The proposed research consists of three stages in response to the project’s aims. Stage 1 is a spatial analysis of existing conditions, followed by a fieldwork stage to investigate public space user experience, and a final stage to analyze data collected and formulate recommendations. It will be conducted in qualitative methods, including architectural mapping and ethnographic observations. The overall objective of the study is to compare user experience in different cultural public space conditions, with a broader goal to inform innovative spatial strategies towards cultural participation. The findings of this study will contribute to a larger research to investigate the role of cultural institutions in the making of public space.

Site of investigation

With an aim to discover innovative use of cultural public space through user experience, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC) is chosen as the study site for its diversity in spatial typology and user profile. The study area will cover exterior and interior spaces adjacent to and within the HKCC Auditoria building, including but not limited to the outdoor plaza, the interior atrium and the network of terraces and covered walkways. Since its opening in 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre has enjoyed a status as the prime harbour-front landmark and top tourist destination. However, this positioning is being challenged as the West Kowloon Cultural District and its facilities gradually open in the following years, and the HKCC is in need of a change from curatorial to spatial consideration.

With the newly renovated Hong Kong Museum of Art and its new open terrace food & beverage outlet, the waterfront area is slowly transforming from a static open space into a zone for vibrant leisure activities. The HKCC complex sits at a key location that connects these new urban spaces with existing urban fabric and key public transit nodes, as its positioning is evolving, how could it be integrated into part of the everyday urban landscape? What could be the new ways to use and conceive public space that caters to local users, and can it become an opportunity to enhance local participation in cultural activities?

Stage 1: Baseline Study: Spatial Analysis

The research will begin with a comprehensive review of public spaces at the HKCC complex in terms of spatial typology and organization. Consolidating information from multiple sources such as topographic maps and architectural plans, a composite map-plan of public space, including key buildings’ ground floor plan, will be produced on the scale of 1:1000. This map will provide a clear view of accessible public space in the manner of the Nolli Map of Rome, a two-dimensional figure-ground map made by the Italian cartographer Giambattista Nolli in 1748, which depicts publicly accessible space (including open space and interior) in white and private space in black. The clear demonstration of public and private spatial relationships is influential to designers and scholars of public space, in the way how spatial continuity and urban experience are perceived and represented. The resulting composite map of accessible space at the HKCC area will be used as the base map to evaluate user experience in stage two.

The initial spatial analysis will also include the categorization and description of different spatial typologies. Kevin Lynch, in his seminal work The Image of the City, has identified five urban elements that contribute to our perception of the urban environment, namely the Path, Edge, District, Node and Landmark (Lynch, 1964). This concept is expanded by recent scholars who study activities in public spaces, proposing additional spatial features such as thresholds or boundaries that could have a conducive effect on public activities (Sennett, 2018; Stevens, 2007). Adopting this view to associate architectural conditions with behaviour and activities, the spatial analysis stage will result in the identification of key conditions for the observational field study in the next stage.

Stage 2: Fieldwork: Experiential Walk

Background: video as a data collection medium

Based on an initial understanding of specific site conditions, the fieldwork will focus on data collection of usage and experience at the public space of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Most public space studies involve stationary observation at a set location, with common practices of counting, mapping, tracing, or sometimes photography (Gehl, 2013). While these are effective means to study public activity, it remains a static view confined by the position of the observer. The study by William Whyte on public squares in midtown Manhattan could be one of the first attempts to utilize audio-visual methods, in particular, time-lapse photography and film to capture the dynamic use of urban space (Whyte, 1980). It was a substantial project at that time to deploy audio-visual means to collect data on pedestrian movement, yet nowadays, the use of such recording devices has become widely accessible. As an emerging field in social science research, the use of video footage as data was adopted earlier in anthropology or psychology to document the behaviours of the research subject in a natural setting. The method usually involves setting up a video camera to make a recording over a period of time, with minimal intrusion to the subject during the recording for objective documentation (Heath, 2010). The focus is usually placed on the interaction between people in a particular setting and less on the participant’s reactions to spatial conditions. Although architecture and urban design are highly experiential disciplines, the use of video as a research tool is not as frequently applied in the field as it could have been. In recent years, there have been a number of video documentaries on architectural and urban space, yet most of them remain aesthetic representations instead of analytical investigations.

Design: first-person experiential walk

The research design of the “experiential walk” intends to bridge the static physical space and dynamic experience through the medium of video photography, using the footage as data to analyze the user experience and interaction with architectural conditions. This study would be a pilot to explore the methodology to record and analyze first-person experience in urban space. The current plan is to conduct the “experiential walk” on a smaller scale of 5-8 participants in a scenario where they would take a 30-minute walk through the study area with a wearable video-recording device. Their path and what they see will be documented, providing spatial experience data in a first-person perspective. As the objective is to understand user reactions to different public space conditions, “clue cards” to introduce the site will be designed for the participant as a guide. Other than that, minimal interference would be given as the intention is to document the walk as they would experience in everyday life.

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Reference

• Hong Kong Arts Development Council. (Sep 2018) Arts Participation and Consumption Survey – Final Report. 
• Gehl, J. (2013). How to study public life. Washington, DC: Island Press.
• Heath, C. (2010). Video in qualitative research : analysing social interaction in everyday life. Los Angeles: SAGE.
• Lynch, K. (1964). The image of the city. Cambridge [Mass.]: M.I.T. Press.
• McNaughton, M. J. (2009). Closing in on the Picture: Analyzing Interactions in Video Recordings. International journal of qualitative methods, 8(4), 27-48. doi:10.1177/160940690900800405
• Sennett, R. (2018). Building and dwelling : ethics for the city. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Stevens, Q. (2007). The Ludic City: Exploring the Potential of Public Spaces. Florence: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
• Whyte, W. H. (1980). The social life of small urban spaces. New York: Project for Public Space.