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Stagecraft; Staged Craft: Placemaking, Cantonese Opera, and Cultural Identity in Hong Kong

Part 2 Dissertation 2021
Karen Young
 University of Cambridge | UK
As the West Kowloon Cultural District takes shape, this dissertation examines the roles of cultural placemaking in Hong Kong and its implications to local cultural identity, heritage, and sense of place.

Significant investment into cultural projects and infrastructure in the past two decades created tangible symbols that fulfilled Hong Kong’s projected image as ‘Asia’s World City’. Nevertheless, as informed by my research, there is room – and an urgency – to realise alternative modes of placemaking to create locally meaningful cultural environments.

Responding more specifically to the Xiqu* Centre at the Cultural District and drawing from the transitory practices of Cantonese Opera, the local xiqu genre, this dissertation speculates on a more sustainable and inclusive approach in creating spaces of cultural production. The spatial manifestations of the proposed strategy are explored in a parallel design project, while this dissertation reciprocally anchors the design approach within the city’s metabolism and debates in academia and the architectural profession.

As more cities pursue globally-oriented cultural projects, this research calls for a timely reflection on the architect’s role in shaping these places and consideration of ‘placemaking’ as sites of critical practice that can platform community-driven processes of shaping place and place identities.

*xiqu: traditional Chinese theatre
Karen Young
Tutor(s)
James Campbell
Ingrid Schröder
Mr José Esteves De Matos
2021
1. View of the West Kowloon reclamation and West Kowloon Cultural District from the Peak. Author’s image.
2. This dissertation interrogates the topic at four scales: abstract concepts of place and space, global placemaking discourse, local context in Hong Kong, and specific practices of Cantonese Opera. Author’s image.
3. Temporary pavilion at the atrium of the Xiqu Centre. A stark contrast between the Centre’s contemporary flair and Cantonese Opera’s traditional associations. Author’s image.
4. Temporary bamboo theatre being constructed at Po Toi Island in preparation for the Tin Hau Festival. Photo courtesy of Cardin Chan.
5. Urban fabric at West Kowloon. Author’s image.
6. West Kowloon in the context of the city’s airport and transport infrastructure development. Author’s image; Google Earth.
7. The Xiqu Centre’s smooth, curvilinear entrance in contrast with the neighbourhood’s urban fabric. Author’s image.
8. Urban layering representative of Hong Kong’s hybrid and complex cultural environment. Fruit market worker in the foreground, Cantonese Opera poster outside Yaumatei Theatre in the middle, and residential tower in the background. Author’s image.
9. Author’s parallel design project repurposing an existing carpark into a community cultural hub. View of the entrance. Author’s image.
10. Author’s parallel design project repurposing an existing carpark into a community cultural hub. View of a bamboo theatre in the building. Author’s image.
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