Fractal Cities

The short film “Fractal Cities” documents a diverse collection of habitation, ranging from various forms of housing estates to temporary shelters in underground tunnels. These typical cases selected from the wide spectrum of living conditions in Hong Kong are dissected, folded, and morphed into an imaginary landscape. In this fractal city, concepts such as big and small, in and out, are no longer applicable. It challenges the 3-dimensional constraint, and essentially, the persisting bond between value and the size of the property, which critiques the monetization of the virtual estate in the recent “metaverse” fever.
The 3D scanned fragments of the city are represented as point clouds, faithfully archiving bygone experiences while remaining at a distance from reality aesthetically. In such tension with the physical world, the film proposes a virtual alternative that is not detached from but entangled with reality.
The project was supported by Design Trust and the 9th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (Shenzhen).