Private Story
Kai Tak: A Guided Tour
Kai Tak: A guided tour
In 1998, the opening of Chap Lap Kok International Airport marks the end of the Kai Tak International Airport after serving Hong Kong for over 70 years. After its closure, many redevelopment plans have been generated: for money wise, a massive residential development, a modernized stadium or most recently a terminal for cruises. They even once considered it as the site of the new General Government Office.
In 1998, the opening of Chap Lap Kok International Airport marks the end of the Kai Tak International Airport after serving Hong Kong for over 70 years. After its closure, many redevelopment plans have been generated: for money wise, a massive residential development, a modernized stadium or most recently a terminal for cruises. They even once considered it as the site of the new General Government Office.
Environmental concern groups once bombarded all these redevelopment plans for the contamination it will bring to the environment. The engine fuel in the soil, which has accumulated for years, is highly poisonous. Before a very solid redevelopment plan comes out, the huge amount of land is basically deserted.During these years, government has made use of this piece of deserted land for all kinds of intermediate usages, from flea markets, to second hand car shows, to bowling alley. A government office was once even set up there. Later on, it was transformed to construction waste dumpsites, golf course, temporary bus depots, BBQ park and car parks"¦
Now, in every weekend, the enormous open space provides an ideal ground for South Asian cricketers, the deserted control tower is a battlefield for military fanatics' air-gun battle. Some hobbyists try to restore Kai Tak's full glory by making it into the remote-controlled model planes' airfield.All the strange usages make Kai Tak into an eight-feet monster. The most astounding thing is using it as a construction waste dumpsite, which created a number of dunes and in a way changed the terrain of East Kowloon.
The Kai Tak site is not a ruin, in the meantime, it has a very special "aura", everything "grow" inorganically like weeds without a specific order. It simply explains how human beings can manipulate or intrude their own environment in a ridiculous way, while they want to play god on the planet.I've spent pretty much of my spare time in Kai Tak since 2004, whenever my mood is bad or I'm infertile in creativity. I can feel how small we are in such a void of space, and let myself lose within. It's my playground and it also works as a mental shelter for me. This series of photos may works as a guided tour of the Kai Tak site and indeed a guided tour of my psychological state these years.
2010
2010
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