Just like the water creature that famously cleans waters in oceans by feeding from sea particles and predators, Starfish metabolizes the toxic agents in the bay, and hopes to migrate to other problematic waters once its job is done in Kowloon. Starfish also works modularly, so that it can replace or grow limbs through time, as needed, and as its analogous animal would in the sea. It is compartmentalized into four major building/boats, and can be treated as a series of pavilions that organize themselves in different plans and layouts, in order to create dynamic opportunities for different festivals throughout the year, ensuring unique interactions between the site, the occupants, and the architecture itself.

The project challenges the notion of interim urbanisms by claiming power over the festivals that are currently siteless in the city, and that require monumental efforts from Hongkongers to make them happen when they are due. It also creates ephemeral connections between areas of the city—like Kwung Tong and Kai Tak—as a way to fight population segregation, instead bringing peoples and traditions together.

Location
Kowloon, Hong Kong

Collaborators
Walmir Luz and Ngaire Stuart-Gongora