Design Trust Grants Spotlight

Design Trust is pleased to share a selection of highlighted grant projects, including ‘Crowd-listening: Civic Technology in Neighbourhood Commoning” by Eric Ho,  “Alter Native” workshop based on the grant project “Impossible Bricks” by Lidia Ratoi, “CHICHOIMAO. From Hong Kong to the world” by Chow Wing Sing, “Unit Playmaking” – Public Playground Co-creation Exhibition at PMQ led by  Kevin Siu, “By Us, For Us: Atlas and Forum for Hong Kong Housing Cooperatives” led by  Architecture Land Initiative, "Fractal Cities" film from the grant project “Urban Fractals: a point cloud documentary of Hong Kong living spaces” by Haotian Zhang, Tianying Li and Guo Qian and “Docking” research film that won awards at Hong Kong Institute of Architects Microfilm Competition.

Design Trust Seed Grant “Crowd-listening: Civic Technology in Neighbourhood Commoning” by Eric Ho

The research project Crowd-listening: Civic Technology in Neighbourhood Commoning led by Eric Ho investigates the potential applications of civic technology in neighbourhood research and engagement towards “commoning”. Through developing a dual RESEARCH + PROTOTYPE initiative, the team approached the question “How do we better listen and visualize our neighbours’ pains + gains around neighbourhood places?”. Operating under the Neighbourhood Innovation Framework, the project consisted of three tests for engaging varying levels of stakeholders through technologies including website survey, AR and charbox experience, and data installation, which accumulated responses from over 1650 participants from online experience to recent exhibitions in Hong Kong. Through the project the team explored and expanded the possibilities of how technology can identify target audiences, create relevant content, engage various stakeholders and measure the success of community projects to achieve a user-centric design.

Design Trust Seed Grant “Alter Native” workshop by Lidia Ratoi

Lidia Ratoi has recently carried out a workshop named Alter Native on Cheung Chau Island with student team from the University of Hong Kong to explore alternative ways of using additive manufacturing techniques with locally sourced clay and oysters materials. Different building techniques from robotic arm 3D printing to casting of oyster shells harvested from Lau Fau Shan territories were employed to construct two prototype walls at Sai Yuen Camping Park. The workshop is developed upon the grant project “Impossible Bricks”, a multidisciplinary project pairing together robotic fabrication and the development of natural building materials to create an empathetic, conscious interaction between man, environment and future technology.

Design Trust Seed Grant “Fractal Cities” film from the grant project “Urban Fractals: a point cloud documentary of Hong Kong living spaces” by Haotian Zhang, Tianying Li and Guo Qian winning award

The experimental film Fractal Cities from Design Trust Seed Grant research “Urban Fractals: a point cloud documentary of Hong Kong living spaces” led by Haotian Zhang, Tianying Li and Guo Qian has recently won the second prize of Hong Kong Institute of Architects Micro Film Competition 2022. “Fractal Cities” documents a diverse collection of habitation, ranging from various forms of housing estates to temporary shelters in underground tunnels. These typical cases selected from the wide spectrum of living conditions in Hong Kong are dissected, folded, and morphed into an imaginary landscape. In this fractal city, concepts such as big and small, in and out, are no longer applicable. It challenges the 3-dimensional constraint, and essentially, the persisting bond between value and the size of the property. The 3D scanned fragments of the city are represented as point clouds, faithfully archiving bygone experiences while remaining at a distance from reality aesthetically. In such tension with the physical world, the film proposes a virtual alternative that is not detached from but entangled with reality.

Design Trust Seed Grant “Docking” by Wingchun Cheng and Spade Hung winning awards

Research film “Docking” led by Wingchun Cheng and Spade Hung has recently won the First Prize in Copenhagen Architecture Festival Global Short Film competition, as well as Hong Kong Institute of Architects Microfilm Competition Third Prize. The research focuses on the living condition of street sleepers during the rise and fall. In the past years, the existing shelters found at Kwun Tong Public Pier were constructed in a primitive way, most of the materials are wasted in each clearance. Hence, the team designed one mobile dwelling unit and one foldable unit with simple means and standard materials readily available on the market. By enhancing the efficiency of moving in and out, the project mediates among different stakeholders on the usage of Kwun Tong Public Pier. Previously exhibited at UABB Hong Kong 2022, the project will continue improving the spatial prototype, while documenting the engagement with the communities through films and zines.

Design Trust Seed Grant “CHICHOIMAO. From Hong Kong to the world” by Chow Wing Sing

“CHICHOIMAO. From Hong Kong to the world” by Chow Wing Sing was recently exhibited at New Designers Selects London and PMQ, Hong Kong. CHICHOIMAO explores local Hong Kong wood craftsmanship in a contemporary way to promote the local wood craftsmanship to audience around the world. CHICHOIMAO’s works are made by solid wood with traditional joinery techniques with minimal details balancing usability and aesthetic, that aims to develop handcrafted wooden works here in Hong Kong.

Design Trust Seed Grant “Unit Playmaking” – Public Playground Co-creation Exhibition led by Kevin Siu

The research exhibition “Unit Playmaking” – Public Playground Co-creation Exhibition led by grant recipient Kevin Siu was exhibited at PMQ, Hong Kong. The high-density city fabric of Hong Kong, shaped between the mountains and seas, has given rise to a series of small-scale public play spaces. With over 670 public playgrounds that shape a generation's understanding and sense of belonging of the city, this exhibition explores the unique chemistry that shape the play environment of Hong Kong.

According to the 2019 Policy Address, Hong Kong will revamp 170 public children’s playgrounds in the next few years, with public participation as an essential part of this process. In response to the current conditions and future planning, this exhibition showcases the collaborative results of over 800 children, parents, and more than 30 schools and organisations who participated in the public engagement process from 2021 to 2022. It also invites everyone to share their views as part of this nurturing journey for the next generation of public playgrounds for Hong Kong.

Design Trust Feature Grant “By Us, For Us: Atlas and Forum for Hong Kong Housing Cooperatives” led by Architecture Land Initiative

“By Us, For Us: Atlas and Forum for Hong Kong Housing Cooperatives” led by Architecture Land Initiative explores the history, current conditions and potential future of housing cooperatives in Hong Kong through the case studies of Civil Servant Building Societies, which are on the verge of disappearance. The studies and research examine accessibility, affordability, and individualized ownership patterns around the world. Through a series of research, the team is producing the federative drawing as a support tool for the elaboration of an incremental strategy at the scale of the neighbourhoods, via a series of participative and inclusive public and community forums. The speculative project aims to develop the road map for housing co-operatives and reinstate this as a meaningful ‘third option’ for the city of Hong Kong and future development.

They also developed the Atlas as an ongoing archive of the built reality and history of the Civil Servant Building Society Housing Cooperative sites. It presents factual evidence collected on site and in archival materials. The Atlas, which is organised according to a series of themes, also juxtaposes the archival material in comparison with a range of housing cooperatives from four world cities: Zurich, Berlin, New York, and Tokyo. These precedents aim to seed the latent potential for urban strategies in Hong Kong. With the series of visual tools and forums, the project will continue to further establish an action plan to reinstate cooperative housing in the city’s future development.