Gallery Talks
Opening Reception for Urbanism Negotiating Topography: Busan, Hong Kong, Osaka
In East Asian cities, rapid urban growth during industrialization is often romanticized as either chaotic expansion or a triumph of industrial technology. Confronted by both the challenges of high population density and difficult geological conditions, this period produced new spatial typologies that reveal deeper narratives of adaptation.
This exhibition examines the peripheral conditions of urban growth in three East Asian cities — Busan (Korea), Osaka (Japan), and Hong Kong — as sites where limits became opportunities for transformation.
Mapping the history of adaptation into spatial narratives reveals how resistance to growth has shaped the urban landscape. Where were the city boundaries before rapid industrial growth? What uses were developed at the urban peripheries of growing cities, and how does the built environment adapt to difficult geological conditions?
Through cartography, topographical models of urban growth patterns and case studies of sectional relationships of cities to its topography, this exhibition attempts to uncover the histories of constraint and gain insight into the future of cities in transition.
