Plugin Homes - Metabolic Framework: Hong Kong as a Testing Ground

Abstract

Hong Kong presents a complex and oftentimes paradoxical system of housing. It is the product of many contradictory elements: traditional village development and more recent urbanization; extremely organic urban growth and extremely standardized market; self-built architecture and centralized regulatory body. One of the symptoms of a system built on these extremes is the divide between the wealthy and the poor. While Hong Kong has the most millionaires per capita, the region also has the lowest rating in global housing affordability where even the middle-class families struggle to acquire a home and safeguard their home ownership. In many ways, Hong Kong is facing the very problems that Japan faced in the postwar years and during the reconstruction of the nation: limited resources, growing population, the clash of old and new, the urgency of a nation-wide urban planning program that addresses the needs and reflects optimism to name a few. In this rebuilding effort of the country, a movement was born under the tutelage of Japan’s preeminent architect Tange Kenzo*: Metabolism. This thesis will use the theoretical framework of Metabolism and propose a set of design strategies to address housing issues in Hong Kong today.