Location: Hong Kong Professional Involvement Team Members (2): Stephanie Tung, Gigi Yip Organizer, Designer and Builder, Photographer The Social Dock is a self-initiated independent project, a design build proposal for a campaign that advocates for public space designs in Hong Kong. This event was organized and called for open proposals to be submitted regarding their long term goal in transforming one of Hong Kong’s busiest vehicle-only streets to a pedestrian zone. On Sept 25 2016, Des Voeux Road was closed for this event. Our installation encouraged a pause – a rest area - for the Hong Kong people, a community so used to the fast-paced lifestyle. The form of our project was inspired by geographical history of the street; Des Voeux Road was once the water edge of Hong Kong in the 1930s. While other coastal cities made good use of their water edges as recreational use, parks, promenades, Hong Kong has still been neglecting this significant feature and is planning to one day close up the harbor. We brought back the water elements to allow people to think of our water edge as more of a possible public space generator instead of something seemingly non-approachable. The form is also inspired by several water edge conditions found in Hong Kong, including stone mounts near beaches, extended concrete decks, etc. We were inspired to create a streetscape that wasn’t commonly seen in Hong Kong streets.
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We collected wood pallets, which are a major construction component easily found anywhere in Hong Kong, given it is a common tool for delivering goods. It not only reminds people of the city of Hong Kong as a port/trading hub, but also the allegory of the harbor.