Des Voeux Daydream, Hong Kong

This is a proposal to pedestrianize Des Voeux Road in Central Hong Kong as part of an invited competition. Hong Kong is a city of infinite sounds, sights, smells, and textures. The exceptional corridor of DVRC epitomizes this circumstance. As DVRC transitions from cars to pedestrians, the opportunity to embrace the diversity of its life multiply. It is an environment that hosts alternately office workers, tourists, executives, street vendors, artists, performers, trams, and all the senses that accompany them. Our proposal sought to amplify these senses. Five “rooms” each offer a new physical platform to host familiar activities in new ways. Each framework suggests new ways of occupying the street, and diverse scales of activity that bring together communities.

Each room transforms everyday street life of Hong Kong into a daydream: something almost familiar but entirely new. The canopy offers pockets of shade during the day, and intimate lighting at night, defining a new way of living outside while in the city. An urban-scaled amphitheater puts the life of the city on stage. It offers a place for chance performances, community gatherings, and city-wide celebrations. A rooftop becomes an impromptu platform for art installations, and views of the scene below.