Honorable Mention
Next 7 Competition
Patlapa Davivongsa
Thiland
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated country in the world with the population of 6,620 person/ sq.m. (“Hong Kong. Facts Sheet”). The district chosen for the Porous Extrusion project is an old district called Sham Shui Po. Sham Shui Po is not a tourist attraction and is known to be a district where local people go to buy electronic supplies. The architecture in this area are still very low-rised, mostly only about 7 stories height in average, this is due to the fact that there used to be an airport locating behind. Now the airport has already been closed, but there has not been a lot of new development happening on the site yet since Sham Shui Po is a very low cost residential area. Almost, if not all, of the building in this area are shophouses, where groups of low income people are packed in.
Even though Sham Shui Po is one of the most densely populated district in Hong Kong, I felt more comfortable to walk in the area than in other districts that are not as dense. I believe that it is due to the fact that the architecture are low rised. I then analyze the ephemeral qualities of the site, focusing on the view of the sky, ventilation, and sunlight in comparison with the other district with high rises buildings. The result shows that Sham Shui Po gets more view of the sky, ventilation, and sunlight more than other districts, which makes the area more pleasant to be in. Contrastingly, inside of those low rised buildings, people are packed inside of the building with the density of 3.4 person per sq. m. (“2011 Population Census”). The Poroua Extrusion aimed to bring the ephemeral quality of Sham Shui Po to the interior of the building to make it a pleasant place for the locals to live.
Each of the units have 3 sets of rule. The unit must have at least 20meters span of the sky view, the unit must have at least 2 openings for ventilation, and the unit must has at least one window to receive sunlight during the day. All the units in the building are custom made, which means all users will get to choose the unit size, decoration, and the position that the unit is going to be located.
The structure of the building consists of the main structural core which also consists of elevators and staircase. The units are placed around the core, and will be attached to the core by construction arms. The arms also act as public spaces with different activities for the users from different arms to interact. The core will be placed between the back of the existing shophouses, causing no harm to the old traditional Chinese architecture that should be preserved.
Because the existing buildings in Sham Shui Po are shophouses, the units floor are also moveable. During the day, the units floor can come down, cover the house floor, and transform the units into different type of shops. This method allows all of the units to receive the good natural qualities of the site within the buildings. Also, since the building is extruded in a very porous way, it will not interfere with the existing ephemeral qualities of the site that got me interested in the first
