Intentions for the fieldwork period at the Chinese University Hong Kong

There are several aims behind joining CUHK for the final fieldwork semester. Working at an institution is intended to support me in achieving structured progress with the thesis, the design project and the intermediate tasks. Particular emphasis is on the following:

1. The implementation Essay (deadline 10 October). The initial few weeks should be, at least partially, dedicated to systematically analysing the different information obtained during the trip to Africa. Some of the interviews and documents accessed there would feed directly into the essay.
2. Design project. Whilst the site information is still reasonably fresh in my mind I would like to re-embark on the design and leave in December with a thought-through proposal that will evolve into a finalised scheme later in Cambridge. Being grounded and well-explained in relation to the ideas and real-world factors explored throughout fieldwork is more important than being fully resolved or beautifully presented.
3. As a less of a priority there is an intention to continue the theoretical reading (and seeking advice on reading material from academics) in preparation for the written thesis submission. After CUHK I will have a couple of months to write this up.

Both inside and outside of the university there is an intention to continue occasionally meeting and interviewing people involved in activities relevant to my research, for example the masterplanning practice behind the Lekki Free Trade Zone project, a CUHK student researching China’s impact on African architecture, an architect working in Ghana, or a local indigenous community exercising rigid control over a Hong Kong’s rural territory, as recently reviewed by the Economist[1].

There is also an aim to explore the city of Hong Kong and its surroundings and to identify any parallels with my project as well as relevant urban phenomena to be learnt from. In relation to my site, Shenzhen, often compared to the Lekki Free Trade Zone[2], may give some clues of what an area around an economic zone becomes some years after its establishment.

Above: Head of CUHK achitecture school cutting roasted pigs at the year opening day. Below: masters design studio on day 1

[1] ‘Ding-Dong. In Hong Kong, a Row over Land Rights Reflects a Bitter Divide’, The Economist, China, 2017.

[2] Michiel Hulshof, and Daan Roggeveen, ‘Lekki, the African Shenzhen?’, Chinese Urbanism in Africa, Go West Project, 2014, 86–91.