3_Dimensional Urban Identity

PART 2

3_Dimensional Urban Identity

PART 1


It is a painful irony to see Athens; a city that more than any other has fabricated itself now treats its city as if it has the authenticity and inevitability of changes.

“Imprisoned by its glorious past?”

The Acropolis has Athens all under its foothill. The Olympics 2004 puts Greece into current economic crisis; social riots following economic migration, an abandon city with an empty heart. Koolhaas described “The stronger the identity, the more it imprisons, the more it resists expansion, interpretation, renewal, contradiction,” caused by their historical identity itself.

Reflection on the ideal takes us beyond present Athens into deep historical time. My exploration in this intervention attempts a celebration of the landscape of historical concurrences and transcendent meanings. The intervention begins from where it fell, the abandoned Athens Stock Exchange. The essence will be as different as that of the centuries before us, to present Athens a new 3-dimensional urban identity.

From Hong Kong to Athens

1. Iconography; the FLAG, BANKNOTE, STAMP

2. HK's Flag

3. HK's Banknote & Stamp

4. ATHENS; the OLYMPIC 2004 Nexus

5. The Olympics

6. Olympics 2004 Commemorative Coins

7. Olympics 2004 Commemorative Stamps

8. ATHENS; Imprisoned by its Glorious Past?

9. ATHENS; Acropolis & Olympics 2004 Effects Consolidated

10. ATHENS; Between Ancient & Modern

11. Modern ATHENS; Triangle Explained

12. Modern ATHENS; Urban Fragments

13. Modern ATHENS; Point of Views- From Ground Level to Elevated Platforms

14. Identity Nexus; From Iconography to Built Environment, HK to Athens

15. HK; Charms of Bridges Street Market (The Site)

16. HK; The City of 3-Dimensional Verticality

A State of Multiculturalism: Changing Faces of Cities

Multiculturalism is a phenomenon not only present in historical cities but also in the making of many cities today. Rapid globalization seems to be transforming cities at an ever-accelerating speed. What price do we pay if we go too fast? At the price of shedding identity? Imagine an almost Utopian condition but yet the city is unrecognized as multicultural identity relinquished in the face of more mundane considerations. The fundamental question of the state of multiculturalism in today’s context commands our thoughtful attention in these huge waves of development. 

A State of Multiculturalism: Changing Faces of Cities.pdf

What Happened to this Dream of an Alternative Greek Future?

Koolhaas sees European cities as being condemned to immobility, caused by their historical identity itself: “The stronger the identity, the more it imprisons, the more it resists expansion, interpretation, renewal, contradiction.” 

New buildings and towns come to be considered among the most inalienable proofs of progress and national accomplishment. In fact, architecture and town planning were the only proof of progress; the vision of human settlement. 

New Athens was tasked with reinventing the cradle of civilization; giving it a capital city "worthy of a name be equal with the ancient fame and glory of the city and worthy of the century in which we live". Unfortunately, things were too radical, the plan was proved too costly; some described New Athens as "a town which does not have a road, but they were starting to build a palace". 

And thus, this picture depicts the result of a city through the past two thousand years; visually confused

It's about Manifestation of Oneself.. The Hong Kong's Identity

10 days of field trip in Hong Kong certainly has given me a different perception of the place and open up other windows for consideration. On the whole, I'm not sure if I liked the place but definitely enjoyed the trip. 
Whilst in Hong Kong, I began analyzing the place as how I analyzed and dissected the elements in their iconography; the flag, the banknote and the stamp, in relation to public identity. Although the same method applied, the process was far more complicated as built environment has an intangible component which is not present in graphic design. 


ICONOGRAPHY = GRAPHIC ELEMENTS + SIMPLIFIED REPRESENTATION
                                                                                  - local scene
                                                                                  - portrait 
                                                                                  - symbology 
                                                                                  - emblem 


URBAN DESIGN = URBAN ELEMENTS + LIVING TISSUES (user)
                                    - history                          - culture
                                    - politics                         - behavior
                                    - geography                    - movement
                                    - infrastructure                - adaptation 
                                    - social                           - usage of built environment
                 


Thus, in addition to the urban elements which can be identified by close observation of the place, I also ponder on the following key points which may have characterized these elements as well as shaped the built environment:


1.
City's handover from the British to China with mixed feelings...
_ joy at first instance, sadness at seeing the British go
_ pride over returning to their motherland, apprehension over the future
2.
What happened over the past 10 years...
_ crippling regional financial crisis
_ bird flu, SARS
_ resignation of top officials over sundry scandals
_ the march of 0.5mil people galvanized by the opposition to a new security bill called Article 23
3.
Complex relationship...
_ Is Hong Kong a model for China or a treat?
_ Is Hong Kong changing China, or China changing Hong Kong?
_ Should Hong Kong be more Chinese or more International?
4.
Future challenges flow...
_ Who am I?
_ What do I want to be?
_ Can I be all I want to be?

IT'S ABOUT MANIFESTATION OF ONESELF... THE HONG KONG'S IDENTITY

IDENTITY Fetish: A Collective Image of Hong Kong

PART 2

1.

Political Diagram - History

2.

Political Diagram - Future

3.

Hong Kong Public Identity

4.

Iconography - The Flag

5.

Iconography - The Banknote & Stamp

6.

The Identity Autopsy

7.

Public Identity; The Flag - Proposed

8.

The Flag Protocol - Current

9.

The Flag Protocol - Proposed

10.

Public Identity; The Banknote - Proposed

11.

Public Identity; The Stamp - Proposed