A proposal to substitute subdivided units with capsules in industrial buildings
OUR REFLECTIONS
AU Hing Tong, Gordon 3035285934
My role in studio project is a coordinator within and also outside the group. Internally, our group has never been lacking with ideas but the real challenge was to make the right decisions and pick the optimal plan. Therefore, I have been coordinating work content, distribution and progress as well as performing quality checking over work done by each teammate. Externally, I have been responsible to contact other parties such as Galaxystars HK, our sponsor of capsules demo. Working on such a large yet fast-paced project, I found it challenging to keep everyone posted, but it provided a really good opportunity to enhance my communication skills.
This studio project has been flexing my limits. This was my first time in my life taking a key role in creating a website and filming a documentary in subdivided units. I was also responsible for for the financial analysis and conversion scheme. Our group is full of spontaneity, for example, the idea of having a role-play was originated from a joke of having Aaron to sing in the exhibition as background music. Yet, I believe I could further improve in time management by keeping a smoother delivery of work.
Work could be tedious and there were moments when I got frustrated as hours of research and hardwork, such as drafting a typical floor plan, were turn out useless. However, these were the times when persistence and critical thinking were developed. Undeniably, the learning curve of this studio is probably the steepest throughout my university life. Fortunately, our facilitator Mr. Barry Wilson has always been able to guide us through puzzlement and unleash our full potential.
HUNG Wing Kum, Joyce 3035288998
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I’ve definitely learnt a lot throughout this journey. Given such a broad topic with minimal guideline, it was a rather mind-blowing task for us. Freedom and flexibility in choice of topic and way of presentation hit us hard at the beginning as we struggled to decide on the most appropriate and innovative ideas to deliver. It was until later stage that we start to appreciate the essence of the course and indulge in experiencing the fun within.
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We kick started with doing research on the housing crisis in a holistic point of view. We then soon reached consensus on digging into subdivided units. To further understand the topic and actual situation, we performed a social experiment – trial living in a rooftop sub-divided flat in Sham Shui Po. My role in the documentary is to be the subject and to experience the infamous living condition. It has been a tough process finding a suitable flat to rent. Knocking door to door across Sham Shui Po, we encountered unwilling landlords, hostile residents and a multitude of insects. It was a great relief that we eventually find our target flat. The most memorable part for me was a night staying with rats. The scene is vivid until now and that has completely freaked me out, it was when I truly feel how miserable and unsafe it is to live in such poor condition.
Apart from the social experiment, we conducted two interviews to justify our proposal. I took up the role in being the interviewer, in consistency with the video. It has me breaking through my comfort zone as I had to speak in front of camera and give corresponding responses to answers. This has truly brushed up my impromptu speaking skills and critical thinking. The making of the video is the combined effort from many parties, which makes it especially important to me. The granting of sponsorship of capsules is another achievement that we made. I am proud everyone in our group paid a lot of effort in learning to set up, transporting, building and dismantling the capsules.
In short, my role in the team is to be a contributor of ideas as well as an executor. After this project, I believe my time management and organization skills are well developed as all tasks involved were finished within a limited period. Without the cooperation and hard work from my teammates, this studio could not be as completed and satisfactory as it is at the end. I am truly thankful for the guidance from Mr. Barry Wilson for nurturing us and bringing us to success
LIU King On, Kenneth 3035284837
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In the beginning, I made some research on some successful housing solutions in the world. I was amazed by their innovative ideas and felt sad with the current situation of Hong Kong. Among them, we were particularly interested in the capsules. We believed that the capsules are the ideal replacement of subdivided units in Hong Kong. Hence, we have chosen subdivided units and capsules as our main theme.
After that, we drafted the learning contract. We promised to make a video and conduct interviews with the related stakeholders.
To formulate our proposal, I have looked for places which were suitable for putting capsules. Originally, I would like to place these capsules in farmlands. However, I later knew that the residents in subdivided units value the location a lot. Placing capsules in farmlands could not solve the problem as they are not in urban areas. This was a blow to me and I felt a bit stressful. So, I drank a beer and turned on the TV to relax myself. I watched the news. One of the issue captured my attention: the conversion of industrial buildings into transitional housing. It was mentioned in the Policy Address. I immediately thought of a new plan: placing capsules in industrial buildings.
After conducting all the interviews and filming the subdivided units, I started to edit the video. I found it challenging to use the editing tool and it took me hours to learn it. Luckily, my groupmates helped me a lot and I had to thank them.
During the exhibition, we performed a role-play. I was the janitor of the capsule community. I found it fun to be a janitor. It was a great experience.
TSAO Chit Long, Aaron 3035286744
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The site work of this project is what inspires me the most. The first task was to experience the environment of subdivide units. It started with a struggle to rent a suitable unit by visiting and calling landlords in Sham Shui Po, which was the first time I actually got into a subdivided unit and even spent hours in it when we are filming the documentary with rats and bugs accompanied. The inhumane living conditions there are in fact mind-blowing. Another memorable experience out of my comfort zone was when we conducted SWOT and rental analyses, where I visited some love hotels and pretended as a customer to inspect the rooms and ask for rental prices.
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I see myself as an executor and supporter in the team. A lot of technical skills are learnt and reinforced in producing the deliverables, like creating a website, which I spent nights to design the layout and put everything together. The documentary film is a result of painstaking effort; it turns out dubbing, subtitling, and making animated infographics are not as easy as they seem. To output all the deliverables in such a tight schedule is demanding. Nevertheless, this is how time management and the ability to work on multi-layered work is developed.
This project is full of challenges – filming a documentary in subdivided units, interviewing a government official, acquiring sponsorship from a capsule manufacturer, creating a website and presenting our work at the exhibition. Despite the difficulties we met, analytical thinking and problem-solving skills are enhanced. I would like to thank my group mates as well as our facilitator Mr. Barry Wilson, for making it through together with all the support in this unforgettable expedition.
WONG Kwun Wah, Panda 3035291880
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My main role in this project is an idea provider and a team supporter. At the time we were briefed about the course, we had quickly decided the issue of sub-divided units, where our team came up with a few solutions, and one of them was the idea of capsule bed proposed by me. Deeply believed that capsule bed was the best in terms of presentability and feasibility, I tried to persuade my groupmates with the advantages of the solution of capsule bed. Eventually, I succeeded in doing so.
Afterwards, we listed out different ways to present our idea. Coincidentally, when I was pitching my idea to my friend who is working in ‘Initium Media’, she was planning to do a project with similar topic. She filmed us in Sham Shui Po for the firsthand experience of living in partitioned room and in the Exhibition Day, followed by an interview with us about our project.
Adding media sector to our project would definitely enhance the comprehensiveness and credibility of our solution, and also allowed us to evaluate our solution in a different perspective. Besides, the interview that will be published by ‘Initium Media’ also sounds creative and innovative as one of the final deliverables.
Apart from the above, I also helped in making the website, in which I successfully created an interactive financial calculator and embed it into the website. Besides, I stepped out of my comfort zone in acting an old man who has been living in capsule for years in the role play session.
Lastly, I think I have learnt a lot in this Studio Course, and I am so glad to have Mr. Barry Wilson to be our facilitator. This journey has been challenging, but rewarding.