fifth region | KWOK WORK studio

fifth region ｜ narrative

FIFTH REGION is an extreme fairy tale about Hong Kong's future in 2060. During the project, I was concerned about urban development issues: overpopulation, land shortage, and new town planning in Hong Kong.

To create an imaginative story for future prediction, the background comes from the above contemporary issues and practical concerns.

In the past 80 years, Pedestrian systems created multilevel urbanisms continue to expand, it leads to heavy air pollution. There is no sunlight, the ground place becomes the darkest, smelly and orderless.

To tackle these issues, a new mega-structure is built in 2060, which is a mid-air network. It is created above 200 meters from the earth’s ground, which is called the FIFTH REGION.

FIFTH REGION has become the new region after Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories and Islands District.

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chapter I

escape + create

2060, the government decided to abandon the existing saturated land to develop a new town plan. Due to the redevelopment project runs out a large number of government public funds, all renew plans are completely stopped.

After then, the existing infrastructure has been long abandoned, collapsing buildings and roads are no longer being repaired.

The citizen can not stand it anymore, who needs to escape the earth's ground to take other places in the clouds.

Mr.Messiah leads a group of hongkonger to leave this place.

Other citizens began to imitate him because there is no turning back possible and its only choice.

The HKSAR Government acquiesced, this may be a new way out.

chapter II

migration

Abandoned reconstruction project - Causeway Bay, disintegrating buildings seem to be a ghostly town, it became the testing point. There are a large number of buildings to be rebuilt, and the crane at the top of the building, which becomes the basis for the mega-structures.

It is dangerous that the citizens kept climbing up the crane by unarmed. Some people falling down from high, some feel too tired and give up.

Perhaps it’s out of desperation.

For safety and efficiency, Mr. Messiah allows the citizens to ride on the spreader and together with the resource on the earth hang up to new

platform.

After 2060, a series of large-scale riots erupted in Hong Kong, causing social instability.

A million middle class, wealthy citizens and environmentalists who starting to be demonstrations and processions on the narrow streets of Hong Kong. They are against the poor who were leaving and they are not willing to give up their existing assets. After all, each of them bought at least a million Hong Kong dollars in property.

What a pity! Everything went up in smoke.

chapter III

challenge

There are advantages and disadvantages to living in a mid-air network. If we live in the sky, the resident would not come across annoying bugs, like mosquitoes or flies. Also, they can see a breathtakingly beautiful sunrise and sunset without disturbed by other buildings if you live in a high area.

We located above 200 meters, the typhoon and the harshness of the weather are the biggest enemies of the platform. During monsoon, it can be very violent at this altitude.

The structure is stable and safe, but the typhoon will bring the whole structure strong shakes.

There is a storm brewing

Before the storm, some people chose to take sleeping pills to spend the whole night, some people chose to go to the platform to feel it, some people prepared for the protection of agricultural crops on the platform, some people tie the structure to the surrounding buildings with ropes, in order to make it more stable.

Tonight, where will you go?

chapter IV

disaster + rescue

In the summer of a certain year, one of the most important historical events took place - B5 Fire.

There was a sudden fire in the B5 area of the Market Level. The flames quickly spread out of control due to drought conditions and increasing winds, combining into one large conflagration which burned for several days.

" Here is our place, here is our dream! " The citizens began to join the rescue operation, in order to save their dreams, their home.

Some peoples are on the rooftop of B6 for rescue through the pool water. Some peoples are going to Jump exit, some peoples are going down via the slide.

The fire becomes the greatest test in this region.

chapter V

new region

After a few years, all of Hong Kong citizens are abandoned to live on the earth’s ground, a new town is born.

The new mega-structure built on both sides of Victoria Harbour, which is a vertical mid-air network.

Above 200 meters from the earth’s ground,

which area defined as " Fifth Region "

" Fifth Region " is integrated diversity, autonomic, self-organized, complexity, and sharing which created a vertical neighborhood that embraces and encourages citizen interaction.

The concept of three-dimensional living space like an infinite space for Hong Kong citizens. It broke the previous building standards and laws totally.

chapter VI

artificial nature

The citizen already missing the earth’s of landscapes and ecologies, but they no longer willing to go back to the earth's ground.

Mr.Messiah proposed a wonderland plan.

The program creates an artificial landscape as a natural wonderland, near the human settlement. It’s all artificial, but all the landscapes are very close to reality where included air flows, the river runs, the forest grows, animal lives freely.

It is the era that the natural environment no longer exists in the natural state.

chapter VII

vertical climate

When the altitude is higher, the weather gets colder.

The highest platform is at an altitude of over 5000 meters, it has experienced a subtle change of the climate.

High-altitude platforms are no longer affected by the monsoon, but there are no clouds, which results in extreme weather. In order to achieve a balance of humidity, the main water source needs to be supplied from a low-altitude platform, and the " Humidity Control Device " needs to be operated all the time.

Finally, Hong Kong will have snowing when the humidity reaches a certain level.

Low-altitude platforms had a big problem during the hot and humid weather and polluted environment. The multilevel urbanisms of the " FIFTH REGION " are to keep expanding, it deteriorated the problem of the " Urban heat island effect ". The temperature sometimes is as high as 50-degree centigrade.

To tackle these problems, Mr.Messiah decided that the low-altitude area converted into an artificial canyon, it became an important tourist attraction.

You can be experienced the changes in spring, summer, autumn and winter in the vertical region.

chapter VIII

newcomers

We grew up in this mid-air network and living in harmony with " nature " The citizens are getting used to living at higher altitudes.

who have not experienced the great migrations
and was born in here are defined as " Newcomers "

They were born in this region. The newcomers have never touched the earth ground, the horizontal line is under their feet and the Lion Rock is always seen from the angle of view. Newcomers have a richer imaginations of spatial, after all, they can touch the sky and feel the depth of the space more easily.

Newcomers have a unusual personality of the earth's than the normal person. Such as the children there had very unique act when they are playing the games, who no longer play the ball on the ground anymore. Also, the newcomers like to crawl more than walk.