Hong Kong

Mong Kok

Density and Tenement Housing Typologies

Llywelyn James and Michael Headrick

Research statement

Canton Road, although not a planned architectural space, has become an interesting architec-tural situation in which a road originally constructed for vehicles has been taken over and ‘reclaimed’ for pedestrian and commercial use. Even more interesting, the space has been taken in a very organic and unplanned way; the people in the space are not rich patrons or expats like the many other malls and streets in Mongkok (for example: Langham Place and Ladies’ Market). When one looks down Canton Road, the initial reaction is to ignore the architectural sig-nificance of the site. People bustling past, crowds of vendors, and the intense commerce that happens on Canton Road can be distracting to the cause of this unique case. Another surpris-ing factor is the shear lack of space in Canton Road. Literally, the streets are bulging with the amount of people that are coming in and out and utilizing the space. The road is two blocks down and intersects another road that includes a number of ven-dors as well. The interesting architectural significance of the space is not only the amount of people, but the cause of this situation. Because of the building typologies around the street, mainly tenement housing, people are forced to instead of spending their time indoors-go out onto the streets and utilize the public space. Another factor is the instantiation of these vendor stalls or lockers that are able to compact into very small spaces at night, but then during the day can be exploded into fully functioning market stalls. During the day the space seems to go to sleep with it’s users. The stalls are compacted and the vendors’ goods are all packed away, leaving a seemingly normal vehicle street that is incredibly transformed and strikingly different during the day. I find the space invigorating and at the same time very alien. As a foreign observer, I feel displaced and incredibly at a loss for action in this busy and seemingly choreographed dance of buying, selling and living. Light becomes diffused as it first must pass the line of tenement housing, then pass the vendor’s awnings, and then reach the user at the ground level. In many ways, Canton Road is a condition that points back to certain architectural deci-sions and actions, such as the tenement housing and market stalls. But also, the space has been for the most part forgotten amidst the rapid re-development, and retains that pure and very organic architectural impact of this unplanned and unexpected experience.