MAP Office (Gutierrez and Portrfaix)
Hong Kong Is Land
2014
Speculative Drawing
Hong Kong Is Land proposes to add eight new artificial islands to the existing landscape of 263 islands (over 500 m2). In that way it addresses various needs and features of prevailing contexts and communities in the near future. Those artificial lands also provide distinctive hubs for tourism. Yet they cannot be recognized as sovereign islands nor generate maritime zones. More than a response to an unbalanced geography, the eight corresponding scenarios can be interpreted as a new language in which to promote universal values and novel ecosystems. At the centre of this project, beginning in Hong Kong territorial waters, there is a global awareness of specific contemporary issues that aims to reach other parts of the world.
As the first grant project of Design Trust, the team represented Hong Kong at the “Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities” exhibition organised by the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2014. The work was also featured in the Venice Biennale and the Yokohama Triennale in 2017.
About Map Office
MAP Office is a multidisciplinary platform devised by Laurent Gutierrez and Valérie Portefaix. This duo of artists/architects has been based in Hong Kong since 1996, working on physical and imaginary territories using varied means of expression including drawing, photography, video, installations, performance, and literary and theoretical texts. Their entire project forms a critique of spatiotemporal anomalies and documents how human beings subvert and appropriate space.