dong to indoor cooked food markets for easier management. Meanwhile, the conservation policy only permits license to be inherited to a spouse and no new license has been given out since 1973. Only the 9 Dai Pai Dong in Central, given that they are famous tourist destinations, were funded to rejuvenate and improve the sewage disposal and gas systems and have the exception to be able to transfer their licenses. For urban planning policy, large-scale renewal and redevelopment projects continue to take over old districts in Hong Kong.

Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

1.4

SITE SELECTION AND ANALYSIS Kwun Tong Redevelopment Plan

10. ‘Population and Household Statistics Analysed by District Council District,’ Population and Household Statistics Analysed by District Council District § (2020), https://www.statistics.gov. hk/pub/B11303012019AN19B0100. pdf)

According to the Population and Household Statistics Analysed by District Council District, Kwun Tong has been the poorest district in Hong Kong for the last 3 years.10 Ironically, Hong Kong’s largest redevelopment plan, with luxurious high-rise residential blocks, office, hotels, etc., will spring up to replace Yue Man Square, the local commercial area in Kwun Tong that consists of more than a hundred local stalls. Despite being illegal, these stalls had been running their business since the 60s, contributing to the vibrance and community breeding of the neighbourhood. Not only did they embody the histories and memories of the area, but they also demonstrated successful stories to circumvent regulations and utilized the buildings for over a half-century.

The view of the out-of-place redevelopment proposal, the thesis aspires to suggest an alternative proposal for part of the Kwun Tong Redevelopment Plan to discuss the possibility of developing an empirical and erratic redevelopment, to burgeon and celebrate the spirit of Dai Pai Dong and hawker stalls instead of eliminating them. Focusing on the study of the street food and hawker activity, the project will explore the strategies for the compatible portion of the redevelopment plan - the commercial area.

28

In the redevelopment plan, alleyways and pocket public spaces are replaced by formal and monolithic circulation and public spaces, oblierating the existence of hawkers, street food stalls and Dai Pai Dongs.

top/ Design Scheme of Kwun Tong Redevelopment bottom/ Original Streetscape of the same neighbourhood Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

Original Redevelopment Plan

▲

Original buildings in Yue Man Square

HOTEL

OFFICE

RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL

CIVIC SQUARE / GARDEN COMMERCIAL / INSTITUTIONAL / GOVERNMENT

▲

30

The programs within the original redevelopment plan, the white part highlights the chosen site—the commercial part

Thesis Proposal

â–˛

The thesis proposes to preserve three out of five existing buildings, in order to maintain the existing community and tenants in the neighbourhood and to demonstrate the possibility of preserving while developing.

â–˛

The spare space from the two demolished buildings will be utilised to build new infrastructure for an open-source system.

Chapter 1.0 / Past, Present and Future of Dai Pai Dong

2.0

2.1 Dynamism 2.2 Colour, Materiality and Mechanism 2.3 Participatory Design: User as Architect 2.4 Emergent Design: Envisioning the Unknown

Tectonic Interpretation

2.1

DYNAMISM Year-round/ Decennium Transformation From different cases of Dai Pai Dong and Cooked Food Kiosk (images below), we can observe the limitation of the prototype offered to the owner as there are always extensions from the original structure. These appendages expand when the demand for the stall increases; evolve when weather changes; shrink when they are being regulated. It demonstrates the ability of the temporal structure to respond and adapt to new behavioural patterns and city changes, providing a social space that serves evolving community requirements. The architecture of Dai Pai Dong is therefore not a finished product, but rather, an ongoing process of construction and renovation.

Oi Man Estate Cooked Food Stalls ►

Sha Kok Cooked Food Stalls ►

left/ Tak Yu Cha Chaan Teng ► right/ Sing Kee Dai Pai Dong ►

34

â—„ Evolution of the Dai Pai Dongs

in Sha Kok Village Cooked Food Stall

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

Diurnal Transformation Besides the occasional transformation, the configuration of a Dai Pai Dong during different time periods is also capricious. The difference between daytime and nighttime of Oi Man Sang Dai Pai Dong in Sham Shui Po was studied and compared. The outdoor kitchen area spreads out more during daytime in order to have more space for food preparation. The pedestrian road is rather empty to keep up with the higher pedestrian flow. Parking space remains reserved for vehicle parking to unload ingredients and goods.

While for nighttime, the stall owner extends the boundary of the dining area from its interior space to the occupation of the pedestrian road and the parking space. A narrow road in between is reserved as a food delivery route. Canopies extend from the building above to protect the dining space, meanwhile, to create another statement of taking over the space below.

Such transformation, both the occasional and diurnal ones, showcase the dynamism of the Dai Pai Dong architecture to adapt to its environment. Activities like food preparation, cooking outdoor, food delivery, etc signify the identity of the place more than physical elements. The vibrance of the change of activities along with the change in use of space attracts different people to the place and creates a varying experience. As put forward by Peter Cookson Smith, this can be referred to as Responsive Urbanism where wholeness and identity of the city is shaped by random and indeterminate parts. He also articulated that such urban immediacy amalgamates different groups of city users harmoniously.

11. Peter Cookson Smith, The Urban Design of Impermanence: Streets, Places and Spaces in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: MCCM Creations, 2006), 30-31.

36

‘Different sets of users inhabit urban space at different times of day for different purposes, although participation in one or another activity need not be mutually exclusive, and in practice there is a high degree of overlap.’ 11

◄

Experience in Nightime

◄

Experience in Daytime

Oi

Man Sang

DAYTIME

Oi

Man Sang

NIGHTTIME

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

2.2

COLOUR, MATERIALITY AND MECHANISM Colour and Materiality

STALL CANVAS ROOF WOODEN PANEL

SURROUNDING

STALL CANVAS ROOF WOODEN PANEL PLASTIC WOOD WITH PLASTIC SHEET

PLASTIC

CONCRETE WALL

WOOD WITH PLASTIC SHEET

PAPER STONE

CONCRETE FLOOR

METAL

METAL

WALL CANOPY WOOD PANEL

WALL

PLASTIC CHAIR STAINLESS STEEL

CANOPY

TABLE

WOOD PANEL

FLOOR

PLASTIC CHAIR STAINLESS STEEL TABLE FLOOR

38

◄▲

top/ materiality bottom/ colour (Analysed based on Ping Kee in Tai Hang, reillustrated on top of the diagrams in Hong Kong Memory-Open Rice City)

EXPANDABLE MECHANISM

LEVEL OF DESIGN INVOLVEMENT Purely designed by third party

Mechanism

1

4

STR

ING 5

RO

2

FOL

ECH

2

UN

DIN

3 UN

STA

TAT IN

G

G

CK

ING

6 EXT

END

ING

FIL

4

PIN

G Customized by vendors

3

E LAG CO

BR I

1

▲

Common mechanism found 5 in objects of Dai Pai Dong

In order to preserve the nostalgia of the Dai Pai Dong, it is believed that a mere replica of the found objects will only create a camouflaged version of it. Only by considering what comprises the atmosphere and essence of Dai Pai Dong could we find a way to inherit the authentic experience and spirit of Dai Pai Dong. Kevin Lynch introduced the idea ‘imageability’ in 1960, describing that the physical qualities of an object construct the mental image in any given observer.12 Building upon the idea, observation and analysis on the colour, materiality and mechanism applied in Dai Pai Dong are carried out. The process does not act as a characterisation but documentation to collect the set of visual elements including colour, shape, texture, movement, etc. that depict the totality of Dai Pai Dong. It brings about an extended understanding on the whole sensuous experience which is essential to the later redeveloped version of it.

5

12. Kevin Lyuch, The Image of the City (London: The M.I.T. Press, 1960), 9-13.

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

2.3

PARTICIPATORY DESIGN: USER AS ARCHITECT Architecture without Architects On 2nd Nov and 9th Nov in 2019, I conducted two visits to Wai Kee Fishball Noodles, a Dai Pai Dong in Cheung Chau. In the interview with Mr. Chan, the owner of the stall, he mentioned he was the one who designed the extended part of the Dai Pai Dong, including the structure, lighting system, furniture layout, etc. He explained how he added fabric and plastic shield layer by layer over the years in order to protect the space from summer heat and heavy rain. Such process vis-à-vis the construction of vernacular architecture where no architect is involved in the building process, the architecture is designed and built by the user themselves with local materials and indigenous skills. The architecture is therefore able to position itself well in the community, responding to the environment and social needs. More importantly, as the creator, the owner can repeatedly improve their design and make necessary adjustments, such a trial and error process allows the architecture to innovate and adapt to new challenges. Mr. Chan, as an architectural amateur, showed us a great example of the success of such process by apply empirical knowledge to become the architect of his Dai Pai Dong.

13. Bernard Rudofsky, Architecture without Architects a Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987), 4.

In his book Architecture without Architects, Bernard Rudofsky refers this kind of non-pedigreed architecture as communal architecture, explaining that it is an ‘architecture produced not by specialists but by the spontaneous and continuing activity of a whole people with a common heritage, acting within a community of experience.’13 The art of Dai Pai Dong is in the same sense hard to be comprehended by a single or a few architects as it involves years of adaptation as well as collective accumulation of human experience and intelligence.

The blue part shows the appendage of Wai Kee

40

►

Bricolage Apart from the technique to build without professional knowledge, Dai Pai Dong structures demonstrate another wisdom through the use of material. As seen from the images below, a diverse range of objects and materials are used in constructing the Dai Pai Dong environment, be it strings, parasols, fabric, even a volleyball net is found. It can be concluded by the term ‘bricolage’ which refers to the construction of whatever materials that come to hand. The reason behind the erratic choice can be explained by the immediate need to tackle a certain issue, for example tying additional layers of fabric or adding umbrellas or parasols in times of heavy rain.

◄

Series of photos showing the spontaneous Dai Pai Dong structure in Cheung Chau

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

Participatory design: User as Architect

Purely designed by third party

LEVEL OF DESIGN INVOLVEMENT

1

2

E LAG CO

BR I

3

Customized by vendors

4

5

5

▲ Diagram showing different

levels of design involvement

14. Yona Friedman, Pro Domo (Barcelona: Actar Editorial, 2007), 27.

15. OpenStructures, accessed April 13, 2020, https://openstructures.family/

42

The previous observation informs us that the spontaneous and impromptu architecture of Dai Pai Dong requires a completely different design approach as opposed to the traditional topdown, client-architect-occupant relationship. A higher level of user participation should be involved in order to not only incorporate the valuable idea from the users but also empower the users to design according to their needs. As Yona Friedman, a famous advocator of mobile architecture stated, ‘inhabitant should make the decisions and the labour of the architect should be to assist and help him make these decisions.’14 It is believed through bringing back the decision making to the individual, the architecture could better accommodate both the society and environment, and hence would be more resilient and sustainable.

As a result, the idea of adopting an open-source architectural design process is proposed as the major framework in the design of the future Dai Pai Dong. Open-source describes the sharing of resources between professionals and ordinary citizen users for any purpose. The application of an open-source approach in architecture only has a short history of around 20 years, spearheaded when the citizen-centered design was being researched in leading universities. Suggesting a paradigm shift idea of an inclusive approach of design that advocates a collaborative use of design tools and resources, this provocative idea deserves more concerns from the industry. The thesis attempts to take a step further to imagine the future Dai Pai Dong with this kind of emergent design method, burgeoning a local community that would improve and evolve continuously.

To begin with, a precedent on an open-source component system was studied. OpenStructures is ‘an exploration on open modular standards where anyone designs for everyone on the basis of one shared grid.’ 15 It was conceived by designer Thomas Lommée, hoping to gather a community of authors around the world to test and evaluate design together. The website of OpenStructures consists of a database of ‘parts’ designed by different designers and demonstrated some possible applications. As the parts are openly accessible and compatible, other people could reference the existing application and apply or modify the parts to fit in their own creation. During the process, new parts would be created and new ways of assemblage would also be stimulated, opening up infinite solutions and configuration.

戀漀氀琀猀

猀挀爀攀眀猀

爀漀瀀攀猀

瀀椀渀猀

琀椀攀 眀爀愀瀀猀

洀愀最渀攀琀猀

搀椀昀昀攀爀攀渀琀 挀漀渀戀椀渀愀琀椀漀渀 昀爀漀洀 瘀愀爀椀漀甀猀 挀漀洀瀀漀渀攀渀琀猀

▲ OS_Grid, a shared geometrical

▲ Components open for free

design template for producing the parts

㐀 砀 㐀 挀洀 猀焀甀愀爀攀

瀀愀爀琀猀

䌀伀䰀䰀䄀䈀伀刀䄀吀䤀嘀䔀

download in the website of OpenStructures

挀漀洀瀀漀渀攀渀琀猀

猀琀爀甀挀琀甀爀攀猀

猀甀瀀攀爀猀琀爀甀挀琀甀爀攀猀

吀伀倀 䐀伀圀一

戀漀氀琀猀

猀挀爀攀眀猀

爀漀瀀攀猀

◄ Diagrams showing the concept 瀀椀渀猀

琀椀攀 眀爀愀瀀猀

洀愀最渀攀琀猀

搀椀昀昀攀爀攀渀琀 挀漀渀戀椀渀愀琀椀漀渀 昀爀漀洀 瘀愀爀椀漀甀猀 挀漀洀瀀漀渀攀渀琀猀

䌀伀䰀䰀䄀䈀伀刀䄀吀䤀嘀䔀(credit to of OpenStructures OpenStructures)

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

Open-Source & Mechanism Model Exploration Following up on the previous researches, a model was made to apply the findings in the mechanism observed in the Dai Pai Dong through using open-source components. To start with, the components from OpenStructure were selected to experiment with the compatibility of existing parts in a new interpretation. The process helps to prove that parts generated under such a common system could be utilized by other creators (me in this case), to further produce new structures and applications, shedding light on its unlimited potential. The exercise also allows me to engage with the dynamic network of the OpenStructure community, to interact with, modify and contribute to the designs, fostering remote collaboration.

ROTATING

EXTENDING

44

â—„ Component parts downloaded

from OpenStructures data base

UNFOLDING

FLIPING

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

2.4

EMERGENT DESIGN: ENVISIONING THE UNKNOWN Visualisation of An Unpredictable Outcome

16. Yona Friedman, Pro Domo (Barcelona: Actar Editorial, 2007), 3.

17. Paul Barker, “Non-Plan: An Experiment in Freedom,” New Society, no.

338 (March 20, 1969): pp. 435-443.

An architect does not ‘create’ a city, only an accumulation of objects. It is the inhabitant who ‘invents’ the city: an uninhabited city, even if new, is only a ‘ruin’. 16 Yona Friedman, Pro Domo Under the open-source system, the thesis design invites inhabitants to shape and control their environment under a framework. The design will be ongoing and evolving during project implementation and emerges itself instead of predetermined. Therefore, the emphasis of the thesis is not to suggest a final outcome but to establish a framework to discuss the potential of it and envision the possible scenarios. In 1969, a project ‘Non-Plan: An Experiment in Freedom,’ was conducted collaboratively by Paul Barker, Reyner Banham, Peter Hall and Cedric Price. The experiment provides provocative insights into the visualisation of ‘Non-Plan’, Hall, Banham and Price each narrated and illustrated their imagined scene of a selected British countryside without prescriptive planning. 17 Following a similar idea, a consecutive model making process was initiated to imagine an architecture build with open-source elements. By a model scale of 1:100, the models attempt to simulate the situation where inhabitants are given the freedom to design their own settlement and space according to their routine and personal preference under a given frame. While it is obviously impossible to predict the configurations constructed by each and every individual, the act of improvising the model resembles the unpredictable behaviours of the users, visualizing the composition of unplanned designs. While the act revisiting the model consecutively illustrates the iterative and emergent design process of the project. Just like the model, the outcome of the project will be everchanging as different plug-in modules will be continuously produced and inserted into the building.

46

Inspired by Yona Friedman’s idea where an architect is actually only the curator of accumulating objects, the design focuses on developing a comprehensive system to contain kaleidoscopic activities organised by the inhabitants. While the open-source design framework provides the tools and medium for inhabitants to construct their own plug-in intervention, in the bigger picture, the design process and structural hierarchy also need to be reformed in order to accommodate such an autonomous design framework. As a result, an extra layer of design and structural hierarchy is proposed. Shown in brown colour in the diagram on the facing page, it is a middle layer of the structure that helps mediate the difference between the main structure and open-source plug-in designed by the inhabitant. It is named motherboard sub-system as it performs like a computer motherboard which is expandable and capable to hold different plugins. Not only does this system creates a more flexible and adaptive structure, it also suggest a radical change in the design process which deconstructed architects’ role from designing a complete building to configurating these motherboard sub-system.

â–˛

Model photos of a series of model experiment through the method of Design Inprovision and Bricolage

â—„

Diagram showing the reformation of design process and structural hierarchy

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

Visualisation of An Unpredictable Outcome (cont) The motherboard sub-system is represented by meshes in the conceptual model, the position of the meshes was adjusted after observing the forms of the plug-ins made, hoping to morph and optimize the system accordingly. Without using glue and fixture, different ways and forms of plug-ins were experimented, the method simulates the adaptability of the flexible system that allows inhabitants to invent and rearrange their composition easily according to their needs. Through allowing crisscross and overlapping between the plug-ins, the idea of sub-system also endeavours to capture the blurred public and private relationship between the street and Dai Pai Dong, creating a new but comparable experience.

After days of modelling, a series of configurations are generated with the qualities of Dai Pai Dong in mind, forming a reference point for the detailed design in the later stage. A visualisation of the possible transformation of the building over time is illustrated through a series of collages, as we can imagine, infinite possibilities could happen among the sub-system.

â–ş Model collages visualising the ‘unpredictable’ building transformation under an opensource system

48

Chapter 2.0 / Tectonic Interpretation

50

3.0

English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor defined culture as ‘a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’18 Talking about the culture of Dai Pai Dong, many would relate it with its culinary delights of ‘wok hei’ ▲ dishes, noodles, milk tea, or the signature context of outdoor dining experience with folding chairs and folding tables under the metal canopy. These tangible elements only form the tip of the iceberg of Dai Pai Dong’s culture, this chapter of the thesis hopes to discuss and uncover more obscure findings in order to dig out the true essence.

3.1 Dining and Walkthrough Experience 3.2 Untrammelled Environment 3.3 Unique Workflow and Dimension

Authentic Culture: In Search of the Essence

18. Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1871), 1.

▲

Wok hei, or ‘breath of the wok,’ is the essence of dai pai dong cuisine, meaning the unique flavour of the stir-fried dishes on a hot wok.

3.1

DINING AND WALKTHROUGH EXPERIENCE A Comparison between Ordinary Restaurant and Dai Pai Dong Ordinary Restaurant Most restaurants submerge in the sea of buildings and advertisements, being only signified by the signage on the building facade. We could not know beforehand how the restaurant looks like or whether the food is delicious and hence it is not uncommon for us to go through one app and another to seek advice. The restaurant is chosen based on the result we want to achieve to have a delicious meal, to find a cheap place, to look for a place with photogenic interior design, etc. A navigation app is then used to locate the destination and to lead us the way. The decision making-process is result-oriented and relies heavily on digital data and information.

▲

52

Example of a gentrified indoor ‘Dai Pai Dong’

Dai Pai Dong While for Dai Pai Dong, on a street setting, the experience of it does not only start at the entrance as compare to that of other ordinary restaurants. The loud conversation of the customers, the noise of the sizzling wok and roaring gas burners, the redolent of the dishes disperses in the environment, intensifying as you walk closer. The redolent and noise become the natural advertiser and navigator, spreading the experience and attracting pedestrian to the place.

The exposed cooking process allows a visual and olfactory preview of the dishes before the customer order, adding another layer of enjoyment besides the taste of the food.

As discussed by Lang, the nature of urban experience consist of a combination of values, including sensory values generated through sensations of visual experience, like colour, smell, noise and touch; formal values arising from the pleasure associated with expressive aspects of texture, lighting and patterns of form; and symbolic values associated with the space-time experience, and which can reflect both positive and negative aspects.19 Dai Pai Dongs embody these values and liven up the mundane street environment for people to enjoy and experience.

With its unique structure and richness in sensuous experience, Dai Pai Dong performs as the icon of the neighbourhood, constituting an important part of ‘imageability’ of the surrounding.20

▲

Kitchen area of Oi Man Sang, a Dai Pai Dong in Sham Shui Po

19. Jon Lang, ‘Aesthetic Theory,’ in Designing Cities - Critical Readings in Urban Design (Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007), 276-277.

20. Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1960), 9-13.

Chapter 3.0 / Authentic Culture: In Search of the Essence

3.2

UNTRAMMELLED ENVIRONMENT Laissez-faire Approach In contrast to ordinary restaurants, Dai Pai Dong has little rules and usually has no time limit for the table, providing a friendly environment for customers to stay as long as they want to.

Unlike ordinary restaurants where ‘No Outside Food or Drink Allowed’, owners of Dai Pai Dong usually allow customers to consume other foods, as long as they have ordered something. This laissez-faire kind of management sets up a free and friendly environment that becomes one of the essence of Dai Pai Dong.

▲

54

Scenario showing how customers gather in Dai Pai Dong for celebration

Shared Business Without solid walls and boundaries, less restriction is imposed on Dai Pai Dong’s configuration and environment. The boundaries between each stall are blurred as there is no established separation line in between, the freedom opens up the collaboration opportunities between these contiguous stalls, where the stalls permit their customers to order from a selection of surrounding stalls. Each stall serves a different variety of food, some specialise in Wonton Noodles, while others focus on making sandwiches and local drinks. That being the case, the owners could optimize the quality of their food and gain customers from other stalls. The interrelated relationship between stalls adds human touch to the business and distinguishes it from the commodified food industry. A friendly business model under this setting cultivates a local community that surpasses the mere purpose of earning money.

â–˛ Diagram showing the collabo-

ration between different stalls

Chapter 3.0 / Authentic Culture: In Search of the Essence

3.3

UNIQUE WORKFLOW AND DIMENSION Every Dai Pai Dong has its own idiosyncratic workflow and preferred dimension of the equipment. These customs are not designed in the first place but are gradually developed into a rule of thumb. The application of an open-source system (introduced in Chapter 2.0) allows owners to customize their intervention, enabling the most authentic experience to be created.

Workflow

ADDING INGREDIENTS CLEANING THE TABLE

An example of the workflow of â–º a Dai Pai Dong

56

PREPARING INGREDIENT

FRYING CLEANING THE TABLE

KNEADING

G

SCOOPING

SERVING

PREPARING TO HELP

ORGANIZING THE DISHES

MIXING

MIXING

Chapter 3.0 / Authentic Culture: In Search of the Essence

Unique Dimension

â–² The unique set-up and di-

mensions of Wai Kee Fishball Noodles in Cheung Chau

58

Chapter 3.0 / Authentic Culture: In Search of the Essence

60

4.0

4.1 The Commensal and Community-Bonding Environment 4.2 Grassroot Empowerment 4.3 Kitchenless City

Preserving Social and Economic Impact

4.1

THE COMMENSAL AND COMMUNITY-BONDING ENVIRONMENT Dai Pai Dong as Community Incubator Having provided cheap eats for Hong Kong people for years, Dai Pai Dong embodied the spirit of Hong Kong people and is quintessential to Hong Kong people. The street setting creates a causal place for customers and pedestrians to interact, offering a place for everyone to gather and socialize. Over the years, Dai Pai Dongs would gather a lot of regular customers, which together, slowly forms a community, adding phatic communication to the daily life of the people.

They are popular venues for large group gatherings as the outdoor environment allows people to talk freely and loudly.

Consolidating the stories on the video clips shown on the right page, Dai Pai Dong has engendered many deep-rooted relationships. Customers who are strangers before have become best friends and would gather almost every day and many customers, regardless of their age group, have established a close relationship with the owners. These real-life examples demonstrate that we should not overlook the unique power of bonding the community that is generated by the ambience of these outdoor food stalls.

62

Extracts from video clips on Dai Pai Dong ◄

Housewifes gathering and chit-chatting 蘇記大排檔 ( Youtube video: HKerMedia, “香港大排檔.” ) The reporter (03:33)

One of the housewifes (03:51) (03:57) A male customer (04:04)

‘The stall had become the long term gathering place for the housewifes.’

‘We gather together every morning to chat with each other.’

‘It’s funny how we didn’t know each other before but have been chatting here(the stall) for almost 20 years.’

‘After visiting this Dai Pai Dong for so many years, we don’t need to date anyone to come here, because we know there will definitely be someone to chat with.’

‘It is not only the food that is worth to be preserved, but also the causal place, the distinctive culture.’

◄

Owner of the Dai Pai Dong talking to his regular customer 波記粥麵飯茶餐亭 ( Youtube video: 果籽 AS.Appledaily, “【禾輋冬菇亭】” ) The owner (02:39) (03:07) A student (04:08) Another student (04:25)

◄

◄

‘The students who come here are very nice and I am very close with them.’

‘It’s mostly elderly here(in the stall), they are all regular customers.’

‘You would walk over to have a causal chatter with the owner, and they would give you drinks freely.’

‘The food here makes me feel at home. I would be unaccustomed if the stall is gone, as this has been a familiar place and a place with memory.’

Bird lovers bring their birds to gather and exchange ideas in early morning 黃大仙冬菇亭 ( Documentary: RTHK, “香港故事- 此時此地：#5 冬菇亭日與夜” ) The reporter (01:57)

‘They met other like-minded bird lovers in the stall and enjoy themselves drinking morning tea here. It has become part of their daily life.’

One of the bird lovers (02:24)

‘The birds who are raised at home would not be as active as the space there is contrained. Here, they can communicate with other birds, creating resonance among each other.’

Drivers eating together before dawn to get ready for work 黃大仙冬菇亭 ( Documentary: RTHK, “香港故事- 此時此地：#5 冬菇亭日與夜” ) A logistic driver (09:16)

‘After 2am, many drivers will gather here. It is always crowded and full. I live near here so I have a sense of belonging and affection to this place. ’

(20:22)

‘After operating for so many years, many customers who moved out of Wong Tai Sin will come back to visit. They said they still remember us and intented to come back for chatter and life updates. Many precious relationships are built here.’

Chapter 4.0 / Preserving Social and Economic Impact

4.2

GRASSROOT EMPOWERMENT Cherishing the Know-how As discussed in Chapter 2.0, there are many potentials in the know-how—the practical knowledge on how to accomplish something—of the grassroots. Through case studies of Lima and Mexico, it is studied that how the know-how of the public could be fully utilized through some empowerment. In the case of Mexico, the government borrows industrial kitchen equipment to the household so that they could run community kitchens in their own home. The strategy help to turn domestic cooking of the households into a source of income, the households, in turn, are able to provide a cheaper and healthier food source for the neighbourhood. These community kitchens have also become the communal dining room for the community.

The thesis recognises the potential of turning the future version of Dai Pai Dongs into community kitchens, as they already have a very similar nature. Learning from the successful cases of other countries, the know-how of the Dai Pai Dongs and other hawkers could be cultivated to formulate programs to improve the livelihood of the grassroots. By incorporating community kitchens as one of the major programs, the strategy hopes to empower the grassroots to build up their skills, and eventually, setting up their own business. A collective cooking practice also allows low-cost meals that would benefit the rest of society, initiating a different kind of social welfare for society.

64

Chapter 4.0 / Preserving Social and Economic Impact

4.3

KITCHENLESS CITY Freeing Up Domestic Kitchens One research in March 2019 has found that 72% of Hong Kong people seldom cook at home due to their busy work, 26% of the interviewed women even thinks it is a waste of time, pointing out that many of the domestic kitchens are not fully utilised.21 In view of that, maybe it’s time to rethink the necessity for every residential flat to have built-in kitchens. The suggestion of integrating communal kitchens in the thesis provides an alternative for developers to centralize the domestic kitchens to save housing space, justifying the economic value of it.

It carries forward the epochal idea of ‘Kitchenless City’ advocated by Anna Puigjaner▲, who received the Wheelwright Prize from Harvard University on this topic. Through her researches on existing models of communal residences and kitchens worldwide, she observed collective kitchens have often become ‘part of everyone’s domestic sphere,’ these kitchens have also played positive effects on the pre-existing homes, neighbourhoods communities. 22

21. “8成港人工作忙 要做無飯 夫妻.” Sky Post, March 5, 2019. https://skypost.ulifestyle.com.hk/ article/2285257/8成港人工作 忙 要做無飯夫妻/?utm_medium=share&utm_source=clipboard_ share?r=cpsdlc. ▲

Anna Puigjaner is an architect, researcher, and cofounder of MAIO, an architectural office based in Barcelona. Her research is focused on Kitchenless Cities, housing with collective kitchens, where the elimination of the kitchen from the house allows to redefine domestic labor. She currently teaches at GSAPP—Columbia University.

22. Puigjaner, Anna. “Kitchen Stories.” e-Flux, September 14, 2017. https:// www.e-flux.com/architecture/future-public/151948/kitchen-stories/.

left/ Kitchenless City: Architectural Systems for Social Welfare

►

It is a research into exemplars of collective houseing and a proposal to reorganise domestic spaces ► Right/ Comfort Food

by Ivan Brunetti on cover of The New Yorker

‘I seldom cook, and rarely use any of them. It’s partly because my wife and I both work—we’re exhausted at the end of the day—but mainly it’s because I am the one who dreams of a hot and elaborate meal. . . . So, most of the time, we end up ordering or going out.’

66

Research Data on the Cooking Habit of Hong Kong People

72% don’t have time to cook 26% women thinks cooking is a waste of time

▲Exemplers of communal kitchens in other countries that fostered community bonding (based on Anna Puigjaner’s Wheelwright Prize Lecture: “Kitchen Stories”)

41% seldom cook 41% cooks 1-3 times per week 5% never cooked at home

Chapter 4.0 / Preserving Social and Economic Impact

FINAL DESIGN

The project positions to be an urban common for the site, Kwun Tong, suggesting an alternative proposal for the Kwun Tong Redevelopment Plan. The design will be an open and flexible framework instead of a final statement, allowing spontaneous activities and stalls of any kind to be constructed and dismantled during different periods, enhancing the efficiency in the use of space while preserving the authenticity of the original culture.

5.1 An Urban Common for the Neighbourhood 5.2 The Framework 5.3 Design Visualisation

5.1

AN URBAN COMMON FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD Site Strategy Through preserving part of three out of five existing buildings, the proposal hopes to maintain the existing community-based tenants and enterprises in the neighbourhood. The spare space from the two demolished buildings will be utilised to build new infrastructure for the opensource system. The ground level of the site will be reserved as a public space to allows pop up events and invite people to the building. On the podium level, the building is connected to APM, a large shopping mall in the area, the MTR, the other part of the redevelopment plan and the industrial area on the other side of the highway.

NEWLY DEVELOPED AREA

PUBLIC PLAZA

MTR

APM BUS DROP-OFF TO DROP-OFF & UNDERGROUND CARPARK INDUSTRIAL AREA

BUS STOP

â–² Diagram showing the connectivity of the project

70

Programs Open-source fabrication lab and library are incorporated as an infrastructure to invite inhabitants to design and set up their own interventions by open-source materials and other found objects. These interventions are designed to be able to be plugged into the existing buildings, the new building framework and even into the urban fabric freely. Besides the plug-ins, communal programs like communal kitchens, food banks and libraries are included as a starting point to educate, empower and gather the grassroots, maintaining their livelihood and create social bonding.

â–˛ Program Diagram

Chapter 5.0 / Final Design

Open-Source Fab Lab and Library The focal point of the thesis is the Open-Source Fab Lab and Library, the place where the opensource plug-ins will be produced for inserting into the building. It includes a component library for people to borrow components and material, fabrication labs and workshops for the production of new components, studios for the incubation of ideas, and meeting rooms and open areas for gathering and the assemblage of the plug-ins. The whole commons offers a synergistic place for professionals like architects and craftsmen to create together with inhabitants who are equipped with know-how, make the most out of both parties.

Cookware Library

Children’s Library

Computer Lab

AR experience

Assemble Areas Makers’ Studios

Fabrication Lab (CNC/3D print) Reception-Resources Borrow and Return

Storage for Plug-ins Large Fabrication Lab Experimental Showroom

▲ Programs in the OpenSource Fab Lab and Library

72

The Central Ramp The design of a wide ramp circulating throughout the building allows the tools or the plug-ins to be circulated throughout the library and workshops and links it to the open area for plugging in. It also acts as a dynamic social space that encourages encounters and chatter among users.

The ramp animates the movement of the hawkers and inhabitants, creating a central space that attracts visual connections from different levels in the building.

â–˛ The Central Ramp (coloured in blue)

Chapter 5.0 / Final Design

Open-Source Library Within the Open-Source Library, users can select existing plug-in modules from the catalogue and borrow them from the library or they could fabricate their own components in the fabrication lab. After usage, they can dismantle the structure and the modules could be returned back to the library for the next user. Just like any other library, the elements borrowed from the library are free and hence create a sustainable system that enables citizens to build plug-ins easily and with low cost.

â–˛ Workflow in the OpenSource Component Library

74

Chapter 5.0 / Final Design

5.2

THE FRAMEWORK Motherboard Sub-system

23. Yona Friedman, Pro Domo (Barcelona: Actar Editorial, 2007), 40.

Building on the concept of having a sub-system introduced in Chapter 2.0, the detailed design of the sub-system, named to be the ‘motherboard sub-system’, is further explored. Two examples of motherboard sub-systems are explored to demonstrate the possible plug-in configurations under such systems, on the other hand, more motherboards could be invented by other architects to empower inhabitants to create different plug-ins. These motherboards are designed to be installed onto existing structures or new structures, allowing plug-ins to be inserted not only within the project, but also to the urban landscape. In order to allow user customization, the systems are fairly simple in order to let a layman to comprehend, but at the same time allow untrammelled creations to be made. As Yona Friedman proclaimed in his book Pro Domo, formulating an accessible language, ‘the one that is not only for professionals but also for the unintiated,’ is the key to let an ‘average man’ design. 23

Column Formwork Motherboard Sub-system (A)

The first system of motherboard developed is a formwork that could be clung onto a column or other pole structures with a larger diameter. This formwork is for small scale plug-ins and the frame is adjustable to hold the plug-ins at different levels. The diagram below shows how the configuration of the frame is based on the ergonomic of some basic human gesture, four possible plug-in modules under this system are illustrated on the facing page.

76

▲ Motherboard Sub-system (A)

▲ Motherboard Sub-system (B)

Chapter 5.0 / Final Design

Panel Motherboard Sub-system (B) Another sub-system is designed through a trial-and-error process, a grid panel system is developed and an impromptu modelling process is performed to simulate the unpredictable structure built upon it. Four materials sets are prepared, representing the materials that would be used in constructing a plug-in for the project, including 1) existing open-source components in library 2) new components invented during the design process 3) found object 4) furniture and equipment. The materials are then chosen as the modelling process goes, creating nonplanned models that consist of both open-source components and found objects as in what will happen in the project. Two models are generated under a little modification on the panel system, illustrating the foreseeable possibilities of this flexible system.

â–˛ structural experiement on plugging in the structure into different setting

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â–˛ from top to bottom/ 1) existing open-source components in library 2) new components invented during the design process 3) found object 4) furniture and equipment

▲ Documentation of the impromptu modelling process (top view)

Documentation of the impromptu modelling process (front view)

►

The set-up for the modelling process ► Chapter 5.0 / Final Design

â—„ Model 1

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Model 2 â–ş

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▲ Original design by the inhabitants

▲ The contituted parts are anaylsed and documented to become part of the Open-Source Manual

Panel Motherboard Sub-system (B) The system allows the inhabitants to arrange different configurations of grid panels according to their design, these panels could be plugged onto the horizontal or the vertical surface of the building. The panels allow them to secure their structure onto different parts of the building manually. Through utilising adaptors—open-source components found or fabricated in the Open-Source Library—structures of any material are made possible to be adapted to fit in the structural panels which fixate on the building structure. Architects will be there in the library to consult the inhabitants what adaptors or open-source components they should be used or designed, empowering them to create their own design.

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â–˛ New parts designed are archieved into the Library

â–˛ New design generated based on the design of the inhabitants, with the combination of new parts and materials.

Accumulation of the Open-Source Database The designs made by the inhabitants will be analysed and documented into the Open-Source Library and Manual as a new configuration for the other users to reference or replicate. More importantly, the idiosyncratic designs will become a source of inspiration for other architects or users, to further generate other modules and again contribute to the Open-Source Library database. It creates an inspiration cycle that could stimulate unlimited design opportunities.

The Open-Source Library will, therefore, be a holistic database that is continuously growing, including not only professional knowledge but also the know-how from each individual.

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â–˛ The catalogue of the Open-Source Manual, containing numerous amount of plug-ins designed to fit in building structures and urban landscape, with the aid of the motherboard sub-system.

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5.3

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DESIGN VISUALISATION

Elevation

The elevation visualises the possible scene formed by the accumulation of each inhabitants’ design empowered by the open-source system. It resonates with the imagination discussed in Section 2.4, Emergent Design: Envisioning the Unknown, as showin on the facing page.

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INDUSTRIAL AREA

KWUN TONG ROAD

MTR

KWUN TONG ROAD (to Lam Tin)

TO BRIDGE

(to Tsun Yip Lane)

BUS STOP

(to Ngau Tau Kok)

ERVENTIONS

OPEN-SOURCE INT

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D AREA

D EVENT SPACE PUBLIC PLAZA AN RY

B LAB AND LIBRA

ATRIUM

OPEN-SOURCE FA

NEWLY DEVELOPE

CARPARK

EN-SOURCE STORAGE FOR OP D MODULES COMPONENTS AN

Section through the Project and the Surroundings The sectional perspective shows how the plug-in interventions are scattered not only in the public area of the building but also into the urban context, showing the vision of the project. The pink part highlights the connection of the building extends both ends to the newly developed area and the industrial area. The open-source fab lab and the open-source interventions are well connected by bridges and the central ramp.

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Overall Sectional Perspective This long sectional perspective demonstrates the integrating of the new framework with the existing building and it shows the connection between different programs. The pink part shows the public space on the ground level which is reserved as an open space for festivals and events.

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View from Newly Developed Area (Back Elevation) This rendering shows the view from the newly developed area. The design of layers of platforms links up different parts of the development and create spaces for different activities to happen. The faรงade of the fabrication lab and workshop are shelves that stores the open-source components, designed to exhibits the latest open-source invention to the public. The peripheral ramps animate the movement of the hawkers and visitors, enabling the making process to be observed.

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Interior View within the Existing Building This rendering shows an interior view inside the existing building, demonstrating the plug-ins with Motherboard Sub-system (A). The people in the center shows the scene of setting up the open-source plug-in.

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Interior View within the New Framework This image shows an interior view inside the new framework which applied Motherboard Sub-system (B). As mentioned earlier, the panels (shown in brown) can be rearranged to accommodate the transformation of the plug-ins and different designs by inhabitants.

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APPENDIX-CASE STUDIES

FOOD MARKET PART-DIEU / BOMAN + FORME Location: Lyon, France Project Year: 2019 436.0 m² Area: Food court Functions:

The design is a temporary and reversible food court in one of the biggest shopping centers in France, La Part-Dieu. The architects created a gigantic scaffolding structure to define the restaurant space.

It is inspirational how the project is removable and recyclable but still be able to construct a unique experience and surprising atmosphere

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PEOPLE’S CANOPY / PEOPLE’S ARCHITECTURE OFFICE Location: Preston, United Kingdom Project Year: 2015 10m long Area: Functions: Urban Interventions Events

This project is a two-story high expandable roof structure on bicycle wheels that can seat up to 10. The case shows how spaces for automobiles are turned into spaces for pedestrians and events.

This project is an inspiration on the design of a temporal structure and it demonstrated the power of a simple place-making tool—roofs.

Appendix - Case Studies

MARUYA GARDENS Location: Project Year: Area: Functions:

This department stall holds a wide range of social groups and more than 200 community events are runned each month. The project is a reference for the organisation of a community-based commercial space.

h rt Ea x y n it de un ar m G m oof Co R

‘A place for 10,000 people to visit 100 times instead of the one for 1,000,000 to visit 1 time’

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COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

Kagoshima, Japan 2009 (renovation) 15000sq.m.

Department Store Community Centre

THE UMBRELLAS Japan + USA Location: Project Year: 1984-91 Area: 19km long (Japan) 29km long (USA) Functions: Artwork

The Umbrellas, a temporary work of art realized in two countries at the same time, reflected the similarities and differences in the ways of life and the use of the land in two inland valleys in Japan and the USA. The project provides the reference how simple structures can create a statement when accumulated.

Appendix - Case Studies

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NOTE: All images, diagrams, drawings are by the author unless otherwise specified

THESIS PROJECT 2019-2020 Supervised by Prof. Tat Lam Master of Architecture School of Architecture, CUHK /+852 6762 2580 /gillianngan@gmail.com