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Hong Kong in Between
Swiss architects and researchers Géraldine Borio and Caroline Wüthrich have been living and working in Hong Kong since 2010, when they established their architectural firm, Parallel Lab, there. Since then, they’ve been fascinated by the micro-level of urban life in Hong Kong, and it’s led to a major the pair investigated the ways the city’s residents use the narrow lanes that run behind and between the city’s high-rises, semi-public spaces that offer venues for business, social interaction, and a wide range of informal encounters. Hong Kong in Between presents the results of this exploration through a mix of black-and-white drawings, diagrams, plans, photographs, and texts that reveal the active, ever-changing life of these forgotten, in-between spaces. An enthusiastic engagement with urban life and a work of art in its own right, Hong Kong in Between reveals a city little seen and endlessly fascinating.
232 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 2, 2023
First and foremost, I really enjoyed the graphic layout of this book. Each page turn is a delight, with the photographs, large areas of black, well-formatted text, and minimal illustrations in AutoCAD depicting the scales and lifestyles on the streets of Hongkong. Everything was in a bold black-and white. But creating a striking design and highly readable book. It really makes one realise the importance of visual graphics in what makes a book to be accessible and intuitive.
For the content, I also really was impressed by the two Swiss architect’s insight sand detailed attention to the “in-between” spaces of the metropolis. The whole book was discussing on one point – the disappearing small alleys in between the out-of-scale high rises and how important they are to the city life. It makes one see Hong Kong from a completely different perspective. While most people only have an impression of the high-rise buildings or the billboard-packed alleys, these spaces are often left forgotten and unseen. However, this does not mean that they do not exist, not only are there numerous amounts of these spaces, but they are also organic, in the most creative and “authentic” ways.
Small barber shops, textile stores that are only 10sqm but open into the alley to three times it’s size. Miniscule shops where the owner also sleeps in… it’s crazy how much these spaces are used, and how much they are forgotten by people. It is striking to see how important they are to so many people’s lives. It’s reminding me of the small insects that live between the rocks, or the water that runs though the cracks on the ground… These spaces are so energetic and organic, and it’s a pity that they are almost forgotten, or even worse, the government trying to eliminate these spaces completely as to “improve” the urban image.
I myself have been to Hong Kong and it is true that I have never taken notice of these spaces. It is both relieving and a bit sad at the same time, that these spaces are providing vitality to the city, and yet the living conditions, as seen from the photos, are incredibly harsh. It’s incredible that the rich and poor are so diversified, and the two extremes are co-existing in just the same street.
The only downside or criticism I have to this book is the “STAG” stool, which is no more than a foldable stool that can also be used as a bag. The authors introduced it as a tool to “intervene” with these in-between spaces and for people to become more aware of it. But the design of the stool itself is not creative and the idea of sitting down to make use of the space is a bit too simple. I would understand that they wanted to produce something physical at the end, but I would have been satisfied enough with just a theoretical study.
January 12, 2017
A really unique book. While some of the write-up was a bit esoteric; the illustrations, photographs and layout were beautiful and made each turn of the page a delight. A creative and thought-provoking look at the use of public space.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews