Movies have strong narrative.

Rooftop are spaces isolated from the common social norm in Hong Kong. The hidden. The outcast. The secret.

We have little contact with the sky. Yet, these spaces are what we yearn for... Free to imagine. Free to desire. The settings for the movie scenes are interventions which reinforce/ stimulate stories to happen. They are “stages” with emotions. Sometimes it is spatial. Sometimes it is atmospheric. Sometimes it is territorial. Sometimes it depends on the materials and props. We deliberately look for movies with rooftop scenes of Hong Kong and thought - If we extract the “device” and reapply it to another scenario, can we curate a setting with same emotional power? Or, what if we stack these intriguing spaces together, could these qualities be retained in a tower condition? We are keen on unveiling the communicative power of architecture. From the finest emotions originated from motion pictures, we look closely, and start building up the spaces and atmosphere back from every single scene.

6 Hong Kong movies were studied: Truth or Dare: 6th Floor Rear Flat, Unbeatable, Full Throttle, Hidden Heroes, Protégé, Hollywood Hong Kong.

We tried to explore ways to increase density without increasing overall height and bulk of the building through thinking landscaping and building together in the redevelopment.

The project has a specific site. It is a school hall on top of a slope with a large retaining wall. The school wished to enlarge the hall and add some learning spaces. A solid mass on one side of the slope is needed to act as a retaining structure for the big slope behind and piling to the redevelopment. Instead of pure geotechnical structure or feature, we introduce a series of rooms forming a cultural landscape. By lifting the large hall up just by one floor, we can retain the vistas in the campus, and free up the ground for students. Through small terraces and stairs students enter into the art, music, drama rooms, and down to the primary campus at the bottom of the slope. Rooms and terraces are organized and responded to the activities of the students. Architecture become stages, liberating students’ creativity.

Gondola market attempts to redefine the value of “free GFA (Gross Floor Area) features” found on typical residential tower facades, and reconstructs the disappearing neighbour-hood of Hong Kong.

Originally intended to regulate sunlight and fresh air for the public realm of the cityscape, building regulations have been exploited by private developers in past decades to maximize land resources and hence their capital return. Towers are thus adorned with “free GFA” features which are sold to home-owners. Perhaps leaving only the air-space in front of an openable window that could be considered as truly free. With old neighbourhoods having tightly knit community ties gradually replaced by new taller towers, it is not uncommon for one not to know his/her neighbours after years.

Gondola market speculates an alternative by reclaiming the free air-space in front of individual units collectively as an upward extension of a street market. Gondolas - a common device incorporated in tower designs for cleaning the substantial amount of windows, are proposed to be modified and installed between the façade features. Travelling up and down the towers using the gondolas, strangers could meet residents of the towers. Balconies, bay windows, air-conditioning platforms would be transformed into stalls, bar counters, shelves...

In the gondola market, residents could extend outward, express their individual desires, and open small businesses like in the old days. Private lives inside the tower would also be unfolded and revealed.

The design wishes to bring to Japan the Hong Kong spatial qualities found in our city, where inside, the artists are hosts, and visitors are guests. Respecting the Japanese townscape, the proposed design is a 20m long two-storey building fronting the street. Using local materials, the house is a timber structure cladded with timber battens. It retains the natural timber internally and is painted white externally. From the street, the simple white form attracts attention to the four openings, with glimpses to people walking, chatting and cooking. Each opening leads to an alley to the garden behind, recalling the very lively alleys in Hong Kong.

Spatially, the alleys divide the ground floor into five volumes. While the building has a clear boundary between the street and the garden, these volumes are separated from each other by temporal boundaries – sliding partitions for the two exhibition spaces allowing them to be completely enclosed; and sheets of translucent clothes for others to further blur the inside-outside boundary. A kitchen, with a long bench resembling a Hong Kong street cafe, is strategically placed between the two exhibition spaces. This allows hosts to share their kitchen/ dining area with guests, and also connect the two spaces into one bigger exhibition space for other events.

Locating between the harbour and the tree nursery, the design of the pavilion wishes to create a place to connect visitors with the nature - the horizon, the lawn and the sky. Viewing from a distance, the white canopy of the pavilion resembles a mountain, a feature of our cityscape that floats above the lawn. On the lawn, selected local species are planted to create a garden. Between the roof and the garden hangs a series of net, creating an unusual sensation for the visitors. They can walk on the net above the plants, lay down to take a rest and gather under the shade. It is a borderless room where visitors can focus on the space and look back to our city from a different perspective. The shape of the roof accentuates the circular opening where visitors can look up to the sky. It also allows air to flow through. The nets can be rearranged from time to time and create an open and flexible landscape for informal talk, music performance, or an eco-tour to the plants below. The pavilion is 9m by 27m, and varies between 5m and 10m in height. The temporal nature calls for a simple fabrication and on-site construction. It has three major components: the giant roof, the net and the landscaped garden. The giant roof uses reciprocal steel structure on oval shaped white steel columns. Standardized steel tubes are used. They can be assembled and be dismantled easily. The net is hung from the steel tubes. Internally, it is cladded with rattans to give warm texture. Externally, it is covered with lightweight white coloured straws knitted together. The use of natural materials create a relaxing atmosphere that contrasts to materials found in our city. A 600mm deep growing medium is formed on site. Local plants are transplanted to create the garden, which can continue to grow and bloom during the lifespan of the temporary pavilion, and remain after the structure is gone.

Through studying the Hong Kong movie “72 tenants” we tried to understand the essence of a neighbourhood, and how small architectural interventions create interesting scenes where neighbours talk with each other, gather or fight….

This is further translated into “Neighbourhood”, a 4-storey spatial model for an inter-generational co-living in a high-rise environment where elders and young people share space, share thoughts and share experience.

The candy "Superlemon" - its taste transforms throughout time, just as a mystical trip turning from super sour to gentle sweetness.

A project started with one impatient reaction towards the long uninspiring tunnel in TST MTR station.

When one talks or studies about Hong Kong, we talk about the city, its hyperdensity, connectiveness and its urbanism. Or there will be people taking a nostalgic approach hanging on to the disappearing components. The lovely mosaics. The balconies. The hawker stores... What if one embraces the much ignored aspects in hong Kong, and the NOW moment?

Could we with the eyes of children, look again at the physical construct of the city, and pull out the ′codes′ which constitute to the subconscious of the city dwellers?

Could we attempt to find hints that suggest Hong Kong contemporary architecture? Or how Hong Kong urbanism defines/ changes/ abuses/ manipulates architectural vocabularies?

This stirred up interesting discussions. Echoes. Debates.

Superlemon has been a parallel journey for our studio since 2012.

We want to be HYPERSENSITIVE.