We had some heated discussions on what to expect in the upcoming mixed-use. At the end, I need to clarify my view on what constitute design, and the direction to take in order to achieve this design.
A literal interpretation of "design", which made up of "de" and "sign" can mean the deconstruction of a known sign. Therefore, if we simply apply the established typology of the Wanchai mixed-use by having retail on the ground or lower floors, and residential on upper floors, this is not much of a design as far as dealing with the contemporary relationship between retail / residential and their corresponding usages.
To explore its contemporary application, we invented the notion "retail maximum": what will be the maximum deployment of the retail elements in terms of sight-lines, accommodation, accessibility, etc to achieve the maximum retail attraction? This view of retail is being supported by the emerging usage of upper floors in most CBDs, such as Times Square, Causeway Bay, whereby signboards, sight-lines, accessibility, etc are important considerations for retail viability.
As the process goes, a different set of considerations will emerge for residential viability that may run into conflict with the retail counterparts, such as the need for light, air, green and open space, circulation as well as accessibility and privacy. As a result, your design is to show the balance or synthesis between "retail maximum" and "residential maximum" based on your own findings.
The resolution of this conflict may result in a "de"+"sign" that fits my expectation of a design and at the same time, new.
T
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