Been Living Here… (An Archive on Local Settlements)

An archive on ordinary lives in self-constructed settlements of Hong Kong from the perception of the inhabitants. It is to preserve, reassemble and rediscover informal urban design of the native neighbourhoods. The project is also to question the modular residential experience and seek for alternatives on vital life styles.

An archive on ordinary lives in self-constructed settlements of Hong Kong from the perception of the inhabitants. It is to preserve, reassemble and rediscover informal urban design of the native neighbourhoods. The project is also to question the modular residential experience and seek for alternatives on vital life styles.

Despite the modernized city space, many are still living in the indigenous settlements of Hong Kong. Those squatters were the majority before the statutory urban planning stepped in. The relationships of lands and people were ever changing towards a harmonious order of living. Houses are shaped and grown with their occupants over time. They were developed in a fundamental way of living, and survival upon the scarce resources. Nowadays, urbanisation has been gradually swooping down the traditional villages. Before the culture is long gone, our project “Been Living Here… “ would like to capture the ordinary life of the inhabitants and analyze the informal development of the living clusters. Through learning from the struggles and possibilities of living in old Hong Kong, the essentials of the native neighborhoods attachments can be identified. It is to provoke and demonstrate the alternatives of living with flexible self constructing features.

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2021
Grantee: Chi Ho Chung
Organisation: the Caomen

The Caomen is founded in 2021. The collective aimed to observe and rediscover the beauty in banality of Hong Kong. From self-built urban space to everyday life practises, the group would like to shine a light on the pieces that grow between our monotonous modern city backdrop. Through sociological, architectural and anthropological perspectives, the group records and dissects the history of the ordinary present of Hong Kong. Caomen (草民) are you and me, ordinary human in ordinary life. The group would also like to encourage social observation and educate public to read and appreciate our city. The members of the group are from multiple disciplines, they gathered since 2019 at the “Pang Jai” documentation project previously funded by Design Trust. Main applicant Chung Chi Ho, the founder of 「知築常落」has been working for local architectural record since 2018, published 「廖家雞舍史」under the Jockey Club “Blue House Studio” Cultural Heritage Education.