金 ソーシャル · 2026
Pocket Spaces コミュニティデザイン・マニュアル
by Lee Ngai Man
- A' Design Award 金賞 2026 in ソーシャル
- CLIENT: Estate Of Mine
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 61,198
- Verification code 6BED26DF45 · Verify this award
Colors
About Pocket Spaces コミュニティデザイン・マニュアル
ポケットスペースは、高密度な公営住宅団地のための社会的介入ガイドです。このデザインは、狭い廊下や階段室を共有の交流空間へと変えます。再生紙に印刷された12ページの携帯用マニュアルが、見過ごされた場所を見つけ出すことからシンプルなモジュール式ユニットを組み立てるまで、住民を段階的に導きます。組み立てには地域の廃材から集めた木材、結束バンド、簡易クランプを用いるため、高齢の住民や子どもでも特別な工具なしに30分でひとつのユニットを完成させられます。ポケットスペースは、再開発に直面するコミュニティにおいて、空間の自律性と隣人同士のつながりを支えます。
About the A' Design Award 金賞
Pocket Spaces コミュニティデザイン・マニュアルは、まさに素晴らしく傑出した第一級のデザインに授与される、計り知れないほど権威ある評価である A' Design Award 金賞の受賞作品です。金賞の受賞作品は、きわめて革新的で、先見性に富み、きらびやかに輝く創造物であり、デザイナーの天才性、叡智、卓越した技量を映し出しています。Pocket Spaces コミュニティデザイン・マニュアルは、最も称賛される、流行を牽引する記念碑的な発明であり、前例のない価値をもたらすことが期待されます。この A' Design Award 金賞を受賞したデザインは、壮観で尊敬されるプロジェクトであり、芸術・科学・デザイン・技術の境界に大きく寄与し、それを前進させます。Pocket Spaces コミュニティデザイン・マニュアルは、強い欲求を生み出し、情熱を呼び覚まし、創造性を促し、私たちを引きつけます。
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This project is a social intervention guide developed for high-density housing estates. It establishes an open infrastructure system using assembly protocols based on grassroots materials. This empowers elderly residents and children to transform narrow 2 meter corridors and stairwells into co-creation spaces. It is a social resilience tool characterized by zero marginal cost and rapid scalability.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The toolkit uses a nested frame structure of 148 x 210 mm, 105 x 148 mm, and 125 x 176 mm. This ensures the design is portable, while the lightweight materials are easy for elderly people and children to carry. The structures are also designed to be easily relocated during cleaning or maintenance periods.
- Tags
- Social design, social impact, spatial justice, systemic design, discursive design, participatory design, community design
- Production Technology
- The core product is a 12-page A5 portable manual printed on 100% recycled paper. Physical units utilize local material cycles, such as common public estate items and wood collected directly from community waste. Assembly employs low-barrier connections, such as industrial cable ties and simple clamps. This allows non-professionals to conduct community-making in 30 minutes without specialized tools.
- Design Challenge
- The primary challenge was moving beyond the traditional helicopter model of social housing intervention which often relies on one off actions. This project focused on building deep trust through 700 hours of field research to address the apathy caused by extreme density and upcoming redevelopment. It shifts the designer role from designing for to community led design. The project acts as a mobile preservation system that allows social relationships to migrate and integrate into housing plans.
- Research
- This action research project addresses human made ignorance and spatial injustice in high density urban environments. Through 700 hours of immersive ethnography and field research involving 500 residents, we found that urban apathy is a cognitive bias. Neighbors often overestimate the reluctance of others to interact. Public housing lacks the spatial rights to maintain connections rather than the connections themselves. The project resulted in a 40 percent increase in neighborly interactions.
- Inspiration
- This design originates from ethnographic observations of the extreme living density in Hong Kong where space averages 15.5 square meters per person. Through 700 hours of field research and 500 resident interviews, we discovered spontaneous space hacking in corridors and stairwells to build neighborhood bonds. The core inspiration involves translating scattered grassroots wisdom into a systematic social intervention guide. We used an high participation in the manual to awaken spatial autonomy and empower neglected spaces.
- Project Duration
- This organic system launched on January 30, 2025 and evolves alongside public housing redevelopment. The first phase is located in Wah Fu Estate. The second phase will be exhibited at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design in June 2026. The third phase will expand to other high density communities like Mei Lam and Butterfly Estate in 2027 to establish a cross regional social design network.
- Operation Flow
- The Pocket Space Playbook is a portable toolkit designed to help residents transform lifeless public housing corridors into vibrant social hubs. The guide uses a step-by-step approach to help users identify neglected spaces and apply modular grassroots wisdom. This method is effective because it triggers a fundamental community shift: residents realize they have the right to define their own spaces, creating a bottom-up, sustainable ecosystem.
- Image Credits
- Image # 1: Designer Pak Hei Wang, Hiu Man Chiu, Julytha Nga Suet Ho, Ngai Man Lee, Kai Yin Lin, Social Pocket, 2026.
Image # 2: Designer Ngai Man Lee, Hiu Man Chiu, Julytha Nga Suet Ho, Kai Yin Lin, Pak Hei Wang, Social Pocket 2, 2026.
Image # 3: Designer Pak Hei Wang, Hiu Man Chiu, Julytha Nga Suet Ho, Ngai Man Lee, Kai Yin Lin, Engage Material, 2026.
Image # 4: Designer Ngai Man Lee, Hiu Man Chiu, Julytha Nga Suet Ho, Kai Yin Lin, Pak Hei Wang, Informal Knowledge, 2026.
Image # 5: Designer Kai Yin Lin, Hiu Man Chiu, Julytha Nga Suet Ho, Ngai Man Lee, Pak Hei Wang, Social Engage, 2026.
