(almost) 24/7

(almost) 24/7Andi Schmied

(almost) 24/7 is a project that portrays the spaces where the porters of Wong Chuk Hang (黃竹坑), one of Hong Kong’s industrial and residential towns, are spending most of their time.

Wong Chuk Hang is a disconnected area from central Hong Kong, due to the lack of an efficient public transport system and lack of development.

Wong Chuk Hang grew steadily until World war II and just after in the 50’s and 60’s industry and commerce developed thanks to the low elevation and broad space.

For the same reason, in 1977, the only attraction for visitors of the area, Hong Kong’s most popular amusement park that is totally detached from it’s physical context, Ocean Park (香港海洋公園), opened to give a different, fake reality to the neighbourhood, and fill it with people putting themsleves in an altered mental state for an afternoon and then leave.

On the other hand there are the real inhabitants of the area; Wong Chuk Hang road is the main road where all the industrial buildings stand. All of these buildings have a special small place at the entrance where its guard sits, “lives” from Monday to Saturday, 6 AM to 9 PM.

Most of the porters have been guarding the very same building for more than 25 or 30 years; they’ve lived most of their lives in the same square metres or in some cases just on a chair. (almost) 24/7 explores these spaces and shows the loneliness and the individuality of their inhabitants.

黄竹坑是香港的一个以工业和住宅区为主的小镇，“(几乎) 24/7”是一个描绘当地的那些门卫的生存空间的项目，他们几乎花费了所有时间在那边工作生活。

黄竹坑和香港市中心的联系不是非常紧密，其原因在于其缺乏高效的公共交通以及对发展建设的投入。黄竹坑在战争之前一直稳步发展，战争打响后没多久就慢慢停滞下来了。好在当地地势相对平坦开阔，在五六十年代，其工商业得到了一定的发展，同 时 ， 由 于 相 同 的 原 因 ， 在

Sungbin Industrial Centre

1977年，海洋公园建成了。它是这个区域内现当下唯一的旅游景点，也是香港最受欢迎的主题乐园，其完全脱离于当地的城市形态，对外营业后一直给人一种不同寻常的、脱离于当地社区实际氛围的感觉。游客们在这种气氛的充斥下可以让自己整个下午都变得异常兴奋直到离开。

另一方面来说，当地也有居住在那边的人；黄竹坑道是当地的主路，在它的两旁分布着所有的工业建筑。所有这些建筑的入口处都有一处特别小的空间 ， 供 门 卫 安 坐 。 周 一 到 周

六，从早上六点到晚上九点，天天有人在岗。大多数的门卫都在同一幢楼的前面站了有大约超过25到30年的光景了，他们在同一个小的空间内，有的甚至就在同一张椅子上度过了他们大部分的时光。“(几乎) 24/7”展示出了这些空间，并且揭露了当地居民内心的孤寂。

这本书包含了处于同一条街上的35个不同的空间。

Lee Fund Centre

Leader Centre

CavendishIndustrialCentre

Tin FungIndustrialMansion

DerrickIndustrialBuilding

Benefit Industrial Building

EWahFactoryBuilding

EWahFactoryBuilding

RemexCentre

LiFundCentre

YaliIndustrialMansion

Good ProspectFactory Building

ZungFuAberdeen Garage

HeungWahIndustrial Centre

PerfectTechBuilding

JetooBuilding

EvergreenIndustrialMansionPodium

UnitedIndustrialBuilding

VitaTower

Sing TeckIndustrial Building

Man HingIndustrial Mansion

VictoryFactoryBuliding

Po ChaiIndustrial Building

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN IN HONG KONG, 2012 ®