Spaces and Places @ Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Shatin

“We turn clay to make a vessel; but it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends. We pierce doors and windows to make a house; and it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends."

LaoTze

Space defines the entities of many objects and properties that are known to us. We come to understand the existence of space by identifying the relationships, intervals and distances between things and things, people and things and people and people that exist in the three dimensional world around us. It is the relational distance between things and people that create boundaries is which a space is defined. Architectural spaces are subsets of space intertwine and intentionally created by man to serve a function.

The concept of a place is derived from space. An architectural space is intentionally created to serve a desirable function within its boundaries and the space that is created in the end is influenced by the components of culture in which the space exists within. A culture is understood to be a way of life, a particular system of meanings derived from a set of symbols, and adaptive strategies for survival that differentiates one culture from another. A space that is created for a purpose must consider how it will serve the culture in which the space is formed for. Hence, a place is in essence a space that is catered to serve and reflect a way of life and meanings of a particular culture.

My project is to capture the unique relationship between local Hong Kong architecture and its culture by expressing it through an installation art piece with multi-media. The goal is to promote a better understanding of the place – Hong Kong and its spaces – the architecture.

The piece is to recreate the fundamental spatial order of a traditional Chinese courtyard house demonstrating the sense of solid and void. With the use of basic building materials of ply wood, corrugated metal sheets and bamboo, it aims to bring the audience to a brand new dimension of the “solid and void” environment. This is a chance for one to experience this abstract relationship between spaces and places in physical form.