Brendan Costello

The Marshmallow

Due to Hong Kong’s high housing demand in the 1950’s and their efficient approaches, it has fell victim to the pragmatic city. This killed the culture of congestion, meeting, expression and experience. Rigid, harsh, cruciform public housing towers dominate the skyline in a homogeneous blanket. Fanling, a city located in the New territories, will undergo the same efficient and economic development. As seen from the Umbrella Revolution, it is clear the people of Hong Kong want to escape the totalitarian order. Theatre as a concept and programme provide this escape. My design expresses itself (acts) to the city by potentially locating itself as a juxtaposition between any set of three towers in Hong Kong, through the quick erection of the steel structure followed by the inflating and deflating of the PVC coated polyester skin. Once inflated, actors’ shadows can be cast on the skin to an audience of 280,000. The hovering marshmallow nature of the building creates a new sheltered external public space. The building is comprised internally of a vertical array of theatres housing 20 to 350 people, including an external theatre with views over Fanling. These give the citizens the potential to express themselves (act) or experience (spectate).