West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

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OMA's design for West Kowloon Kowloon Cultural District:
A Project for a New Dimension.

Contents:

1. Introduction by Rem Koolhaas
2. Description of the Design
3. The Ingredients of the Master Plan
4. The Cultural Master Plan
5. Art in the East: M+
6. Performance in the West: Theatre Village
7. Market in the Middle: Middle Village
8. Park of the New Horizon
9. Mega Performance Venue
10. Sustainability
11. Connectivity and Accessibility

1. Introduction by Rem Koolhaas
   
   In narrow alleys, amidst towering blocks, squeezed by brutal infrastructure, in accommodations that range from the practically uninhabitable to the hyper-luxurious, and in spite of ubiquitous repairs, interdictions, and deviations, Hong Kong's irrepressible urban life is above all spontaneous. Although Hong Kong is a driving force in globalisation, it has not succumbed to globalisation's bland seductions. (Is the Cantonese language in itself an insurance policy against the progressive loss of character?) It is the city's authenticity that attracts most visitors, not its similarity to other contemporary capitals. In my time in Hong Kong I have witnessed the emergence of new generations staking a claim in the city, offering the contribution of a highly developed sensibility that combines political awareness, cultural versatility, and an ability to shuttle effortlessly between Hong Kong and global culture. It is this unique Hong Kong sensibility that provided for us both ideas and inspiration. The West Kowloon Cultural District confronts us with the task of turning an overwhelming governmental ambition - with a bewildering diversity of stakeholders and an incredible richness of program - into a proposal that is fun and serious, planned and spontaneous, large and intimate, Chinese and international, iconic and practical, understandable yet surprising. The site itself is ideally placed to offer Hong Kong both density and release: there is urban pressure to the north and the east, a metropolitan skyline to the south, but also the sense of unlimited possibility granted by the sea in front of it; a mountain range to the north; islands, the sunset, and more sea to the west. We have tried to make the district a microcosm of the city in its combination of density and nature, discovering, to our own surprise, that we could realize the vast program and still preserve wide swaths of open space. An unsolicited part of our project is a Cultural Masterplan: a collaboration with experts from the cultural and financial worlds, based on a debriefing of Hong Kong's stakeholders. This cultural masterplan works in tandem with the physical plan, each informing and empowering the other. It tries to establish a new zone of creativity, interplay, and production on the basis of an existing infrastructure that, I can already testify, makes a mockery of the notion that Hong Kong has "no culture".
   
   Rem Koolhaas [ Return to top ]
2. Description of the Design
   
   Situated in a lush park with vast open spaces offering multiple freedoms in the heart of HK, OMA creates an authentic environment of three "village" communities - a theatre village in the West, the M+ museum connecting directly to Kowloon's streets, and the middle village closely tied to Elements with two street markets, a waterfront promenade, Cantonese opera and a film theatre. Taking Hong Kong's vibrant street life as its point of departure, OMA's plan mixes fun and seriousness, tradition and experiment to add a new (cultural) dimension that is Cantonese and cosmopolitan at the same time to the city. [ Return to top ]
3. The Ingredients of the Master Plan
   
   
   1. The Village
      
      A village is a single organism, consisting of many intimately interlocking parts that work in unison. A village has always been the most sustainable form of human coexistence: it has survived not through new technology or high tech materials, but through the interaction of population and scale, the economy of communication, ease of adjustment, and contact with the nature that surrounds it. The village enables us to absorb the almost overwhelming scale of West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD)'s ambition into manageable portions that resist delusions of grandeur and neutralise the threat of an alienating confrontation between the "old" and "new" Kowloon.
   2. Agricultural patterns
      
      In imagining a landscape for the district, we draw from tropical agriculture, not only as a repertoire of species and cultivation methods, but as a mechanism for organizing communal action. The fish pond - not unlike the Mai Po wetlands - and the rice fields surrounding Hong Kong, like the village, evokes old, essential patterns, seemed to us an apt metaphor on which to found a new territory. Implying both sacrifice and bounty, they provide not just an aesthetic but a philosophy, a system of collective commitment and shared nourishment that goes to the heart of our plan. They offer us a delicate, not-quite rectangular harlequin pattern that weaves the district together.
   3. Streetscapes
      
      A single thematic spine - street life - connects the three villages; it links people, amateurs and professionals, and all forms of highbrow and popular culture. This streetscape can be a free space where people think, paint, rehearse, sew, make sets, try out models, make mistakes, fail, and recover - all elements that are as crucial to creative life as the formal spaces of performance and display. This transparency in the creative process is a strategy to enlist the public and to eventually help to construct a new creative community. In the same vein, the commercial potential of the creative industry will be present too, to connect the district explicitly to Hong Kong's legendary financial acumen.
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4. The Cultural Master Plan
   
   How to respond to the views of Hong Kong's public and its government? Obedience? Literalness? OMA participated actively in stage one of the WKCD Public Engagement process. Sensing that many issues went beyond architecture, we then felt a responsibility to engage Hong Kong more directly. After moving to the city, we assembled a team of urban planners, researchers and architects - derived from Hong Kong, China, and around the world; assisted by expert cultural, financial, and political advisors - to help us further understand local conditions. We contribute these suggestions in a Cultural Masterplan: a roadmap that describes the steps needed before, during, and after the district's physical realization. It is a parallel construction effort to establish a creative milieu that can fully "inhabit" the District and make it come alive. The Cultural Masterplan calls for:
   
   
   1. Establishing a "Special Cultural Zone"
      
      Like China's Special Economic Zones, this designation would imply special economic regulations, tax regimes, and judicial environments - all to promote the development of new culture. It could also prepare the ground for a truce between the government, the art world, the private sector, and the public: the "Special Cultural Zone" would be an arena for new partnerships where each party might learn to relax, and even enjoy each other, and where new aspects of Public-Private partnership can develop.
   2. Developing a Universal Theatre
      
      (Yes), the classical theatre is relevant, but (no), it does not have to be predictable. In our version, it is a plane that defines, in a single fluid movement, the vestibule lobby, parterre ceiling and balcony of the auditorium. As a single, interlocking unit, the Universal Theatre can accommodate performances in multiple disciplines - music, drama, dance, experimental theatre, street theatre - while at the same time creating opportunities to combine these forms into interactive, hybrid performances.
   3. Instituting a core of Cantonese culture
      
      If the Cantonese language is a hedge against the homogenization of Global Culture, the increasing age of the average Cantonese opera patron is a concern. The Cultural Masterplan proposes extra emphasis on the language - not unlike how the French have protected theirs - especially by presenting it to the younger generation through its position on the water, as part of the Middle Village and by encouraging experiments to bring Cantonese opera into the future.
   4. Building links to the Pearl River
      
      Delta The continuous improvement of Hong Kong- China connections and the increasing freedom of movement within the PRD offer a huge "gift": a constituency of over 55 million people with rapidly developing new tastes and expectations. The District needs to play a key role in these connections by extending its microcredit generosity to the Delta, inviting artists-in-residence, and providing working spaces, exposure, and mediation.
   5. Maximising M+
      
      Given Hong Kong's history of movie-making, its existing moving image collections, its virtuosity in digital culture, and its passion for gaming, we propose to include these elements in M+. If all these forms of moving image could be integrated, and their production facilities added to the arts and the theatre, a situation of mutual reinforcement could emerge similar to the creative symbiosis of Los Angeles, with its effortless integration of high and popular culture.
   6. Connecting to Kowloon
      
      In the heart of Paris, the Centre Pompidou introduced new cultural opportunities while leaving the old city intact. In the same way, the vitality of Kowloon is the lifeblood of WKCD. Without this lifeline, the District would remain anaemic, whatever its size or beauty. Particularly for the attraction of tourists to the District, it is crucial that the current frantic atmosphere of trading in Kowloon is not replaced by the plastic perfection of contemporary public space. We propose to apply for World Heritage status for parts of Kowloon. At the same time, we want to enliven the existing streetscape with cultural outposts of WKCD - galleries, studios, workshops, theatre rehearsal spaces - so that Kowloon and WKCD will eventually merge into a single, hyper-diverse community.
   7. Redistributing the Programme
      
      We introduce production facilities for both performing and visual arts, educational facilities, a film premiere theatre, archives and libraries as part of the district. By systematically revealing the "back of house", the district can function as an educational facility, where the public is not only invited as a (passive) audience, but also encouraged to explore the production aspects, creating enthusiasm for employment in the arts.
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5. Art in the East: M+
   
   Having had the courage to avoid the Museum Franchise model, M+ has the opportunity to implement the most creative thinking culture of the current moment. The M+ building is interpreted as a barcode with overlapping bands of international and local culture and contemporary art with design, film and visual arts - creating an interface, exposure and connections between them. By embedding M+ in a larger Visual Arts Factory, we suggest moving beyond the traditional division of display, collection, and conservation: research, production, and educational dimensions will be integrated and visible throughout M+. To emphasize literal imbrications, additional functions of M+ and the Visual Arts Factory– offices, a school, studios, a hotel, housing, and artist galleries - are part of the same structure. The Visual Arts Factory has outposts throughout WKCD and Kowloon itself, assisting in the integration of the neighbourhoods.
   
   
   1. Connection to Kowloon
      
      M+ directly links to the neighbourhood with pedestrian sky-bridges into Jordan and to Temple Street. The museum's popular culture band also spans across Canton Road and connects to an outpost of the museum in the Victoria Towers.
   2. Museum+
      
      Each band has its own organization and architecture matching the medium on display; the popular culture band will fast-paced, whereas the visual art band will contain a more intimate sequence of pristine spaces.
   3. Visual Arts Factory
      
      M+ offers subsidised spaces for artists to work; brining production into the museum and allowing artists to work in the centre of the city.
   4. Street
      
      The popular culture band of M+ takes the shape of a street connecting WKCD with the Victoria Tower
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6. Performance in the West: Theatre Village
   
   The Universal Theatre can accommodate all possible scales and types of performing arts in a single structure including a Grand Theatre, a Concert Hall, a Chamber Music Hall, Street Theatre and an experimental Black Box Theatre. The individual auditoriums emerge from an urban balcony that offers spectacular views over the park, the sea, and Hong Kong Island. Shared lobbies are scattered over the deck, and open to the public with activity day and night. All technical, logistical production and rehearsal spaces are shared and exposed on the ground floor, allowing the public to engage with the behind-the-scenes creative processes of the performing arts. The Theatre Village is a place where production and rehearsal mixes with training in dance, music and acting. There are shops that specialize in music and musical instruments, and there are restaurants and cafés where the public mix with the professionals.
   
   
   1. Grand Theatre
      
      The public balcony of the Theatre Village curls into the shape of an auditorium for 2,200 people.
   2. Concert Hall
      
      2,000 seats at the heart of the Universal Theatre.
   3. Swimming Pool
      
      Rock garden seaside swimming.
   4. Street Theatre
      
      A street equipped to be a theatre for experimental productions that can seat 800 people.
   5. Waterfront
      
      The waterfront location for the Theatre Village creates an intimate natural atmosphere next to the Victoria Harbour in the west.
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7. Market in the Middle: Middle Village
   
   The Middle Village connects east to west and brings Hong Kong's vibrant city life directly to the waterfront. As a continuation of Kowloon's street markets, the Middle Village contains small-scale entertainment, local shops, restaurants, street markets, and galleries. On either side, the Middle Village is marked by venues that accommodate Cantonese performance in both traditional and modern forms: a Xiqu Centre to the west, and a premiere movie theatre to the east where Hong Kong's movie stars walk the red carpet.
   
   
   1. Xiqu Theatre
      
      The Xiqu Theatre for Cantonese opera connects its 1,400-seat theatre to an adjacent 400-seat theatre, radically changing the setting of the opera and creating opportunities for innovative performances. The community hall on the roof has a magnificent view over the waterfront and the district.
   2. Austin Road
      
      Footbridges connect the Elements to the Middle Village.
   3. Street Market
      
      Hong Kong's street culture is spontaneous and free, young and old, traditional and new.
   4. Water Taxi
      
      A water taxi connects the Xiqu centre directly with Star Ferry Piers.
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8. Park of the New Horizon
   
   The park offers, above all, a space liberated from the commercial, and also from the wealth of interdictions that inhibit Hong Kong's open space. By connecting to Kowloon Park, WKCD's Park of the New Horizon will be the largest park of the city. Inspired by Hong Kong rice fields and fishponds, the park features native vegetation into fields connected by paths for pedestrians and cyclists. Meadows, forest gardens, orchards, ponds and even communal urban farming - all connected by paths for pedestrians and cyclists. The park's biodiversity reflects the diverse mix of people in Hong Kong and offers activities for everyone.
   
   
   1. Connection to Kowloon Park
      
      A planted green bridge extends to Kowloon Park, making it an outpost of WKCD and an integral part of the landscape, creating the largest urban park in the city.
   2. Waterfront Promenade
      
      Strolling, jogging, roller-skating and cycling along the shore, enjoying the view over Hong Kong Island.
   3. Community Farms
      
      Communal public gardens for small scale production of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers.
   4. Meadow
      
      Strolling in the open space of the meadow fields.
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9. Mega Performance Venue
   
   The Mega Performance Venue is an open-air amphitheatre based on the ancient Greek and Roman model. It seats 15,000 people for large scale entertainment ranging from pop concerts to New Year's celebrations with views over Hong Kong Island as its natural backdrop. Using the space on top of the tunnel entrance, the Mega Performance Venue functions as an easily accessible, stand-alone facility with minimal interference to the villages and the surrounding landscape. [ Return to top ]
10. Sustainability
    
    With more than two thirds of Hong Kong citizens naming climate change and pollution as their major concern for the future, we want the district to be a new beacon of ecological awareness in Hong Kong. WKCD offers a unique opportunity for an integrated approach to sustainability. Because no matter how energy conscious buildings are on their own, their performance remains meaningless as long as their context continues to be defined by incoherence, remoteness and excess travel distances.
    
    We want to achieve this by:
    
    Expanding collaborative research efforts - including those by Hong Kong University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Hong Kong Observatory - with WKCD as a real-time laboratory for new approaches
    
    Supporting long-term upfront investment in sustainability, leading to cheaper buildings through their life-time cycle.
    
    Using the park as a vast ecological area featuring urban agriculture fed by a rain and storm water retention area to purify grey water.
    
    Zero Energy: compact and overlapping use of space ensures minimal traffic, while leaving room for future changes. Optimising the layouts of the villages to make full use of their natural orientation: using shade and sea breeze as part of their climate control, and exploiting the linear nature of the site for one central spine carrying energy, water, information, mobility, waste and electricity.
    
    Zero Emission: generating renewable energy within the district, using the latest photo voltaic technology, and encouraging wind and geothermal energy initiatives. Prioritisation of public transport and bicycles, rickshaws, and rental electric scooters.
    
    Zero Waste: encourage recycling of buildings: every part of the building should be easy to dismantle and designed for reuse. [ Return to top ]
11. Connectivity and Accessibility
    
    To keep WKCD an open space a seamless web of largely invisible infrastructure supports the urban life on the surface with a minimum of interference: on either side of the Express Rail Link (XRL) station, interconnected underground parking garages support the three villages. This system is connected to Kowloon and Austin Stations and by bridges to Union Square and Elements; and in the east, to the streets and alleys of Kowloon (all shown footbridges in the diagrams are part of the proposal). Although the plan encourages strolling, for visitors in a rush it also delivers efficiency: there is no area within the district that cannot be reached in a seven-minute walk. Depending on the weather, pedestrians can choose either open air, indoor, or underground routes. Hong Kong is a city that presents limited options for cyclists; the West Kowloon promenade is a notable exception which we want to support. [ Return to top ]