Cities are complex; a city can never truly be ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in the same way that a human could never attain a state of purity. Yet the two cities below are manifestations of that extremity, Telosa and Kowloon on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Telosa presents the promise of a city comprised of equity and sustainability. The website remains consistent with these claims throughout. It aims to remodel and re-envision what it currently means to live in a city and proposes an alternative, utopian solution. Telosa is advertised to be for and accessible to everyone, where diversity is greatly celebrated, and equal economic growth is to be achieved through the concept of “equity” and “giving back to the community” (Junto Group LLC, 2020).
On the other hand, “Here's What Western Accounts of the Kowloon Walled City Don't Tell You”, focuses on a city of the past, dissolved more than twenty years ago in 1994, located in Hongkong. The piece aims to deconstruct the colonial bias present in most recounts of the walled city of Kowloon. Kowloon was a city known for its anarchy, with no real laws and accountability. Once referred to as “a cesspool of iniquity, with heroin divans, brothels and everything unsavory” by a former British colonial governor (WSJ.com Graphics, n.d.), Sharon Lam explores the unseen and less popular stories of a city long gone.
Telosa presents the promise of a city comprised of equity and sustainability. The website remains consistent with these claims throughout. It aims to remodel and re-envision what it currently means to live in a city and proposes an alternative, utopian solution. Telosa is advertised to be for and accessible to everyone, where diversity is greatly celebrated, and equal economic growth is to be achieved through the concept of “equity” and “giving back to the community” (Junto Group LLC, 2020).
On the other hand, “Here's What Western Accounts of the Kowloon Walled City Don't Tell You”, focuses on a city of the past, dissolved more than twenty years ago in 1994, located in Hongkong. The piece aims to deconstruct the colonial bias present in most recounts of the walled city of Kowloon. Kowloon was a city known for its anarchy, with no real laws and accountability. Once referred to as “a cesspool of iniquity, with heroin divans, brothels and everything unsavory” by a former British colonial governor (WSJ.com Graphics, n.d.), Sharon Lam explores the unseen and less popular stories of a city long gone.
Both websites start off by appealing to the emotions of the audience, through the immediate use of secondary pronouns. Telosa asks the audience to “imagine a city” where, “you always feel….”, “you live…” (Junto Group LLC, 2020). It is potential packaged as a promised future, therefore intrigue quickly develops as we try to navigate the real purpose of the website. The how doesn’t come until very later as you scroll through, which ensures the audience is fully hooked into the premise of the city.
Evocative images are also used very effectively. Images used to depict Telosa often include a vast amount of greenery and people of color to promote sustainability and diversity. The row of images where we first see people, feature a black woman with cropped hair. Right under is the caption, “You always feel safe, welcomed, and included…” The woman emanates warmth and confidence in who she is; something that Telosa hopes we buy into. She is even wearing a green scarf accompanied with a green jacket. All these stylistic choices feed not only to the idea of the future but the future generation, and how this is going to look in Telosa.
Both websites start off by appealing to the emotions of the audience, through the immediate use of secondary pronouns. Telosa asks the audience to “imagine a city” where, “you always feel….”, “you live…” (Junto Group LLC, 2020). It is potential packaged as a promised future, therefore intrigue quickly develops as we try to navigate the real purpose of the website. The how doesn’t come until very later as you scroll through, which ensures the audience is fully hooked into the premise of the city.
Evocative images are also used very effectively. Images used to depict Telosa often include a vast amount of greenery and people of color to promote sustainability and diversity. The row of images where we first see people, feature a black woman with cropped hair. Right under is the caption, “You always feel safe, welcomed, and included…” The woman emanates warmth and confidence in who she is; something that Telosa hopes we buy into. She is even wearing a green scarf accompanied with a green jacket. All these stylistic choices feed not only to the idea of the future but the future generation, and how this is going to look in Telosa.
Below that is an image titled “What is it like to live in Telosa?” The building with its glass panels, spotted by plants stand out. Glass provides an unobstructed view of the space below, letting natural light flow in. Transparent glass is also often associated with the future and modernity, leaving the skyscrapers with concrete and small windows in the past. Here the promise of being “connected to nature” is portrayed in a literal sense, the people inhabiting those buildings are integrated with the space below. The people are in casual wear, mats are laid out for picnics, beach chairs are strewn out, children are playing, there is even a friendly-looking dog. Through this image, Telosa makes good on two of its promises: openness and inclusivity. The image illustrates a tight-knit community, a city that resembles the perfect balance of nature and technology, a space open to people of different ages and race. However, it could be argued that the extent to which these people are featured in the photos undermines the website’s sincerity and reduces it to a mere performative act. |
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Pictures that illustrate the present-day problems of cities are in black and white and are very provocative. The black and white filter shifts the focus away from who these people are, by removing their identities, the audience is left with the message that these issues affect anyone and everyone. This is especially true in the picture captioned, “Unaffordable healthcare” – with the current system, it could be anyone on one of those beds. Without the distraction of color, we are forced to focus on the issue, a binary of right and wrong – this time leaning towards the edge of wrong. In the image of congestion, the details of car manufactory or color is irrelevant, the audience sees the image for what it is: heavy traffic, and lack of mobility. |
Similarly, the ArchDaily website begins with “…you are eleven years old” (Lam, 2016), the use of “you” is also used for the website’s purpose but this time transporting us to a past we do not know of but a scene we quickly become familiar with and could even claim as ‘ours’, as the description continues. Going out to eat noodles with our families could easily be universal, and this illusion is not shattered until the very last sentences. Here, we are introduced to the idea that despite Kowloon’s lawlessness and reputation, “this wasn’t the only story that the Walled City had to tell.” (Lam, 2016).
Lam also describes a 1980 Austrian documentary of Kowloon which featured English subtitles that compared the city’s residents to “the dead rats nobody takes umbrage at.” The later shot was then interrupted by Cantonese children in the background mocking the camera crew. A “de facto city council” was also established in the area, a group that regularly organized “a volunteer fire brigade and rubbish disposal and resolved civil conflicts” (Lam, 2016). Stories like these are spotted throughout the article, placed cleverly between the more ‘inhumane’ aspects of the city, both to criticize its diluted western portrayal and to maintain the idea that cities are not only made up of one story.
Within the ArchDaily, the use of images is more perfunctory rather than evocative. Visually, Kowloon is only presented as a cluster of buildings, except for one image that features a street in the city. The authenticity of Kowloon is lacking in these images; the street looks as if could have belonged to any other city in East Asia, the Chinese scripture being its only distinguishing mark. The depth and distance in the pictures feel impersonal, the audience only being allowed to perceive Kowloon from a bird’s eye view.
The chosen images are distant and yet the article aims to depict a raw and unbridled version of the city through its day-to-day stories. Perhaps this is for ambiguity’s sake, or simply because other, more popular images don’t fit into Lam’s narrative. This doesn’t necessarily undermine her credibility, but rather depicts how subtle decisions such as these can solidify or detract the audience from the website’s argument.
Lam also describes a 1980 Austrian documentary of Kowloon which featured English subtitles that compared the city’s residents to “the dead rats nobody takes umbrage at.” The later shot was then interrupted by Cantonese children in the background mocking the camera crew. A “de facto city council” was also established in the area, a group that regularly organized “a volunteer fire brigade and rubbish disposal and resolved civil conflicts” (Lam, 2016). Stories like these are spotted throughout the article, placed cleverly between the more ‘inhumane’ aspects of the city, both to criticize its diluted western portrayal and to maintain the idea that cities are not only made up of one story.
Within the ArchDaily, the use of images is more perfunctory rather than evocative. Visually, Kowloon is only presented as a cluster of buildings, except for one image that features a street in the city. The authenticity of Kowloon is lacking in these images; the street looks as if could have belonged to any other city in East Asia, the Chinese scripture being its only distinguishing mark. The depth and distance in the pictures feel impersonal, the audience only being allowed to perceive Kowloon from a bird’s eye view.
The chosen images are distant and yet the article aims to depict a raw and unbridled version of the city through its day-to-day stories. Perhaps this is for ambiguity’s sake, or simply because other, more popular images don’t fit into Lam’s narrative. This doesn’t necessarily undermine her credibility, but rather depicts how subtle decisions such as these can solidify or detract the audience from the website’s argument.
Interestingly enough, an album taken from the book, “City of Darkness” by Greg Girard and Ian Lambot, which offers a closer look to these everyday lives, are hidden away. The images are almost haunting; “post-apocalyptic,” “scary” and “crazy.” (Lam, 2016). They provide the audience the very perspective that the article is trying to deconstruct. However, the chance of accessing these images is not a question of “when” but rather an “if”, as the folder does not have a clear hyperlink, and could only be viewed through clicking the image of Kowloon at the beginning of the page. The audience would most likely read the article, therefore familiarizing themselves with Lam’s argument first, before being confronted with these images. This means that when they do access the images, they are able to perceive them more critically rather than at face value; the argument of bias in western lenses remaining with the audience whether consciously or subconsciously.
In terms of structure, both websites follow a very straightforward navigation, in which neither allows the audience to click on hyperlinks that could deter the intended progression of the website. The ArchDaily article is expected to follow this layout, as the author tries to argue their point in logical succession. However, with Telosa, there is a clear intention behind this. Without hyperlinks, the website can strategically present their ideas on their own terms; first comes their vision, secondly the current problems, then the how. It almost feels like a conversation, but one that the website drives and the audience is forced to follow.
Moreover, there is an overwhelming amount of content, that we leave the website with the bigger picture but not with its smaller details. Perhaps this too was intentional, the purpose of Telosa right now, being to engage the audience with its promise and not so much with the finer details of how, where, and what – casual audiences probably won’t even care about these on their very first visit hence most of the useful information are hidden away in the menu bar, top right.
The information that is included in Telosa remains brief, and only outlines how it is going to achieve its goals. The two websites are similar this way, employing “logos” very covertly. In Telosa, statistics are used sparingly and only secondary to images, it doesn’t have to rely on these to further its argument. Numbers are easy to ignore, whereas images force the audience to confront the issue at hand. The inclusion of numbers simply confirms the audience’s imagination towards the severity of these problems.
Moreover, there is an overwhelming amount of content, that we leave the website with the bigger picture but not with its smaller details. Perhaps this too was intentional, the purpose of Telosa right now, being to engage the audience with its promise and not so much with the finer details of how, where, and what – casual audiences probably won’t even care about these on their very first visit hence most of the useful information are hidden away in the menu bar, top right.
The information that is included in Telosa remains brief, and only outlines how it is going to achieve its goals. The two websites are similar this way, employing “logos” very covertly. In Telosa, statistics are used sparingly and only secondary to images, it doesn’t have to rely on these to further its argument. Numbers are easy to ignore, whereas images force the audience to confront the issue at hand. The inclusion of numbers simply confirms the audience’s imagination towards the severity of these problems.
In the ArchDaily, “logos” is used more subtly. The demystification of Kowloon is too abstract to be simply backed by statistics, even the concept of a ‘colonialist view’ cannot be cleanly explained through percentages. Hence, Lam gets creative when incorporating “logos” into her argument. She directs the audience through a short history of how Kowloon came to be and the origin of colonial influence in the area, citing British presence until 1947. She incorporates anecdotes that not only appeal to emotions but also reason; the audience is left to consider how can stories of family and childhood possibly exist in a place as lawless and evil as Kowloon.
Both websites also rely on “ethos” to prove the credibility of their arguments, albeit in two different ways. In its “About” section, Telosa relies on the reputations of its founders by presenting their professional achievements. Bjarke Ingels and Marc Lore are both entrepreneurs with backgrounds in economics and some city planning. They are also investors and billionaires which shows their ability to raise capital. It could even be argued that an idea as grand as Telosa can only be made believable if the people backing it were as impressive. However, there is great irony in a city founded by billionaires, to be built on equity and fairness. Billionaires are a thousand times richer than a millionaire and are often criticized for amassing wealth that could be better distributed to people below the poverty line; hence the motivations behind Telosa are vulnerable to questioning and criticisms.
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On the other hand, the ArchDaily displays the credibility of its argument by acknowledging the validity of the opposition. The article doesn’t denounce these claims against Kowloon as simply untruthful, and a product of colonialist history but rather it asks the audience to recognize the flaws of this black and white narrative towards a city mostly framed through western lenses.
Through first glance, these two websites and the two cities it features seems to lie on two opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet they are more similar than advertised. The portrayal of Telosa and Kowloon are both perfect examples of our human tendency to reduce unfamiliar concepts into smaller pieces that we can then easily digest. Black or white, right or wrong. We fail to recognize the nuances behind human motivation and fail to anticipate the complexity of situations. Telosa is a utopia where everything is good; Kowloon is “post-apocalyptic” where everything is bad. Telosa values accountability and the freedom to be who you are as long as you’re “good”, Kowloon lacks any of this and permits everyone the freedom to be “bad”. But looking in closely, both places maintain the idea that not one story makes up a city: Telosa through its diversity, and Kowloon through its lawlessness.
Through first glance, these two websites and the two cities it features seems to lie on two opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet they are more similar than advertised. The portrayal of Telosa and Kowloon are both perfect examples of our human tendency to reduce unfamiliar concepts into smaller pieces that we can then easily digest. Black or white, right or wrong. We fail to recognize the nuances behind human motivation and fail to anticipate the complexity of situations. Telosa is a utopia where everything is good; Kowloon is “post-apocalyptic” where everything is bad. Telosa values accountability and the freedom to be who you are as long as you’re “good”, Kowloon lacks any of this and permits everyone the freedom to be “bad”. But looking in closely, both places maintain the idea that not one story makes up a city: Telosa through its diversity, and Kowloon through its lawlessness.
References
Girard, G. (2014). Greg Girard - Work - Kowloon Walled City. Greg Girard. Retrieved October 2021, from http://www.greggirard.com/work/kowloon-walled-city--13.
Junto Group LLC. (2020, February). Telosa: City of the Future. Retrieved October, 2021 from Telosa: https://cityoftelosa.com/
Lam, S. (2016, December 02). Here's What Western Accounts of the Kowloon Walled City Don't Tell You. Retrieved October, 2021 from ArchDaily: https://www.archdaily.com/800698/heres-what-western-accounts-of-the-kowloon-walled-city-dont-tell-you
WSJ.com Graphics. (n.d.). Kowloon Walled City. From The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/graphics/kwc/#chapter=history
Girard, G. (2014). Greg Girard - Work - Kowloon Walled City. Greg Girard. Retrieved October 2021, from http://www.greggirard.com/work/kowloon-walled-city--13.
Junto Group LLC. (2020, February). Telosa: City of the Future. Retrieved October, 2021 from Telosa: https://cityoftelosa.com/
Lam, S. (2016, December 02). Here's What Western Accounts of the Kowloon Walled City Don't Tell You. Retrieved October, 2021 from ArchDaily: https://www.archdaily.com/800698/heres-what-western-accounts-of-the-kowloon-walled-city-dont-tell-you
WSJ.com Graphics. (n.d.). Kowloon Walled City. From The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/graphics/kwc/#chapter=history