One of his more recent pieces, “Still in One Piece III” used porcelain facial features to capture his coronavirus lockdown musings. The outlines of two faces shielded by protective masks press against each other, the hyper-realistic noses brushing and lips locked together. While the image is vaguely unnerving, it also portrays our species’ deep for connection and intimacy.

“At the beginning of May [2020], this idea popped up in my mind from nowhere during my meditation. Ideas came up to me like this very often. Many of my pieces were created with ideas popped up during meditation,” Tsang told My Modern Met of the kissing masks piece. “I have a strong feeling that these creative ideas were not originated from me. But I believe there must be a good reason that it came to me. Maybe just because I have the ability to realize these wonderful ideas and show them to the right people. For this reason, I don’t want to interpret it myself. I think everyone who see my works has the right to interpret them in their own way, according to their own feelings.”

Other works open for interpretation include a grimacing face that appears to be having its skin pulled sweatshirt-style over its head by a pair of arms emerging from the skull. Another features fingers from inside a head prying open the face, causing the features to disappear but still look like the person might be screaming. Tsang’s “Remembrance” has one face melting on top of another, while “Love in Progress” shows a pair of hands wringing out a tortured face like a wet towel.

Although his skill with ceramics seems like it must have taken a lifetime to perfect, art and sculpture are actually a second career for Tsang. Having grown up poor, the artist originally focused on trade labor, first as an air conditioning assistant and then a potato chip fryer. He eventually became a police officer, spending 13 years keeping the streets of Hong Kong safe. During that time, he took a clay modeling class and was transformed by its pliable nature. “The clay seemed so friendly to me, it listened to every single word in my mind and did exactly [as] I was expecting,” Tsang said in an interview with Colossal. “Every touch was so soothing. I feel like I was touching human skin. I found peace and joy in it. I’ve felt in love with it ever since.”

Leaving behind his police work, Tsang jumped into a “new life” of “exploring art.” However, his experiences as a cop with the “dark side of the city and humanity” heavily influence his artist creations. “What affected me the most were the fatal cases,” he said in an interview with the Bein Art Gallery. “I saw people being stabbed and killed by gangsters, a 6-year-old girl who was murdered by her maid, an 11-year-old girl who watched her younger brother die under a big tire of a double-decker bus while she was helping her mother to take care of him, and lots of faces of people who lost their lives in fatal car accidents. Today, I would definitely say that my service plays an important role in my creation. At least, I see things differently.”

Tsang updates fans by posting his latest work to his website, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.

The post Johnson Tsang’s Surreal Ceramics Show the Face of Human Struggle first appeared on Dornob.

“I can visit with people and brighten their day with social stimulation… but can also do talk therapy, take bio readings, and help healthcare providers,” Grace told Reuters in a demonstration at Hanson Robotics’ Hong Kong workshop, standing alongside her older “sister,” Sophia (who famously became the first robot to be granted citizenship by any country.)

The prototype robot’s facial features are inspired by anime characters, with large eyes and a neutral, friendly expression. Hanson Robotics founder David Hanson says Grace is able to simulate the action of more than 48 facial muscles thanks to a proprietary nanotech skin called Frubber. “A human-like appearance facilitates trust and natural engagement because we are wired for human face-to-face interactions,” he adds.

Hanson Robotics envisions Grace as a way to support overloaded medical staff as well as elderly patients and those isolated by COVID-19. Capable of taking patients’ pulses and temperatures with an integrated thermal camera, Grace is also designed to mimic the kind of interaction you’d get from a human care provider, and speaks English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Her behavior can also be tweaked according to her context, simulating either Asian or Western customs as needed. Naturally, Grace won’t be able to replace medical professionals altogether, but she can step in to perform routine tasks and socialize with patients when human staff aren’t available.

The company says it will begin mass-producing its robots, including both Grace and Sophia, by the end of 2021. Grace will be fully deployed next year in medical facilities in Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, and Korea. Though the cost of a single humanoid robot is currently close to $100,000 USD, that price is expected to come down as the company manufactures them in larger quantities.

Public acceptance of humanoid robots like Grace will likely vary according to cultural differences. Social robots are already in common use in Japan, and throughout the world, more people are considering their value as companions for lonely seniors. But a recent study found that most people still experience the creeped-out “uncanny valley effect” when robots resemble sentient beings, and questions remain about whether social robots will deepen an overarching loss of human contact as technology evolves.

In the U.S., the pandemic is still raging, and hospitals are facing deepening staff shortages complicated by the new federal vaccine mandates. It’s clear that we need a diverse array of solutions in the face of an aging Baby Boomer population and potential future pandemics, and that robotics have a role to play. Of course, helping medical students afford increasingly outrageous tuition, hiring more staff, and properly compensating medical caregivers would also go a long way.

The post Robot Nurse “Grace” Will Soon Be Caring for Isolated COVID Patients first appeared on Dornob.

Led by principle architect Patrick Lam, the firm aims to challenge our perceptions of smart homes while exploring the many ways in which thoughtful design can maximize even the smallest living spaces. Lam brought his own experience living in a small tenement apartment in the infamously cramped district of Kowloon to this bright, airy, and absolutely brilliant renovation for a young family.

The narrow unit benefits from a wall of windows on one side facing a view of beautiful natural scenery. At first glance, the living area appears oddly empty. There are no appliances or furniture to be seen aside from an entertainment console and a television along one wall. Panels in the floor are the first clue that the space contains more than it appears to, concealing all manner of storage, pop-up tables, and more. All visible surfaces are covered in plywood and timber veneer for an even cleaner look.

“Eric and Lory moved to Hong Kong from Taiwan many years ago and have a son; Eric needs to travel frequently throughout the country, and Lory is a flight attendant,” the architects explain. “Their lack of time spent at home means they often need grandmother to [come over and] take care of the children. Eric and Lory often talk about the scenery and homestay in Taiwan, and how they miss them so much.”

“Sim-Plex lifts up the entire living room with a wooden platform so that every corner can also come down at will. In addition to a large amount of storage, the platform also hides the intelligent lifting coffee table, creating a gathering point, sometimes as a tea ceremony, and sometimes as a toy’s playground. The dining room is made up of an open kitchen with a quartz stone high-top dining table and two arc-angle storage chairs, so no matter [where you are] while cooking or dining, you could also enjoy the scenery outside the window. The windowsills of the two rooms are surrounded by wooden frames to match the natural scenery.”

Ancient principles of feng shui and the latest in smart home gadgets coexist peacefully throughout the home. The architects also made use of natural materials, Zen philosophies about layouts that promote the proper flow of energy, and adaptable features that can meet the family’s constantly changing needs. A sliding partition separates the living room and kitchen either for privacy or to create a fourth bedroom, and the master bedroom is a peaceful refuge full of built-in storage.

With Smart Zendo (named after zendo, a place for Zen meditation), Lam shows that high-tech home features like voice-activated lights, speakers, air conditioning, motor-powered furniture, and projection screens can actually be kind of poetic.

He notes that: “Haiku, the Japanese poetry, is deeply influenced by Zen. There are ‘seasonal languages’ in the haiku. The Smart Zendo in this case is just like the seasonal language, and the four seasons of the scenery outside the window are introduced into the room to make the perfect merging of home and nature, so that the emotions of the homestay can be fermented.”

The post Transforming Hong Kong Apartment Makes Smart Home Tech Downright Zen first appeared on Dornob.

A new collaboration between architects and marine scientists at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) is using modern technology to make it happen. Their new method of 3D printing specially designed reef tiles could boost coral’s chance at survival by providing an anchor for “corals of opportunity,” which are dislodged coral fragments that might otherwise just float away and die.

The Marine Park is home to more than three-quarters of reef-building corals in Hong Kong, as well as more than 120 fish species. Mass mortality events, coral bleaching, and bio-erosion all put them at risk. Offering the coral a structurally complex foundation for attachment prevents sedimentation, which is when sediment run-off from the shore either directly suffocates coral reefs or gets mixed into shallow coastal waters, reducing the available light coral need to photosynthesize.

In July 2020, marine scientists deployed the 3D printed terra-cotta “reef tiles” made by the HKU Robotic Fabrication Lab and seeded them with coral fragments at three key sites within the Marine Park covering about 40 square meters total (about 430 square feet), including Coral Beach, Moon Island, and a bay near the WWF Marine Life Center.

The 3D Printing Media Network reports some fascinating details on the project:

“Three coral species historically common in the Marine Park, namely Acropora, Platygyra, and Pavona, were selected for the study. They have different growth forms, representing the branching ‘staghorn,’ massive ‘brain’, and foliose ‘plating’ colony forms, creating a diverse habitat for other marine species. Marine scientists at SWIMS will investigate the success of restoration using the mono-, mix-, and polyculture of the three coral species, while researchers will monitor the performance of corals on the tiles for the next one and a half years.”

“The 128 pieces of reef tile with a diameter of 600mm were printed through a robotic 3D clay printing method with generic terra-cotta clay and then fired at 1125 degrees Celsius. The design was inspired by the patterns typical to corals and integrated several performative aspects addressing the specific conditions in Hong Kong waters.”

The use of environmentally friendly terra-cotta instead of plastic is particularly interesting here, especially since it’s usually associated with architecture and design. In fact, the tiles look like decorative art pieces you might have as a sculptural element in your garden. Fired in a kiln, the 3D printed tiles are durable enough to withstand underwater conditions. Hopefully we’ll get an update from the researchers once the coral attach — it’ll be interesting to see whether the patterns of the tiles affect the formation of the coral, or if they disappear altogether under a blanket of new marine life.

The post 3D-Printed Tiles Will Restore Coral Reefs in Hong Kong Waters first appeared on Dornob.

Large vertical diaphragms facilitate the buildings’ air intake and outtake systems, contoured into atria that bring in oxygen and release carbon dioxide using natural elements to limit the need for electricity. This remarkable design contradicts the common belief that tall buildings cannot be sustainable due to an inability to use wind patterns. Bucking that philosophy, the SkyHive was built following extensive research regarding geometric design elements, solar insolation, and CFD analysis.

Wind effects on different-shaped buildings (circular, square, triangular, and hexagonal) were analyzed using CFD simulation software. The team ultimately found that a hexagonal design and twisting features would allow the building to self-shade, helping cool the interiors all throughout. And with two towers side by side, the buildings offer each other even more shade as the day progresses. Three wind scoops on each tower take advantage of wind patterns, funneling the wind inside at prime times. The windows were designed to contribute to optimum air flow in conjunction with the rest of the system.

Creating a breathing building requires more than a twist here and an atrium there, of course. To capture all of the natural elements key to sustainable design, the architects also had to consider the buildings’ respective orientations. In addition to taking advantage of natural winds and building in shade, the buildings are positioned to avoid direct solar heat. The design also reduces glare into the office spaces.

The top of the skyscraper defies the traditional architectural design typically used to house heating, cooling, and electrical systems. Instead, the SkyHive offers an expansive green space on each tower. Working to be part of the solution for the effects of a high-density area that contributes to air pollution, the gardens here further enhance the living design in an area where tropical heat directly contributes to a reduction in air quality. The public green observatory filters pollutants and carbon dioxide while producing oxygen for the building and surrounding area. Plus, it’s a lot more pleasing to look at than massive air conditioning units.

Designer Suraksha Acharya said the design stemmed from multiple inspirations, with the goal to challenge the belief that a building of this size couldn’t be naturally ventilated. He went on to say, “The Aero Hive Office tower was developed as a part of Skyhive Skyscraper Challenge, which examines the relationship between the skyscraper and the natural world, the skyscraper and the community, and the skyscraper and the city.”

In an interview with Frank Scott from DesignPRWire, Acharya discussed the challenges of working sustainable design into a building thought to be outside the realm of possibility. He explained: “In wind climates like Hong Kong with very directional extreme winds, building shapes that are directionally sensitive are more effective than traditionally-shaped buildings. Developments in [the] structural systems of high-strength materials with increased height-to-weight ratios but reduced stiffness have become greatly affected by wind. Major structural and aerodynamic modification in the design development includes tapering, sculptured building shape, openings, and [the] twisting of the building [itself]. In addition, along with advances in visco-elastic materials like tuned mass dampers as well as structural systems like trussed tubes, the shapes of the towers become distinctly modified by the micro-ecology. To drive the natural currents to enhance air volume exchange, pressure differentials between windward (up-wind) and leeward (down-wind) faces of [the buildings] were analyzed using CFD for thorough ventilation and surface wind flow acceleration.”

The post Midori Architects’ New Breathing Skyscraper Brings Nature to Hong Kong first appeared on Dornob.

While there are still brands like Aesop that put a lot of effort into the presentation of their products and shops, most contemporary drug stores and retailers specializing in personal care products have lost that old apothecary charm, giving into the conveniences of fluorescent lighting, cheap metal shelving, and plastic containers instead. But who’s to say that a space can’t recall those classic aesthetics while also feeling decidedly modern?

In the heart of Hong Kong, cosmetics pharmacy HARMAY takes the feel of an apothecary in a whole new direction. The company initially hired AIM Architecture to complete its flagship store in Shanghai in 2017, and this new brick and mortar location expands upon the first one’s streamlined metallic look.

HARMAY is primarily an e-commerce business, and it wanted its retail locations to feel like spaces that exist somewhere between the real world and cyberspace.

“Picture this: a bustling, winding, narrow Hong Kong street, packed with shops, restaurants, and food stalls,” says AIM Architecture. “Shutter gates open and close each storefront; inside, the shelves teem with packages and products. You almost don’t notice it. But still, a second glance — a perforated steel facade, LED lighting, an organized, almost austere unexpected interior, inviting you in from the outside… culturally, we are at an intersection. Consumers want convenience but crave experience. Online shopping will never lose its allure, but there’s a real challenge for brands to experiment with the dynamics of modern consumption.”

AIM took inspiration from old-school chemists for HARMAY’s Hong Kong apothecary, translating it into a mixture of old and new surfaces, with ancient bricks meeting concrete and mirrored steel all throughout. The point isn’t to come here looking for one specific product, getting in and out quickly. You can do that a lot more easily online. Instead, the architects want the space to encourage discovery, with customers opening drawers and examining bottles as if they might contain hidden treasures.

They call the new space “an elegant counterpoint” to the click-and-receive dynamic of online shopping, “designed for the curious and engaged consumer, and the casual passerby who walks in expecting one thing and finding the unexpected.”

“Walking up towards the second floor, space is left untouched, as found. It is rough and even raw to the senses, immersing you in the tactile experience of traditional shopping. Here, stainless steel mirrored cabinets are suspended from the ceiling, [while] reflective surfaces hide their existence. With their rubber insides and the found space, they engage in a powerful dialogue creating an intimacy with the products, placing them straight into the hands of our shoppers.”

“Hong Kong is notoriously cramped, but despite its smallness, the two floors are spatially connected through the omnipresent rough brick walls, concrete ceilings, and continuous floor, creating an unanticipated and spacious illusion. The stainless steel powder room echoes this. With its glass wall, guests might second guess its function, but then a well-placed curtain creates playful privacy, leaving just feet exposed.”

Ultimately, the space feels like a secret subterranean laboratory thanks to the textural stone and exposed brick, labyrinthine layout, and of course, all those mirrors. The illusion only breaks when you emerge into a room on the upper floor with a wide window overlooking the street, finding yourself at the same level as the branches of trees outside.

The post Minimalist Concrete Cosmetics Store Feels Like a Secret Laboratory first appeared on Dornob.

Whether a passenger is departing or arriving, they’re sure to be shocked by the scale of West Kowloon Station. Boasting the same grandiosity as many airport terminals in Asia, the soaring roof here twists and rises like the back of a monstrous beast: a dragon of steel and glass helping to bring influence from mainland China, sneaking its way into Hong Kong only to rise its head right in the middle of West Kowloon Cultural District.

If someone wanted to take such a nefarious view of the station, they’d probably be right. Another view of the station is that of a grand palace celebrating the triumph of advanced transportation. Then there’s the benign political view — surely in the minority in the city if recent events are any indication — that the station represents a coming together of mainland China and Hong Kong. Mixed in with all of the politically-charged symbolism around the site, there are also those who see it as just great civic architecture. But no matter what, there’s no denying that the scale of this building provokes people to consider all of these competing interpretations of its form.

Since it first opened in September of 2018, visitors to West Kowloon Station have used it, and the seven acres of public space around it, as a park. Its curtain wall is made up of over 4,000 curved glass pieces, reflecting sunlight and giving the area’s many plazas and paths an extra glow. And since the roof of the station begins from the ground on one end, visitors can gently walk up steps between its garden spaces, taking in the view of the city as they climb. Don’t worry, though — this ascent is gradual and understated. Before visitors realize it, they are right on top of the highest point of the building, some 80 feet above the ground.

Aedas, the international architecture firm known for its stunning large-scale projects, designed the station’s interiors to be chalk-full of memorable moments for visitors. Here, people move through a capacious public atrium framed by 8,000 tonnes of curved steel. The ceiling is a representation of the relationship between mainland China and Hong Kong, in that it is hard to demystify patterns that exist elsewhere, either from the inside or the out. The fluidity between ceiling and roof, and between the station’s different ribbons of fenestration, is also difficult to predict. Columns rise from one part of the slab, seemingly curving to form a part of the roof, but then curving unexpectedly again to support another part of it. However, within that visual chaos are opportunities for sunlight to shine deep into this mainly underground station. As the bands of windows follow the form of the roof, they contort to create these moments where the arriving passengers can catch their bearings as they ascend from the trains. The flowing interchange between clerestories and skylights gives people an even greater sense of the city outside as they take their first steps back into the real world.

For departing passengers, the high-speed trains featured in West Kowloon get them faster to mainland China than ever before. Hongkongers now have easy access to 44 cities in the Chinese mainland, and they can even get to major Chinese hubs like Beijing and Shanghai in under 9 hours. The station has 15 tracks in total: nine of which are for long-haul trains, and the other six for regional ones. The overt division between those two types is another aspect of the architecture that has proved controversial in the country.

Although it takes several hours to get there, the influence of Beijing is still right there in the station thanks a co-location arrangement that allows mainland Chinese customs officers to screen passengers prior to boarding. Yes, departing passengers must first pass through Hong Kong customs, after which they enter a corridor called the Mainland Port Area. Along the way, they walk over a yellow line demarcating where the laws of Hong Kong end and the laws of mainland China begin. Once across the line, even before passing through mainland customs, passengers are no longer subject to Hong Kong law, even though they are still physically in Hong Kong.

This co-location operation creates a series of checks for passengers to navigate, and it all takes place underground out of reach from the sunlight in the atrium above. The arrangement can also be interpreted as yet another example of Beijing trying to encroach upon Hong Kong territory.

West Kowloon Station is a symbol of many things. It represents the converging of high-speed train lines from across China at a single massive hub. This convergence is also represented architecturally in the structure of the building, especially on the ceiling and roof. Last but not least, the station represents the converging of disparate world views. It is a work of architecture loaded in meaning: attractive enough to be a favorite location for selfies, but unsettling enough to start an uprising.

The post High-Speed Trains Converge at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Station first appeared on Dornob.

Of course, the real problem here is buildings that are showy with no meaning connected to their surrounding context. Then there’s buildings like the new Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong, which has quickly become a radiant example of both imagery and substance.

Since January of 2019, Hongkongers have been invited, by the building itself, to experience this new home for traditional Chinese Xiqu opera in the city’s new arts and culture district, West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). Indeed, the new building is decidedly cube-like, with curved edges and a facade that resembles the curtains on a stage. At each corner, the curtain wall, a name that carries both technical and symbolic meaning, is pulled back to allow light from the interior to shine outwards, thereby creating an alluring beacon for the public. The center is also meant to be contemporary take on the Chinese Moon Gate.

The firm responsible for the project, Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects), designed the silky exterior because they were inspired by the costumes worn by xiqu performers and traditional Chinese lanterns. Within the modular system of bays that make up the “curtains” are 13,000 scales, each cut from extruded aluminum pipe by a CNC machine. The scales were then given their distinct texture using glass beads and connected to frames by stainless steel brackets.

Fabricating the scales, building a mock-up to test them, transporting them to the site, and installing them as a curtain wall was a delicate process that took eight months. In that respect, the seven-story building itself is kind of a performance, with a facade emblematic of curtains hiding the performers as they prepare for a show.

Unlike most performing arts space, the parts of the Xiqu Centre that are accessible to the public are expansive, going way beyond a simple foyer and ticket booth lounge. A large 65-foot-high gate draws the public inside, directing them to a voluminous atrium for exhibitions, workshops, and other public events related to educating people on Xiqu culture. To top it all off, this atrium is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The reason that the architects were able to create a 21,000-square-foot, naturally-ventilated interior public space is because the center’s main hall, the 1,073-seat Grand Theatre, is suspended 90 feet above the plaza below by six thick columns and two 20-foot-deep roof trusses. The position of the Grand Theatre has two functions: first, to reduce vibration and noise from the surrounding infrastructure, such as the nearby subterranean high-speed train; and second, to make the building more accessible to the public by creating spaces for programming around the atrium, such as classrooms and stores.

The Xiqu Centre plays a dual role of performer and stage: a work of architecture performing a cultural artform that dates back to the Ming dynasty of a few hundred years ago, and the canvas for its own expression. A contemporary home for an ancient heritage.

The post Pulling Back the Xiqu Centre’s Spectacular Curtain Wall first appeared on Dornob.

Now, an experimental architecture and design practice has come up with a prototype solution to meet the city of Hong Kong’s housing needs. James Law Cybertecture takes an innovative approach to architecture and urbanism to produce made-to-order, original, and practical solutions to a wide range of challenges. One of the firm’s newest ideas is “OPod Tube Housing,” a series of compact and stackable apartment units made from the standardized concrete water pipes commonly used in large-scale engineering projects.

Believe it or not, these two-and-a-half-meter-wide pipes actually have many benefits to offer. For starters, they are all pre-manufactured to a standard size, making them far more cost-effective to produce than any custom-built structure. And since they’re so easy to stack on top of one another, they’re also great for in-filling vacant sites between existing buildings. Nonetheless, they’re still big enough on the inside to accomodate a number of amenities, making them perfect for habitation by city dwellers.

Studio founder James Law explains: “OPod Tube Housing is an experimental, low-cost, micro-living housing unit to ease Hong Kong’s affordable housing problems.” He predicts that the tubes will be especially attractive to younger people like students who cannot usually afford bigger living spaces but are more than happy to move into a small one for a year or two.

The curreent protoype boasts a white interior, which itself has been fitted with yellow backlighting, shelves, a seating area with a fold-out bed, a clothing rack, and even a little storage space. The rear of the tube contains the bathroom, which houses both a shower and a toilet. A wooden floor provides a flat surface for the resident to walk on, and there are also a few electrical outlets scattered throught for people to plug their devices into. The front of the tube is completely covered with glazing, in the center of which the front door has been installed.

Law is confident that his proposal would provide a viable alternative to traditional housing in Hong Kong. By his caluclations, each pod would cost about $15,000 to make, though they could be rented for just $400 a month (a far cry from the city’s average rent price of $2,000 per month for a one-bedroom apartment). Law’s idea also extends beyond just clawing at the existing leftover spaces in the city. He also plans to use the pods to create self-contained communities that provide greater access between each unit.

The post Tubular Apartment Prototype Hopes to Solve Hong Kong’s Housing Crisis first appeared on Dornob.

The competition was organized by Bee Breeders in an effort to solve the “perennial typological challenge of multi-unit housing.” Overcrowding is a real problem in a lot of major cities and directly contributes to housing shortages, inflationary markets, and increased economic disparity. To tackle this problem, contestants had to come up with a way to comfortably fit more people into a limited 100-square-meter space.

Winners Lap Chi Kwong, Alison Von Glinow, and Kevin Lamyuktseung approached the issue by designing a modular housing system in which each unit’s rooms would be placed on top of, rather than next to, each other. The resulting apartments resemble mini-towers and come together to form a single tower block. In a recent interview with CNN, Kwong explained: “In Hong Kong, everyone’s apartment is horizontal — you don’t really experience a vertical spatial quality within (people’s) houses. So we thought about making a tower out of each apartment unit, and then stacking them.”

To accommodate a variety of housing needs, the architects included plans for studio, one-bedroom, and family units in their final design. With a base of just 42 square meters, even the largest of these apartments might seem too small to lead a comfortable life in. However, it’s important to remember that they’ve been vertically arranged and span a whopping four stories each. Plus, they’ve all been clad in pastel pink and orange tiles for a bright and airy look.

Upon announcing “Towers Within a Tower” as the winning project, the competition’s panel of jurors had this to say: “As the unit progresses upward from floor to floor, the building envelope steps to maximize exterior exposure and increase availability of natural light. Organized in a nine square grid, the project takes full advantage of the perimeter, locating the public circulation at the core.”

To eliminate the isolated feel of standard apartment buildings, the designers also thought to work some outdoor common areas into their tower block. Lap Chi Kwong notes, “I lived in Hong Kong for 15 years — you take the elevator, go up, walk through the corridor and go into your apartment. The interaction with neighbors is very limited. (Apartment blocks) aren’t places that you can hang out in. So we wanted to provide public space that people can enjoy — where they can communicate and play around each other.”

Kwong Von Glinow Design Office is no stranger to winning contests. Last year, they won both the New York Affordable Housing Challenge and the 2016 Chicago Prize: On The Edge. For the New York competition, the team designed a series of ”Table Top” apartments (pictured above), which similarly employ a vertical layout to fit more housing into a dense urban area.

The post Towers Within a Tower: The Ultimate Form of Vertical Housing first appeared on Dornob.

This Hong Kong condo has much to recommend it, but its game-inspired walls are perhaps the most playful part of the overall renovation from OneByNine design studio. Alerts, booms, error messages and aliens deck out the walls of the bathroom in otherwise-modest black and white. Sure, these highly customized pop culture tiles might be a pain if the owners go to sell someday, but they’re certainly fun for the condo’s current geeky occupants.

Paying homage to the classic 1978 arcade game by Tomohiro Nishikado, the Space Invader-themed tiles actually make reference to the game in a way that’s relatively subtle (at least, compared to some people’s themed apartments, like the Captain America and Star Wars interior design themes by HAO Design Studio.) Nor would they be particularly hard to replace, if it came down to it. But why would you want to?

The Space Invader tiles that creep outside the boundaries of the bathroom are a little harder to spot, but they’re present, carrying the theme through the rest of the house. Check them out in these images of the kitchen backsplash and tiling above the grill on the back terrace. It’s a fun way to bring some humor and personality into a space that otherwise feels quite chic and grown up.

Aside from the themed tiles, the subdued lines, nice furniture and subtle greenery make for great living and dining spaces influenced by Western Mid-Century Modernism as well as Eastern decorative traditions.

“One By Nine is an architecture studio founded in 2009 by Łukasz Wawrzeńczyk and Konrad Grabczuk. Our portfolio covers architectural projects, commercial and private interior design. We offer broad experience gained in numerous local and international projects, innovative solutions combining aesthetics and functionality, professional consulting, project supervision and most of all passion to create the space in original forms.”

The post Geeky Space Invader Bathroom Tiles first appeared on Dornob.

Shanty towns are nothing new in large cities with little (enforced) regulation, but this is something you have to see to believe: everything from small shacks to multi-story structures, individual buildings to entire villages, all spread out in organic mazes over the rooftops of apartment structures and skyscrapers throughout Hong Kong – a set of smaller communities within the larger surrounding city.

In Portraits from Above: Hong Kongs Informal Rooftop Communities by Rufina Wu and Stefan Canham, a particularly stunning set of rooftop dwelling structures is explored through vivid and though-provoking pictures, drawings, diagrams and the stories of a few families who live their lives in makeshift houses built piece by piece on existing buildings. Who comes to live on rooftops, after all? How? Why?

The penthouse is historically the most prized property of a building, but that was not always the case. Before the introduction of the elevator – an invention that made the tenth floor far more appealing almost overnight – the poorest people were forced to walk the stairs to their high-up homes.

This is an amazing phenomena – a William Gibson-style vision of urban futures unregulated by building codes and allowed to evolve out of the available space and needs of a city’s people.

From the preface written by Rufina Wu und Stefan Canham:

“There is no elevator. We walk up the eight flights of stairs, hesitating on the last one, looking at each other, out of breath: we have no right to be here.”

“The roof is a maze of corridors, narrow passageways between huts built of sheet metal, wood, brick and plastics. There are steps and ladders leading up to a second level of huts. We get lost. Our leaflets in hand, Rufina knocks on a door. There is an exchange in Cantonese. Stefan stands in the background, the foreigner, smiling, not understanding a word. They hear us out, smile back and invite us into their homes.”

“Later, we look down at the building from a higher one across the street. The roof is huge, like a village. There must be thirty or forty households on it. From the outside there is no way of knowing what is inside. Whether they have Internet or not. Whether they have a toilet. And there is no way of knowing their stories…”

The post Rooftop Shanty Towns of Hong Kong first appeared on Dornob.