This project reconciles the many diverse urban and experiential scales present in Mongkok through the use of rhythm. Rhythm exists throughout Mongkok, in the repetitive architectural elements and tectonics of the built environment. This site, situated between a major thoroughfare and the enclave of marketplaces unique to Hong Kong, is divided into four similarly sized blocks, each facing onto a shared public courtyard in the center. The consistent scale of the blocks sets up a spatial expectation, with each courtyard interjecting different spatial qualities. Each block represents a distinct moment in the procession, subverting the expectation set up by the uniform framing of the path.

The reading of rhythm differs by time and speed – the pedestrian commuting to the MTR station, the elderly who leisurely strolls along the walkway, the taxi racing along the thoroughfare – each experience different manifestations of the site’s rhythms. Rhythm is expressed through different spatial conditions - alternating between compression and expansion, solid and void, framed and unframed moments. These conditions lend themselves to variations in light, which change the experience at different times of the day, year, and the speed at which they are bypassed.

2018

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