The Beauty Trap
美人計
THE SURFACE OF WIND AND LIGHT
風光
TANG KWOK HIN
鄧國騫
The Beauty Trap [美人計], takes a battlefield of consciousness, straightly hitting contradictory aesthetics and values of humanity to reflect oneself.

Regarding beauty of architecture, is that why architecture develop knowledge of climate and light while humans fundamentally need air and the sun?

In modern cities, everywhere is the battle of climate and light. Humans adopt, alter or forge wind and light, between natural and artificial experiences, creating a comfortable living environment which matches modernistic standards. In the process of nature being civilized, we repetitively question about the meanings of life. What aesthetics should we pursuit? What values? Are they ultimate and eternal?

A wooden planet is placed in the center of downtown where most pedestrians walk by. The planet is constantly painted. As the paint is dried by unique wind direction resulting from the screen like towers, a nail will be hammered at the last pad of drying paint each time. The nails are then stitched, forming typhoon shelters and creating oceans. The oceans trigger human activities and cities growing.

Searching for light followed by wind and water, this project plans to visit different malls or commercial buildings. Through clear glass, looking and filming the midday sky along with the arcs of architectural structure will be combined as the sun.

Screen-like buildings, arcs of construction and glass of malls define wind and light on such the frontier of architecture. Both modern cities and nature, the general extremes are integrated into a beauty-trap. Hidden true intentions behind obsequiousness juxtapose so-called symbols of natural superficial features. Then, can it let humans to retrieve and look into variety of values and choices of methods, to obtain the final victory?

都會裡,處處是氣候與光的爭奪戰,人們採納、改變、偽造風與光,在天然人造間,營造一個個符合現代化標準的生活環境。我們在自然與文明的進程中,一再追問所謂生命的意義。究竟,追求哪一種美學及價值,才是終極又永恆的?

屏風的大樓、建設的弧線及商場的玻璃,在建築的邊界定義風光,眼前似是城市學習生物擬態產生的地球與太陽,實質促成自都會與自然整合而成的美人計,將媚態掩藏的真正意圖並列於假象和所謂自然表徵的符號。那末,我們 能否重新被啟發,以發掘更多元的價值取向及選擇方法,以獲得最終勝利?