The significance of the curatorial statement from Alejandro Aravena lies in the enlightenment of the civic public and their contribution as a collective effort to call for changes to some as given living conditions, which are exemplified in the making of new architecture scenes. The responsive curatorial statement from the Hong Kong Curatorial Team looks into the phenomena from a societal point of view, and highlights the different struggles by metaphorically citing the Chinese fighting wisdom “36 Strategems”.

This exhibition is a documentation of the project Viva Blue House in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The story tells not only the architectural renovation to a cluster of worn-out historical residential buildings, but more importantly, the changes in the attitudes, values, judgments, and self-empowerment of the original residents to strive for a chance of staying in their original place, despite the external forces from the government bodies to expel them out with her plan to make the place to a tourist attraction spot. The year was 2007. The collective voice consists of the tenants, social workers, academic professions, architects, planners, writers, artists, and many citizens who care about this issue. They successfully lodged objections to the government’s plan. A year later, the government launched the ‘Partnership Scheme for the Revitalization & Adaptive Reuse of Historical Buildings’, and subsidized the appropriate non-profit-making organization to run the project with social enterprise programs.

I was in the fighting team with the tenants since 2007, and had the honor of invitation to do the architectural design proposal for them. The renovation site works was started in 2012 and was anticipated to complete by end of 2016. The exhibit shown here is a miniature shop front of the ‘House of Stories’ in the G/F of the Blue House where the neighbors celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival every year.

威尼斯主辦策展人Alejandro Aravena提出人民醒覺及團結力量對建築面貌的衝擊。我們香港策展隊伍對這種現象作了觀察，並以中國兵法智慧三十六計作點題回應。

我這次展覽內容是關於灣仔「We嘩藍屋」的紀錄。這個故事重點不在於歷史建築的修復，而是一個社區的修復。它記載著原住民在2007年得悉政府有意將他們習慣了的老房子發展做旅遊項目，由無助不知所措至自我了解、充權、抗爭的故事。團結的力量還包括社工、學界、建築師、規劃師、作家、藝術家和許多關心事情的普通市民。我們成功否決了政府的方案，及後催化了政府推出「歷史建築伙伴計劃」，用一次性資助方法協助非牟利團體營運建築群，使原住民可按其意願繼續留下生活。

我有幸自2007年起跟大伙兒走過這條爭取之路，及可以替他們設計方案。這個建築工程於2012年開始，預計2016年底完成。這次展覽的背景，其實是位於藍屋地舖「香港故事館」的縮影，它是街坊的聚腳點，也是每年慶祝中秋的回憶。