On the Street Where You Live

Dance Hall I
Originally uploaded by redredredred

Deborah has already done a great job of describing the interior of the Expert Room, but the building in which it resides deserves mention. She lives in a relatively small high-rise for Hong Kong (when I ventured upstairs to find roof access I counted between eight and ten stories). It is currently encased in bamboo scaffolding and green netting. From Monday through Saturday, workers remove portions of the building in what appears to be a gradual and randomized process of destruction rather than construction. Rectangular pieces of drywall disappear from the stairwell daily. The stairways are slowly being chipped away, revealing the tangle of metal bars that provide their structural support. Saturday mornings bring the sound of jackhammers right outside the gate to the Expert Room and the sense that one has been unknowingly cast in a commercial for headache medicine. It's actually rather enjoyable--one never knows what will happen next.

The situation provides a fitting metaphor for the city of Hong Kong, which seems to be constantly under construction and in many ways does not resemble the city I visited a mere three years ago. Landmarks such as the Star Ferry Terminal have disappeared and are now visible only in the form of nostalgic souvenirs at upscale design shops. Beautiful but dilapidated high rises that I recall photographing during my last visit are also gone, replaced by newer, taller, and brighter high rises. All but the most famous remnants of colonialism are tough to find unless you really know where to look and what you are looking for.

I am not a knee-jerk preservationist, totally opposed to new development in all its forms. Yet at the same time, I wonder where this is going. How much of this is truly necessary? At what point does it become irresponsible? Will the charm of the city's streets and the people who inhabit them be completely destroyed in waves of new construction? As Hong Kong's public spaces change, how will the customs and rituals formed within those spaces change? What will daily life look like? When will Deborah return home to find the contents of the bright and spacious Expert Room buried under a pile of debris and her next door neighbor hanging a daily load of laundry (giant white underwear and all) on bits of broken concrete?

What will be lost, and what will emerge from the rubble? Thankfully, there are organizations and artists here dedicated to examining these questions and more.