The Predictable Accident
007Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong
In Tsuen Wan, over 50 bridges were built as the Tsuen Wan Footbridge Network, concluding the monopoly over the people’s daily routine to frame their habits. Linear and lazy directions are made between nodes such as metro stations to shopping malls, creating ‘Skips’ that isolate street life, scenery and district heritages.
Divergences are delineated by the initiations, street walker’s enthusiasm contributed in an invisible circle that crowdfunded events and the resultant builtworks. Ten megastructures assembled the Tsuen Wan’s Collaborative Framework aim to alleviate tensions, educating ‘Hong Kong-ness’, creating a sense of identity and civic pride. Artefacts are amalgamations of contextual precedents derived from the Hong Kong Festivals and artificial amnesia, presenting together as ‘Hong Kong’s biggest community project, and truly a festival of the people.’
The Predictable Accident exists beneath the skin of Hong Kong as the city is an unresolved paradox; Progressions of its authenticity are only made by open selections of identities and refinement through learning from the irreplaceable history.
Context:
Relating to the district of the exhibition venue, Tsuen Wan, the project looked at the attitude of people towards experiencing the city. Whether one would take the elevated yet ignorant route of the skybridges, or the grounded but down to earth pedestrian pavement. The differences in perceptions of how to experience the city became the question of the exhibition and hence the resultant device.
Concept:
Until 2017, Tsuen Wan district consists of 47 footbridges and this number will undoubtedly rise in the coming years. Also known as ‘The City of Skybridges’, Tsuen Wan’s bridge network is made intricate with the Tsuen Wan Town Footbridge Network. The two way pinball machine questions the rapid pace of life in the city, and whether the existence of footbridge's infrastructure are solely to transport people from one point to another through the interaction between the ball which is the people and the obstacle representing the footbridges in the district.
Process:
A new footbridge network named Tsuen Wan Collaborative Framework or abbreviated as ‘T.W.C.F.A’ is imagined to defy the habits of skipping urban sceneries and places during one’s journey across the city. This is presented as digital contextual collages, and comes with a two way pinball machine installation for visitors to interact with the proposal. Elements inside the ‘T.W.C.F.A’ proposal, such as the new footbridge artefacts and contours of the site and streetscapes are laid out on the pinball machine to bring the proposal closer to the visitors.
Production:
Footbridges inside the ‘T.W.C.F.A’ are extracted as 3D printed objects on the pinball table, while the tabletop are milled and engraved with depictions of Tsuen Wan’s map to further detail the installation. Multiple tests are carried out to position the 3D printed obstacles, ensuring the two way pinball machine is possible to operate normally and play fairly.
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Client:
The Hong Kong Institute of Architects Biennale Foundation (HKIABF)
Occasion:
HK SZ Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB)
Typology:
Installation, Drawings
Status:
Completion
Location:
The Mills, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong
Year:
2019-2020
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Project Team:
Anthony Ko
Collaborators:
Elaine Tsang
Fabrication:
Jason Chong (1130 Studio)
Photography:
Anthony Ko
Tai Ngai Lung
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