Chloe Tam

'Departure Dialogue' is a semi-open space where family share meals and stories together as a way to grief and heal together.

Chloe’s spatial interests are places of curiosity and exploration, and is constantly questioning the relationship between senses, memory, identity, and temporality.

Her first-year project at the RCA: “From Homo Sapiens to Homo Ludens: Unscripting Architecture” proposes a spatial and programmatic strategy for the transformation of a large-scale mono-functional stadium into a multi-generational playscape in Hong Kong.

Chloe completed her undergraduate degree in Architecture at the University of Hong Kong (2019) and has worked as an architectural designer in P&T Group and Shigeru Ban Architects in Tokyo. Her final year project, ‘Flux in Málaga,’ was exhibited at IE Design Excellence Exhibition during her exchange semester in Segovia, Spain.

Site Map of Cheung Chau, an outlying island in the southwest of Hong Kong, the project nestles between the mountain and the sea.

Chloe’s project takes the Cantonese ‘Ballad of Sighs’ as an entry point, to explore the maritime history of Hong Kong through the lens of a nomadic group of fishermen. A city known for its past as a fishing village, Ballads of Sighs carries stories about the sea’s scenery, the variety of fishes; stories about life & death, through tones that alternate in repetition, synchronizing with the ocean waves. Unique to the sea dwellers, this genre of music is passed down from one generation to the next, but as fewer follow the ancestral path of fishermen, the music finds fewer and fewer listeners today.

From Sampan (fishing boat dwellings), and shipyard factories, to typhoon shelters, Chloe seeks ways to connect, revisit and reactivate pieces of the fading history and culture of the city.

The design is an architecture space dedicated to sea burial ceremonies in Hong Kong, a type of memorial service where cremated ashes are scattered into the sea. It is a way of honoring the natural cycles of life and death, where all living things eventually return to earth or water.

Sea burial addresses the environmental concerns of land shortage driven by traditional ground burial and urn storage in the crematorium. It is a greener burial method encouraged by the local government, but the current practice merely involves the government providing free-of-charge ferry services to bring citizens to the 3 designated scattering zones.

The project intends to address the contemporary practice by proposing a new typology of ritual and ceremony around sea burial. Chloe wants to explore the use of sound and music as a design methodology, to approach the taboo around passing and mourning.

With their throat-singing, pastoral nomads mimic the sounds of their natural surroundings: from animals, mountains, rivers, to the harsh winds of the steppes. "Voice turns into a material, almost becomes a shape, " was how artist Mika Rottenburg described the voices of throat singers.

Known as “Ballads of Sighs” (嘆歌), fishermen of Hong Kong sing about the sea’s scenery, the variety of fishes, and stories of life & death. Unique to the sea dwellers, this genre of music is passed down from one generation to the next, but as fewer follow the ancestral path of fishermen, the music finds fewer and fewer listeners today.

“Between Mountain and Sea”, 2023, 2-channel video: 2 minutes 8 seconds – Nomadic throat singers, Steppes of Central Asia

“Between Mountain and Sea”, 2023, 2-channel video: 2 minutes 8 seconds The Fishermen’s Ballads, Hong Kong

Film Stills from “Between Mountain and Sea” (2023)

“Between Mountain and Sea” (2023) is a film that follows two nomadic tribes; pastoral nomads in steppes of Central Asia and boat dwellers / fishermen of Hong Kong.

Presented in 3 acts and a 2-channel video, the film explores the concept of mobility & impermanence through singing.

Beginning with the first act “Nature as Stage”, the film follows how throat singers travel far into the mountainside to practise animism through mimicking nature’s sound through their voices. In parallel, Hong Kong fishermen’s Ballad of Sighs (嘆歌) speak of life & death stories, through tones that alternate in repetition, synchronising with the ocean waves.

Medium:

Film

Size:

1920 x 1080

Yurt (Ger), 13th century – A portable dwelling of the pastoral nomads with a radial spatial arrangement. The structure is a latticework of wood or bamboo and is covered with skins or felt. The Shanyrak, also known as the crown is a symbolic piece that is passed down by generation. – 1. Alter; 2. Chests; 3. Low Table & Stolls; 4. Beds (Men’s Side); 5. Beds (Women’s Side); 6. Stove; 7. Fuel Box; 8. Koumiss Bag; 9. Door; 10. Circular Wood Lattice Frame and felt cover; 11. Shangyrat (Crown); 12. Roof Posts

Fishing Boat (Sampan), 17th century – Wooden boats used for fishing, transporting and trading goods. Having linear spatial arrangements where living spaces are located at the back of the boats, and working spaces are located at the front. Upper Deck: 1-5. Bedrooms (Owner’s family); 6. Bedroom (Fishermen); 7. Catches; 8. Fresh water tank; 9. Ice Fridge; 10. Kitchen; 11. Salt Storage; 12. Water Storage; Lower Deck: fm. Foremast; hc. Hatch Cover; hm. Mizzenmast; hr. Handrail; mm. Mainmast; r. Ropes; rd. Rudder

domestic human-nature-relationship mobility temporality

"Golden Grass" – This instrument is dedicated to the pastoral nomads of Central Asia. The components are inspired by the Shanyrak (the crown on top of the yurt), grass field and vibrant textile present in their daily lives. The instrument is designed to be stroked, tapped, and flicked by hand, the trembling motion of the metal rods imitates grass blown by the wind in the steppes.

"Fading Vessel" – This instrument is dedicated to the fishermen in Hong Kong. The components are inspired by a buoy on fishing nets, firewood for cooking, and bells on the lucky pinwheels kept on boats for good luck and safety on the sea. The wobbling motion of the vessel imitates life on the sea.

Material's Sonic Property Experiment – Through analysing the technical performance of panel speakers, a 1:1 material investigation is developed, as a comparative study of various materials' sonic properties when combined with an audio exciter. The material includes: plastic filled with air; fabric filled with cotton; balsa panel and fishing net weaved from cotton thread. These are the proposed material adopted on the building site, this technical study was beneficial in understanding the sonic atmosphere appropriate for a space of farewell.

Medium:

Jesmonite, Mica Powder, Brass Rod, Audio Exciter, Cotton Thread, Plastic, Ratten Wicker, Balsa Wood, Polyester

cultural-identity experimental instrument materiality memory music performance sound-art sound-design symbolism

“A fisherman’s Map” of Hong Kong

Medium:

Map printed on polyester dorado fabric

Size:

670 x 400

Typhoon Shelters are infrastructural spaces on the sea that are deeply rooted in the fishermen’s culture, historically serving as zones of sanctuary during rough weather conditions. Partly on land and partly seabourne, Chloe’s project reimagines these zones of sanctuary as potential sites for a new prototype of sea burial ceremony to take place, where the ashes return to the embrace of the sea.

Medium:

Booklet

Size:

148 x 210; 148 x 1680 (unfolded)

hong-kong-culture landscapes mapping memory mobility nomads urban-infrastructure

The Chapel is a quiet and solemn space, where mourners bid farewell through songs and prayers that echo within the interior. On the left, a cascading staircase unfolds, leading towards the hidden depths of the Rain Chamber.

The Fountain of Purification marks the moment of entry. The ritualistic act of cleansing the hands or body, prepares one’s mind and spirit; marking the shift from a mundane world into the space of farewell.

In the Urn-Creation Room, families gather to craft the vessel which carries the ashes during the sea burial ceremony. The process of making serves as a way of honouring the memory of those who have passed away.

Family gather at the Departure Dialogue, to share meals and stories together as a way to grief and heal with each others’ company.

The Rain Chamber is a vertical space which hosts a measuring metre indicating the fluctuating sea level of Cheung Chau. The chamber is also a soundscape capturing the symphony of raindrops, a hymn to the passage of time.

In the Remembrance Parlour, family and friends gather to celebrate life in this semi-outdoor space that rests against the sea. The windchime materialises the invisible breeze, accompanying the tunes of memory of those who have passed away.

Following the ramp that wraps around the Urn-Creation Room, a narrow bridge brings mourners away from the buzzing main space, across to the Chapel which nestles within the mountains.

As mourners sail across the typhoon shelters on rowing boats, the Scattering Island marks the final yet monumental act of the burial ceremony. Mourners whisper goodbyes as the ashes return to the embrace of the sea.

Medium:

Film

Size:

1920 x 1080

animation ritual sound

The building form resembles a cluster of wooden boats, referencing the site's history as a shipyard factory. The structural logic follows the orthogonal rib frames found in wooden boats, re-adapted by constructing out of bundled bamboo arches, resulting in a lightweight and flexible structure.

Medium:

Wicker, Plasticine, Bronze Wire, PVA Glue

Size:

700 x 500

Sound Map – The key design approach embraces the forces of nature to enter the building both physically and sonically. A projected sound map was utilised as a design tool to aid decision-making on spatial composition with regards to both ambient sound from nature and artificial sounds from human activity.

Medium:

Projection

Size:

1080 x 1920

animation death funeral grief human-nature-relationship landscapes life-cycle mapping nature ritual soundscape

The building is divided into 3 areas, the main space in the middle contains more active & collective experience of cleansing, crafting and commensality. Programs which require a more serene atmosphere are located in the annex towards the mountainside. Finally, the scattering of ashes takes place on the remote floating platform (82m apart) which is only accessible by rowing boats, giving more privacy to the ritual.

Medium:

Digital map printed on polyester dorado fabric

Size:

660 x 1920

animation death funeral grief human-nature-relationship landscapes life-cycle mapping nature ritual soundscape

Chloe Tam

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