PROJECT COLLECTION EXTRACT2008 - 2014Pak Lun, Leung

SIGN RIGHTS argues that the development of space/form-reading mobile device will bring sign and streetscape into a new era. Instead of replacement, signs will transform into space and structure that brings variation to the street-form. New signs that create the form of street will become an important data carrier that communicate with future mobile device.

A new regulation for signs is proposed to Hong Kong (Sign Rights, see Appendix), from a new perspective of treating sign as properties instead of two-dimensional shape. Similar to Air Rights in the USA, the new regulation Sign Rights proposes redis-tribution of developable air space for signs, allowing signs vary in form, material and function with repsect to the future street form. This thesis will demonstrate how the new regulation changes the streetscape brought by the interaction between digital mobile devices and new signs.

1st GenerationShophouse

2nd GenerationShophouse

4th GenerationShophouse

3rd GenerationShophouse

5th GenerationPodium + Tower

Early 1930s Late 1930s 1960s Late 1960s 1970s

2009Regulation of projecting signboard established

Mobile Device(Addresser/Addressee)

Traditional Signboard vs Future Sign

Pedestrian(Addressee)

Interior Space(Addresser)

Context: ???Message: “Come!” “Cool?”Contact: Sign (Physical)Code: Linguistics/Form /Light/Graphics?

Context: ???Message: “Run the Script”Contact: Sign (Physical)Code: Optical Data e.g. Barcode/QR Code/Image

Context: Official Identity of Interior Space e.g. Name, Location, Program /Virtual Shop/Ratings /Photos of Products, Service or Interior Space /Current Activities (or Schedule)Message: “Come!” “Buy!” “Judge if this is good.”Contact: ScreenCode: Linguistics/Symbols/Photos/Diagrams

Context: Identity of Interior Space e.g. Name, Location, ProgramMessagea: “Come!”Contact: Sign/LightCode: Linguistics

1st GenerationShophouse

2nd GenerationShophouse

4th GenerationShophouse

3rd GenerationShophouse

5th GenerationPodium + Tower

Early 1930s Late 1930s 1960s Late 1960s 1970s

2009Regulation of projecting signboard established

HK Reader Bookstore序言書室Room B, 1/F66-68 Sai Yeung Choi Street SouthTotal Volume of Developable Sign Rights Space = 31.9 / 75.6m3

0m 1m 5m 10m

L'OCCITANE en ProvenceG/F, Foo Tai Building, 24-26 Soy StreetTotal Volume of Developable Sign Rights Space = 30.2 / 75.6m3

0m 1m 5m 10m

INTEGRATED DESIGN - SQUASH CENTER

Emerging street squash culture in New York and Newark area has been changing the lifestyle of the neighborhood. In addition to flooding issue brought by the attack of hurican Sandy in 2012, the project investigated an integrated design with architec-tural, environmental, structural and material logics with respect to existing buliding strategy.

BOWERY RE-IMAGINED : EMAZON.COco-operated with Phi V Phan

Emerging digital technologies and platforms are at the verge of rendering some physical spaces obsolete. This is a proposal to nar-rowly reverse that trend in the sphere of retail and commerce.

Traditional retail relies heavily on display models. This is char-acterized by the static display of products and a robust back-of-house operation. Surprisingly, digital retail platforms also operate on this old paradigm; though they have replaced pedestals with thumbnails and vastly improved storage, they are still fundamen-tally tied to the object as a display. Instead of continuing in this trajectory, we propose the development of a platform—a physical one—that offers what the display model cannot: tactility, spontanei-ty, sound, smell, light, interaction. In other words, an activity model of retail. We refer to this platform as Emazon, a digital entity with the means and desire to rigorously engage physical space and its qualities.

front of house + back of house

(Existing retail model) (Proposed retail model)

only front of house

Display Activity

idle display of items activity supported by items

time scale of months or years time scale of minutes or hours

Display(Existing retail model)

front of house + back of house only front of house

idle display of items activity supported by items

time scale of months or years time scale of minutes or hours

Activity(Proposed retail model)

front of house + back of house

(Existing retail model) (Proposed retail model)

only front of house

Display Activity

idle display of items activity supported by items

time scale of months or years time scale of minutes or hours

Utilizing existing physical and digital infrastructure, Emazon’s 14 newly purchased storefront properties in NYC’s Bowery neighborhood can be dedicated completely to front-of-house operation. To heighten the intensity of experience, density and layering is employed to transform those storefronts into 42 distinct spaces. Each is dedicated to a touch, light, and/or sound experiences associated with or extracted from specific products for sale. As these spaces are purely front-of-house, they are available for rent by the hour instead of on multi-year leases, which is particularly beneficial for small businesses with modest budgets.

Emazon was invited by the New Museum to demonstrate its proposed retail model. A music store was designed and built at the storefront of the New Museum. Instead of displaying albums on racks in a traditional store, the new retail space provided haptic and acoustic experience to visitors.

REPRODUCING PROFILE : WEAVINGA furniture captures profile of human body and its movements. Production of a furniture is a re-production of that profile. The project is a preliminary analysis of complicated profile. Bamboo strips were used to build the physical wireframe.