Exciting times ahead for me! Soon I'll be in Hong Kong. Anyone been there?
You have an adventure ahead of you, I look forward to reading about your findings. You write: Congratulations on what sounds like a very interesting opportunity for research. sounds_sound, As an architect, have you ever worked on a project that had to keep a sense of authenticity and culture in the same way that veen writes about?Hong Kong, until 1997 a colony of England, is one of the 5 most important cities in the world.
-I wonder what you mean by "most important?" -What are the qualifications you are using to make a statement like that? Seems like pretty subjective stuff.
If properly considered, every piece of architecture should have authenticity in mind. Even if one said "we are trying to make architecture which is completely inauthentic", at least it is still a position with a point of view, and something great could come out of that philosophy. Of course though one has to ask "What is authentic?". For me, as long as the experience is authentic, then it is successful. Can you have an authentic experience in an inauthentic city? Possibly. And because people HAVE to live with buildings, they become part of the culture whether people realize it or not. As an architect I have to believe that, otherwise the hard work doesn't mean anything. Good for me that it's true. In terms of a city or building referencing local histories, it gets interesting when we look at colonies because often they were planned by people from a different culture with a different agenda. But how important is that history if it was completely inconsiderate to local customs? And where does building from the past end? Does the Mongol invasion in the 13th century need to be represented in the way Hong Kong's satellites operate today? Honestly though, when a bit of land goes from 5000 people to 300,000 people in just a few years, these questions are very difficult to have conclusions to; and because architecture is really just a blunt tool anyway, it can only work subliminally to make an impression. Personally, I think the building in China is moving too fast.
Thanks for the reply s_s. I would agree that architecture is certainly a part of the culture in a very prominent way. I literally just received an email that someone wants to purchase our home from us for a price that I set as the "make me move" price on Zillow. Now, I'm starting to realize how much this home means to me and how what it means to me can't be put in to dollar amounts. Homes and buildings become part of our families and our culture, for sure. Unfortunately, the link you provided didn't work, says it's not available in my country. veen and others, here is another video about Ordos -sounds_sound, it looks like the "ghost city" is growing in to itself.
Thanks! Can't wait to go really. There's a Global City Index which ranks cities by importance. It's based on the idea that a city is important if it is a major node in the global economy network. Hong Kong is fifth on the list as an Alpha+ City, behind London, NY, Tokyo and Paris. It does seem subjective the way I threw it in a sentence there.