Book Tree was a research project conceived by Associate Professor Peter W. Ferretto at School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong in collaboration with the Mei Foo District Counsellor Ambrose Cheung. The objective of the project was twofold: to inhabit a lost urban space and simultaneously to create a new type of reading experience for children within the Mei Foo neighbourhood.
Mei Foo selected as a site for the prototype due to its unique inhabitation of high concentration of residual spaces below the highway, which including a community centre, a clinic and wet market. In addition, some lost spaces became invisible to local people who usually dismiss them as mundane background places devoid of purpose.
Research started from the notion that through design, lost spaces could activate and transform into inhabitable places. Rather than design being a high-end service, the design acted as a tool to transform a neglected corner beneath a flyover into a real open community space.
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PROJECT DATA
Project Name
Book Tree
Location
Mei Foo Sun Chun, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Status of Construction
Completed
Completion Date
15 August 2018
Site Area
25 sqm
Gross Floor Area
25 sqm
Client
Mei Foo District Council, Cheung Wing Sum Ambrose, Chairman
Architecture Firm
School of Architecture, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Principal Architect
Peter Winston Ferretto
Civil & Structural Engineer
SprenPlan Engineering, Portugal; Prof. Zhou Yun, Research; Center for Public Safety & Disaster Prevention and Reduction, Guangzhou University
Images
Peter Winston Ferretto, WANG Haoran
