Public Space in Hong Kong as Theatre Stage Essay

Synopsis

My thesis will address one of the most critical problems of Hong Kong public spaces – that of density infiltration to the point of becoming a risk to human needs for real or psychological space for sustenance. Public spaces constitute the networks of a city and can be viewed to also be theatrical in that they are like stages, showcasing local lifestyles (Gehl, J, p. 75). Public spaces together with those who use them are expressions of the combined identity of a city. Hong Kong, being such a high-density urban city, lacks high-quality public outdoor spaces and those areas which can merely accommodate a minimum level of social activities (Specter, p. 63).

As a result of rapid growth and urbanisation, our public open spaces and pedestrian streets can no longer meet people’s needs. It has also been discovered that city life has gradually moved into that of indoor private shopping malls. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to find the possibility of making use of the theatrical technique to adjust and exploit the sense of space and the usability of public space.

This thesis will be an experimental program to demonstrate the incorporation of the stage effects together with architectural designs. It is hoped that the creation of theatrical public space within our society will strengthen the relations between our communities to cope with the dramatic changes of our culture in order to enhance the citizens’ enjoyment of outdoor areas (Jerold, p. 122).

Prologue

Expression

Public

• Owned by a national or local government body
• Owned by ‘public’ body (non-profitable organisation) and held in trust for the public
• Owned by a private individual or organisation but made available for public use

Public Space

• According to the HK Planning Department, it should be a legislative land use zone for the provision of open space and recreation facilities meant for the enjoyment of the general public.
• It should be open and accessible to all citizens, regardless of gender, ethnicity or age. No fees or paid tickets should be charged for entry
• It should be an outdoor area. People in the area should be able to look at the open sky, instead of the ceiling.
• The public should be able to access it easily and should have appropriate facilities in it.

Theatre

• The word is derived from the Ancient Greek meaning, “the seeing place”.
• It is a place where one or more persons, isolated in time and/or space, can present themselves to someone else or others.
• It is also a result of a human tendency for storytelling

Theatre Stage

• A selected space for the performance of theatrical productions.
• A space for actors or performers to express themselves and a central point for the members of the audience.
• Theatre has in the course of time been able to take on many forms, as well as the utilisation of speech, gesture, music, dance, and spectacle. All this is often done through the combination of other performing arts, as well as the visual arts, into a single artistic form.

Background

My thesis will concentrate on the space in between buildings, which hold the urban lives in Hong Kong, and are the means to experiencing the city. The dense population and limited land have led to less availability of space hence forcing construction of buildings to increase in height in order to maximise the footprint and they are also set very closely together (Jerold, p. 121). Therefore, those modern urban lives In Hong Kong have ended up being blown up by the rapid societal changes in the last decade. Lands Department lists the land of public space in HK as an area intended for relaxation and recreation (Clare, p. 16). But the public spaces are becoming more and more difficult to find. Outdoor urban life has moved into an indoor private mall. Private sectors intend to take the role of being a guide to the new way of urban life through commercial products and entertainment (Janathan, p. 39).

In recent years, there have been numerous storey shops as well as multifunctional shopping malls which have been constructed. Most of them are similar, having the same brand name of shops and the same layout with a large entrance hall thus losing the local unique identity (Angela, p. 52). Some of them create a practical reality of outdoor space but just maintain a visual relationship that does not show the interaction with the urban structure. And to make matters worse, the local architecture is formulating itself into urban magnets as utilisation bases without taking into account the needs of the community and public interaction (Bridget, p. 26). So, how does one balance the activities between indoor and outdoor?

Architecture can influence the promise for a meeting, seeing and hearing. The life between buildings is not merely that of pedestrian traffic, recreational or social activities. Life between buildings comprises the entire scale of activities, which comes together to make communal spaces in cities and residential areas more meaningful and attractive (Gehl, J, p. 75). If those activities between buildings are missing, the form of contact also disappears, leaving people either alone or with others on a relatively demanding and exacting level. As a result, many megastructures flourishing in new urban developments are crowding out the traditional streetscape (Dimitris, p. 33).

Hypothesis

I am looking for the likelihood of a new transformation of the urban condition in Hong Kong by utilising theatrical techniques. It aims to adapt to the changes of urban life in order to maximise the sense of space. This thesis will look at the flexibilities of our urban space and its relationship with our city, our life, our time as well as our culture which celebrates the city as being a user-friendly, people-oriented living environment (Emily, p. 12).

I am interested in examining the importance of the relationship between the theatrical arts and the urban spaces interfaces as related to architecture so as to enhance the use of social space which brings the city’s inhabitants together for pleasure (Aldo, p. 15). Moreover, programming, planning, design and management based on human needs will be essential to the future development of the social connection between architecture and public space. This becomes the basis for developing my thesis concept and design factors.

Theatre and urban space

Shakespeare suggested that the whole world is a state where both men and women are just but players/performers (Koen, p. 42).

Urban Life is a form of performance in every society, no matter how complex or how simple the action may be. These performances are evident in our culture, life in general and the image of our city. All the citizens residing in the city are actors. Each and every scenario consists of different movements and different activities on the street (Ray, p. 11). There is a close relationship between city spaces and theatre stages. A relatively new trend used by architects of modern city space is to create with diverse design themes. They work from an overall strategy to stimulate the sense on many levels hence we are acting as we live our lives every moment. The main difference is that theatre is used to create a virtual space meant to stimulate the audience by some original visual impact (Gehl, G, p. 67). In comparison, we are living in a realistic space of society.

By considering the existing components of the urban space and the various theatrical techniques, my thesis intends to combine them together to re-vitalise the urban dense area. A new city stage brings together the theatre and urban space to sustain the original character of outdoor city life (Bridget, p. 32).

Evolution of theatre stage

As earlier mentioned, it is important to research the history of theatre in order to get the general idea of stage set techniques. In the first part of the thesis, I took a brief look at the evolution of theatre.

There are four types of stages that vary as to the usage and how the audience relates to them. These stages are the proscenium stage, thrust stages, theatre in the round stages and created and found stages (Ray, p. 13).

Proscenium Stage

The most common form found in the West is the proscenium stage. In this type of stage, the audience is located on one side of the stage with the remaining sides hidden (Seville, p. 31). The hidden sides are used by the performers and technicians.

Thrust Stages

Thrust stages may be similar to proscenium stages but different in that they have a platform or performance area that extends into the audience space so that the audience is located on three sides (Janathan, p. 43).

Theatre in the Round

In this type of stage, the audience is located on all four sides of the stage.

Create and Found Stage

The fourth type of stage incorporates created and found stages that may be constructed specifically for a performance or may involve a space that is adapted as a stage.

Here is a brief historical background of the theatre. Due to the time frame, I have divided them into a different presentative period of styles and the events of Western and Eastern style theatre.

After the observation of the theatre evolution, the first permanent theatre was built in Roman in 55BC (Clare, p. 22). This was an outdoor fix arena theatre that could hold an audience of up to twenty thousand. In the 14^th to 15^th century, there emerged the Renaissance period. Up to the 15^th century, the mannerism period, the Olympic Theatre was constructed by Andrea Palladio which was an indoor theatre but also served as a fixed theatre with a decorative surface (Aldo, p. 24). After a few productions, this theatre was virtually abandoned.

With the passage of time, in the baroque period around the 17^th Century, the people came to understand the importance of the flexibility of the theatre. In order to break through the limitation of the space, they applied the free setting of theatre to allow changing of the stage for more flexibility (Bridget, p. 34). For instance, they used the curtain as a cyclorama, which would be changed to any backdrop of drama. Moreover, at the end of the 17^th century, about the lighting effect, there was the first recorded use of electric lighting on stage in Paris Opera (Gehl, G, p. 69). After the Rococo Period in the 18^th Century, the Contemporary style of art came to be up to the present day.

In the past, the theatres were mainly designed for the rich people to enjoy the show, hence the theatres appearing very grand, decorative, exaggerated, and classical as well as having elaborated details.

Nowadays, we can see that there is a trend that is intended to create a virtual reality through the application of different creative and innovative techniques in order to stimulate people through the human sense and achieve a closer interaction between actors and audiences (Koen, p. 44). I will take up this challenge to maximise of use of urban space by using theatrical skills to adapt to the change of urban space. I will also maximise the sense of space and blur the separation between indoor and outdoor.

The transition of theatre technique

After a brief look at the history of theatre, it is necessary to look for the means to utilise those techniques in architecture. I will examine the use of those innovative theatrical methods to show how they can be effectively translated into design. I will try to test out the transition from theatrical techniques and convert it into architectural skills.

I will divide and explore them into two categories: vision illusion and transformation techniques.

Visual effect

In vision illusion effects, people in the theatre tend to be taken out of the reality of that space. They are re-transported into another world through the creation of a virtual reality space to stimulate them using their human senses that are through the senses of feeling, hearing, sight, smell and touch (Gehl, J, p. 79). Therefore, I intend to learn from these kinds of skills and apply them to my design to achieve a space that stimulates the human spirit and sensitivity in order to offer a new opportunity for the experience within the urban space.

I will use some references and produce some theoretical images to demonstrate the use of the theatrical techniques architecturally and examine the potential of the different settings of the scenario.

For instance, taking one of Kafka’s works, the stage version of metamorphosis in the theatre, creates an angle of bending split level set, which tends to reverse and swap our normal human perception (Aldo, p. 43). It provides audiences with a new visual impact and the experience of being in a weird theatre. So, I will create some images which incorporate real and virtual scenarios as well as playing objects having different angles and scales in order to maximize the illusion of green and space.

These renderings show how to maximize the depth of space by using the reflective material on both sides (Bridget, p. 38). I will also test out the multi-reflection method to repeat the target images into different visual positions. Moreover, two of these images are demonstrating the fusion of reality with virtual images as well as control of the atmosphere.

Transformation Techniques

Concerning the flexibility of the transformation stage, every scene transformation at the theatre are achieved by a number of methods, ranging from traditional manpower to the mechanical system (Asensio, p. 99). Those techniques can accommodate a number of different settings of arrangements. For example, they allow large pieces of objects to rise out of the stage and then suddenly disappear from view. What is thus presented on stage hides selectively all the machinery that makes the action take place.

In another instance, the stage could transform from being a romantic garden into being the interior of a palace within a few seconds. The entire space becomes a frame-selected area that only allows the audiences to see a specific action, hiding all the machinery and technology- like the ropes and pulleys. These technologies affect the content of the drama story and the performed pieces (Dimitris, p. 37). In the recent past, the trend and movement of the theatre have achieved a closer interaction between the actors and the audiences hence reducing the size of the theatre and the number of audiences. More creative and innovative techniques have also been used, for instance, movable partitions, rotation of stage, multimedia projection and modular theatre skill and so on (Gehl, G, p. 71). All these techniques are combined with the action of the performers to enrich the visual experience of the audience.

I have hereby produced a conceptual model to demonstrate flexible techniques of stage and they include rotation, elevation, sliding and extrusion. This will help demonstrate how this model merges the in and out after the transformation.

Site investigation

Mong Kok

Concerning the proposed location, I am going to examine the design in one of the busiest public areas in Mong Kok where vehicle access is only allowed during specific periods. There is a crowd of people every day which provides an opportunity and challenge for me to redesign a new streetscape for the people. I am going to explore the natural spatial character of our urban space and its relationship with programmes, planning, design and management based on the people’s needs that celebrate the city as a user-friendly, people-oriented living environment.

This large open public space has grown into the main area for selling electronics products (Emily, p. 21). One can find branches of all the consumer electronics chain stores here. In addition, some do not just have one, or two chain stores. They can have up to 5 stores here and they all sell similar goods! The entire area is surrounded by shopping malls and lots of advertising broad and multi-media screens. There is also the ultimate competition arena for neon signage. This is the street culture in HK.

In the area of human activities, there is a wide range of activities that take place there, particularly the people who are used to expressing their ideas freely through drama, political discussion, and musical performance on the street (Janathan, p. 43). It is a unique area of Hong Kong that reflects our local culture and seems like a small community in HK. Therefore, my design parameter will mainly focus on the side street to retain the unique characteristic of Sai Yeung Choi Street and Nathan Road in respect to this local commercial culture.

I have created a list of a conceptual model to show the site existing condition for analysis:

1. I have offset a range of virtual images out of the building skin with the aim of hiding the real separation between indoor and outdoor. Between the skins, the circulation will bring them to experience real and virtual space with different visual illusion methods.
2. In this part, I show some of the internal floor plans of the adjacent buildings and shopping malls. This indicates the relationship of circulation between inside and outside. Due to the lack of green open space nearby, I will use the public area in order to create an urban streetscape here to enhance the public enjoyment of the interface in between buildings.
3. I will also cut two sections on both sides of the street. There are many storey activities for the public to enjoy, such as cinema, shopping mall and game center etc. I have classified those shops into different categories.
4. From the site model, the red strings tend to show the connections between related shops which are in the same categories from these sections. Some small fragment of movable images sticks on them which is used to represent the activities and community movement of the street. The outer parts show some other relationships with the surroundings, for example, an upstairs café, computer centre and MTR Station.
5. Here I also show some research for the climate data that includes noise pollution table, the temperature increasing data, temperature different figure and the relationship between the temperature and humidity, as well as the air pollution graph in a different area.
6. I will analyse the human activities in the open space from day to night by observation. I have also used a table to illustrate the relationship between age group, the number of people, their nationality, and activities in the open area in relation to the different periods of time.

Design Program

In the street, one can observe different human activities and urban life-changing from day to night. So, I intend to design a space that can be transformed in order to create a different spatial quality to fulfil human needs in the future. Being similar to the stage setting of theatre, it can be changed flexibly by the stage set techniques for a different scenario, facilitating the individual from physically into mentally (Seville, p. 34).

It concerns the urban architecture interface with open space to enhance the usability of social space which connects the city’s inhabitants together for pleasure. I am trying to explore the visual impact as well as the transformation of community space between architecture and activities.

In my design concept, I try to create a public interface area in between buildings. It is a transformable urban zone within the public area. This zone has consisted of a system of settings that utilises a wide range of theatrical techniques, just like a theatre in the city (Koen, p. 47). Within this public interface area, I offer a new perspective of the city and create a parallel screen of passage between the art and architecture. After the observation and investigation of the specific urban activities, I divided the system into three themes from day to night. This system is meant to act as an urban clock, reflecting and sustaining the main urban life of Mong Kok.

Daytime

During the daytime, public activities include morning exercises, rush to work, delivery of goods and lunch (Janathan, p. 52).

I intend to free up the ground level by the transformable platforms to separate different functions occurring in the same period. Within this public interface area, I offer a mixed reality of public space by creating a virtual and real foliage screen of passage between the art and architecture.

Night-time

At night, the public activities include street performances, shopping, dinner as well as hanging around (Emily, p. 27).

In this period, the streets experience a flow of crowds of people. I intend to turn the adjacent buildings inside-out and add the linkage of upper parts of both sides of the street in order to lead the people from the ground floor to the upper level. This is where the performance will take place, the interaction of ideas on the different transformable platforms will occur bringing the people travelling in and out, up and down. It enriches the linkage of storey shops and shopping malls (Asensio, p. 115).

Mid-night

During this period of time, the public activities mainly include much drinking and street theatre (Clare, p. 39).

Those transformable platforms will sink down to the basement. This will in turn create a connection with the public penetrating into the pub and some drinking areas. The linkage platforms will bring people to the nightclub at different levels to extend the commercial working hours. During this period of time, the entire public space will be transformed into a public outdoor theatre (Carment, p. 82).

On the other hand, concerning the interior space, I will try to integrate real and virtual scenarios with theatrical illusion skills while toying with different natural materials to create a mixed reality space to achieve a new perspective and travel experience in terms of senses in urban space.

For instance, the majority of the people usually pass through the exit tunnel from the MTR station (Specter, p. 65). Here I will show how I maximise the space with reflection, multi-media screen and natural material.

Going back to my thesis topic, it aims to enhance public enjoyment in the public. I have integrated the theatrical techniques with the architecture as the base of my design, in order to blur the separation between indoor and outdoor as well as maximise the usability space physically and visually. By applying the new creative techniques, I intend to add new dimensions to our city without evacuating existing communities and urban activities. I also aim at retaining and bringing the people’s activities back to the outdoor space, through the new travel experience in terms of senses and a higher quality of living within the streets (Carment, p. 84).

Special Study

Introduction

My thesis will focus on outdoor urban space in Hong Kong, as earlier mentioned. Particularly in Hong Kong, most of the public activities have been moved into indoor space in recent years. Weather is also one of the reasons why this is so. The global warming and the urbanisation effect push the people in Hong Kong to get involved in indoor shopping and seldom use the outdoor space (Aldo, p. 39). As the effect of global warming grows immensely, it is foreseeable that the temperature will rise significantly in the near future. With the combined effect of the urbanisation, the climate tends to be different in the outdoor environment like the open space in the city and it should be considered and investigated upon in order to find out the best design to achieve good or excellent human comfort for our citizens (Asensio, p. 117).

On the other hand, there is a lack of green areas in the urban spaces of Hong Kong. I conducted research for the proportion of the green area in some main districts namely Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, Central and Wan Chai. There is only 3 to 5 % of green space in our urban areas (Snow, p. 114). Moreover, most of the pocket gardens are surrounded by buildings and experience pollution. So, I decided to create a virtual environment of nature within a small open area.

Intention

The theme of my Special Study is cosmetics. I am trying to apply a new creative technique method to redesign a pocket garden. It aims to add a small part of nature into an urban space for people to be able to enjoy that space in its truest form through the refreshment of human senses, that is, through emotion, smell, sound, sight, touch as well as spiritual. This also means representing the virtual environment of nature. I will use the technique of theatre stage design method in response to our urban cultural context. Hopefully, it can demonstrate how to improve the usability and enjoyment of the space for people to use it.

On the choice of the theatre stage design, it is so because those stage design techniques can bring and lead the audience into another world by creating a different virtual reality space and view in relation to the need for drama. It breaks through the constraint of indoor space (Jerold, p. 129). It creates a variety of situations on the stage. I intend to learn from these kinds of skills and apply to my design to achieve a space that stimulates the human spirit and sensitivity in order to offer a new opportunity for the experience within the urban streetscape.

Practically, the stage consists of different parts, namely:

• The stage where the actors step on
• The side curtain, which is also referred to as Legs,
• Cyclorama which is the curtain at the top.
• The atmosphere is also an important part when creating the spatial quality.

I intend to discuss them individually, to show how I apply these stage techniques into the open space.

First, let us talk about the cyclorama. It reveals what we can observe when we look up. In HK, the sun angle is high and the open spaces are surrounded by buildings (David, p. 123). Hence, I will apply the use of canopy trees in my design and will use the common species of these trees found in HK which are Delonix Regia (Flame of the forest) and Jacaranda Acutifolia. They grow in an umbrella-shaped form, with a spreading crown and drop canopy. Such an arrangement provides shade from sunlight as well as reduces the temperature.

Here one can observe how the canopy trees cover the site and, in the process, providing a shaded area (Asensio, p. 113). In some areas, one will observe the bottom of the slab. To hide the slab, I intend to use the climber plant to grow under the slab, like vine and ivy, I will provide a framework for those ivies to control the growth area for them.

On both sides of the curtain, also referred to as the legs, one will be able to observe the side curtain standing layer by layer in the theatre. It purposes to prevent the audience from seeing the backstage of the theatre (Bridget, p. 57). To apply the site and to avoid the pollution from the shops as well as the unfriendly environment, I will add the layering of water curtain and bamboo at the site to act as a filter to keep away from all pollution of noise and smell. The layer of the screen can enlarge and widen the spatial quality with optical illusion.

Concerning the stage level, the arrangement of the different levels and steps of platforms represent the levelling of focus from the audiences and fulfill the need for a theatrical story (David, p. 131). And in a level different from my design, some spaces are more enclosed while others are more open. This provides a level of privacy and different activities for the users. On the issue of material, I will apply the teak solid timber deck surface. Most of the areas are shaded under the canopy trees, and I will use the more shade-tolerant species in the grass mixture. Hopefully, it can continue being green during much of the season.

In addition, on the creation of the atmosphere of the stage, I intend to produce a video to show the use of different artificial lights, sound effects, reflection and projection, brightness and colour. This combination of things can control the mood, atmosphere and spirit of the space. From the video, the control of sound, tree movement and shadows as well as mist from the water, will all affect the human senses that are hearing, smell, sight and touch (Gehl, G, p. 72). I intend to create a virtual reality of nature to provide a relaxing space in which to enjoy the outdoor space and in the end allow individuals to escape from the hectic urban life.

Department of Architecture

Work Cited

Publications

1. Aldo, Aymonino. Contemporary Public space: Un-volumetric Architecture. Milan: Skira. 2006.
2. Angela, M. Y. Lin. Problematising Identity. New York; London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2008.
3. Asensio, C. Redesigning city squares and Plazas. Arco for Hearst Books International. New York, NY. 1997.
4. Bridget, V. Urban Landscape Architecture. Gloucester, Mass: Pockport. 2006.
5. Carment, Hass-Klau. Streets as living space. London: Landor. 1999.
6. Clare, Vickers. Culture Smart! Hong Kong. Portland, Or.: Graphic Arts Book. 2005.
7. D. K., Specter. Urban spaces. Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society. 1974.
8. David, J. Smiley. Sprawl and public space: Redressing the mall. Washington D.C.: National Endowment for the Arts. 2002.
9. Dimitris, Kottas. Urban spaces: Squares and Plazas. Barcelona: Links. 2007.
10. Emily, L. Y. Chan. Hong Kong Life and Culture. Hong Kong: Red Publish. 2006.
11. Gehl, Gemzoe. New city life. Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press. 2006.
12. Gehl, Jan. Life between buildings: Using public space. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. 1987.
13. Janathan, Thomso. Hong Kong: Culture and Creativity 香港: 文化與創意. Xianggang: Xianggang vi shu fa zhan ju. 2006.
14. Jerold, S. Kayden. Privately owned public space: The New York City. New York: John Wiley. 2000.
15. Koen, Steemers. Environmental diversity in Architecture. London; New York: Spon Press. 2004.
16. Ray, Gindroz. The Urban Design Handbook: Techniques working methods. New York; London: Norton. 2003.
17. Seville, Spain. Architecture and urban space. International PLEA Organisation. Kluwer Academic Publishers. 1991.
18. Snow, D. Bruce. Written Cantonese and the Culture of Hong Kong. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Microfilms International. 1991.

Video Recording

1. ATV29 Y08 DVD. Public Space? (Hong Kong): ATV. 2008.
2. TVB16 Y08. Cultivating Culture (Hong Kong): Television Broadcasts Ltd. 2008.

Websites

1. National theatre.
2. Planning Department.
3. Space and Culture. Web.
4. Wikipedia. Web.

Appendix

1. Table of Evolution of Theatre
2. Table of Transition of Theatre Technique