“Hong Kong: A catalogue of Toponyms (香港地名繪)” by Zoey Chan aims to catalog the Hong Kong’s toponymy in illustrations as a creative rediscovery and documentation process to preserve the region’s historical, cultural and geographical landscape and identity of places, initiating a dialogue on place naming/ making and village branding in the society. Toponym offers insight of the geographical and cultural landscape and our association with “place”. Some local place names, especially in rural villages, are at risk and disappearing due to development, imposition or change in geographical features. The project will explore the etymology and evolution of these everyday vocabularies and visualize the findings for the general public, promoting our understanding of Hong Kong’s diverse landscapes and to rebrand these vanishing sites. The toponymic database aims to provide an insight to the regional affairs in terms of administration, planning, mapping, sustainable development as well as local tourism.
“Hong Kong: A catalogue of Toponyms (香港地名繪)” by Zoey Chan aims to catalog the Hong Kong’s toponymy in illustrations as a creative rediscovery and documentation process to preserve the region’s historical, cultural and geographical landscape and identity of places, initiating a dialogue on place naming/ making and village branding in the society. Toponym offers insight of the geographical and cultural landscape and our association with “place”. Some local place names, especially in rural villages, are at risk and disappearing due to development, imposition or change in geographical features. The project will explore the etymology and evolution of these everyday vocabularies and visualize the findings for the general public, promoting our understanding of Hong Kong’s diverse landscapes and to rebrand these vanishing sites. The toponymic database aims to provide an insight to the regional affairs in terms of administration, planning, mapping, sustainable development as well as local tourism.
Zoey is the co-founder of the Common Map, which is a community co-creation project aiming at cultural-mapping, story drawing and building a rural database. Zoey is also an architect specializing in BIM and institutional projects. Her research interests include local building regulations, public space and the classification of urban objects in informative drawings legible to the public eye. Her works have been published and exhibited internationally. Zoey was a participant of the inaugural Design Trust Futures Studio 2017 and 2018.