West Kowloon Air Clouds

Hong Kong and its various complexities is a perfect example of the contemporary model of a rapidly growing city embodying global urban, social, and environmental concerns.

The West Kowloon Cultural District project, located in front of HK Island, has the ambition of creating a place that’s well-equipped and open to everyone, representing the city’s wish to become more than a financial center, developing itself as a globally important cultural destination.
West Kowloon Air Clouds represents a conceptual proposition that deals with the existing air extraction building within the boundaries of the master plan. In an extremely dense city that nevertheless retains a paradoxical relationship with the surrounding environment, the project looks to the power of nature to recycle and purify the air; a design for well-being and health, improving the quality of life.

The project proposes the implantation of several “air bubbles” that respond to this end. The air bubble envelops the existing treatment center; containing an active jungle of purifying plants, it adds an organic phase to the purification process all the while providing an aesthetic solution for the treatment center on the site.
Additional eco-pavilions could also be installed such as a botanical cloud and a recreational cloud. These temporary structures begin to define urban spaces and bring cohesiveness to the site while serving as recreational areas, awareness programs, and multi-program cocoons.