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The Why Factory, Delft: Winy Maas with Tihamér Salij and Bas Kalmeyer Hong Kong Fantasies Design:BENG, Illustrated (colour and b/w), Paperback, 176 pages, size: 15 x 21 cm In association with MVRDV, The Why Factory and Delft University of Technology
This fictional urban resuscitation reveals not only the shortcomings of Hong Kong, but also the flaws in the tools with which we assess all cities. In order to improve our cities, we may also have to refine our standards of judgement. Hong Kong Fantasies is based on a workshop and studio organized by The Why Factory in collaboration with the International Forum on Urbanism, the Berlage Institute, the Delft University of Technology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University in Hong Kong at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Fantasies is the fifth book in the Why Factory’s Future Cities series and based on an animated movie entitled ‘Hong Kong Power’ Also available: The Why Factory is a new global think-tank and research institute, led by Winy Maas/MVRDV and Delft University of Technology. The Why Factory advocates the necessity of research, theorization and politicization with regard to the urban future as the territory proper of architecture. The Why Factory initiates independent research projects, post-doctoral programmes, studios for MA courses in architecture and urbanism, post-doctoral studios at the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, master classes, workshops, debates and round-table discussions. The Why Factory explores the possibilities for the future develop¬ment of our cities, focusing on the production of models and visualizations for cities of the future. The Why Factory confronts our world’s existing reality with the future of the city. The results of this research programme are being presented in a series of books, the ‘Future Cities Series’, which is being published in association with NAi Publishers in Rotterdam and Thonik/ BENG Graphic Designers in Amsterdam, and in films produced in collaboration with Wieland & Gouwens in Rotterdam and the BBC in London. The studies will be presented on television by the VPRO public broadcasting company and will be shown at the various exhibition venues (the Netherlands Architecture Institute, the Hong Kong Design Institute and the Aedes Gallery in Berlin). |
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What does it take for a city to become world-class? And who decides? It’s not enough to look at a city’s economic performance. Great cities have always offered a more fundamental, abstract quality – a quality that no single ranking system has yet been able to measure. Hong Kong Fantasies tries to define that quality, and to introduce a universal standard for its evaluation: The World-Class City Framework – WCCF. Using this framework as a guide, The Why Factory fantasizes that Hong Kong, a city struggling to hold on to its reputation, makes a spectacular comeback as an exemplary world-class city.