Hong Kong’s small area, high prices. The compact housing has become the city’s landscape. These humble things like clothes hangers, strollers and chairs has become a symbol of the Hong Kong. When you are in the streets of Hong Kong, these signs are often overlooked by most people, but precisely because of the existence of these small elements formed the culture of Hong Kong. Among them, the clothes that people are drying out of the window are a representative, which can simply show Hong Kong’s class culture and humanistic arts and culture.
Most of the houses in Hong Kong is no balcony, not Hong Kong people do not like the balcony, but the high cost of land in Hong Kong, with balcony half of the area counted in the total price. Residents here say buying a house with a balcony is not as good as buying a house with a bigger room but without a balcony.
Without balconies, people in Hong Kong have become the focus of their clothes. People living in urban areas hang clothes inside or build their own clothes hangers. Some people use a thread as a clothesline, with a combination of broken pulley rods and bamboo poles to build clothes, some people directly in a few bamboo pole built up into a long clothesline, and some people use chaim to act as a clothesline. Drying clothes can be seen in the streets of Hong Kong.
Through the windows you can see the clothes drying in the house, and you can even know the age, taste and number of people by clothes.
Because of the densely populated houses in Hong Kong, it is difficult to ensure sufficient sunshine for every household, so people are deprived of sunshine rights. Therefore, the design of public spaces is especially important, at least create the space for relaxation. Although government policy to encourage developers to build “green terrace”, but there are many buildings do not allow residents to terrace loaded racks. Most of the houses in urban areas no balcony, there is no balcony of Hong Kong residents in public housing allocation. According to the research said that the early years of the Hong Kong public housing also consider the Hong Kong people have the habit of drying clothes, it will be equipped with “alley” to do the laundry and dry clothes, a kitchen and a terrace in a location outside the house. However, newly constructed public housing is more “urban aesthetically pleasing”, so neither the terrace nor the clothes drying rack is placed behind the kitchen. I went to Wah Fu Estate for a research and found that most of them would have their clothes and quilts taken to the public areas for drying.
It is precisely because of the lack of space in Hong Kong that people use space wisely. Clothes hangers become an outdoor storage area for residents. Because people take advantage of it from the clothesline, clothesline and transformation, which has become a major feature of Hong Kong. Some people put a small basket next to the clothesline, used to clip the clothes so that clothes drying up faster. Some people put vegetables in baskets to bask in. If they wash their bags and shoes, they will put them all together on the drying rack. Because people like green plants, but there is no sunshine in the house, residents here will set up a small platform on the drying rack to put these green plants. People even place their own unused chairs on the drying racks because there is not enough space in the house.
The density and height of buildings in Hong Kong are getting higher and higher. Air is not circulated and clothes are naturally harder to dry. However, for people, clothes like bread, is the basic needs of life. Hong Kong public space initiative state that design and management of public space should be flexible and people-oriented. In Hong Kong, the use of public space as a private space is a common phenomenon. Dewolf said: “In years past, particularly in rural areas, drying laundry in public places was an accepted practice” in the playground of the community, many residents will quilt to dry in here. After research, it is found that the drying up of clothes in public areas occurs almost exclusively in public housing estates and working-class communities. It is a symbol of class, an ecological statement, an object of nostalgia. But more than anything it is practical. Positive to think, in fact, outdoor drying is also a Hong Kong style. The photos below shows the clothes drying in public areas taken at Chai Wan Estate in Wah Fu Estate and Chai Wan Estate.
Personal belongings in public places can easily create a sense of belonging. In Hong Kong, many people live a life of three-point line every day without any relaxing time. Laundry, drying clothes as a sign of life. The neat and orderly clothes hanging in the shop show the fast-paced life. In public housing estates, the sheets drying on the playground breeze is blowing, calm seems to have been given meaning.
Yuting Wang (Doris)
Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155296786@N03/
References:
DeWolf, C. 2008, Every Day is Laundry Day, Urban Photo, viewed 18 February 2018, <http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2008/10/15/every-day-is-laundry-day/>.
DeWolf, C. 2011, Airing Your Laundry in Public, Urban Photo, viewed 18 February 2018, <http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2011/09/27/airing-your-laundry-in-public/>.
Hong Kong Public Space Initiative 2015, Significance of Public Space, Hong Kong Public Space Initiative, viewed 19 February 2018, <http://www.hkpsi.org/eng/publicspace/significance/>.
Hong Kong Public Space Initiative 2015, Significance of Public Space, Hong Kong Public Space Initiative, viewed 19 February 2018, <http://www.hkpsi.org/eng/publicspace/ideal/>.
Shining Wu, 2016, No sunshine in HongKong, viewed 19 February 2018, <https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E5%8D%80/1691/-%E6%99%BE%E8%A1%AB%E9%9B%A3-%E6%B2%92%E6%9C%89%E6%97%A5%E7%85%A7%E6%AC%8A%E7%9A%84%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF-%E6%99%BE%E8%A1%AB%E4%B8%8D%E4%B9%BE%E7%9A%84%E6%A8%93%E5%AE%87%E8%A8%AD%E8%A8%88>.
Today’s headline, 2017, Why there are no balcony in HongKong, viewed 19 February 2018, <http://dg.leju.com/news/2017-06-12/07546279817979555536814.shtml>