Revitalising a revitalised place : case study of Cattle Depot Artist Village

Abstract

The Cattle Depot Artist Village which was known as the Former Ma Tau Wai Animal Quarantine Depot in the past is situated in Ma Tau Wai, To Kwa Wan. It was graded as a Grade II historic building consists of various heritage significances. In order to revitalise the building heritage into a well-equipped artist village, the government has spent 23 million on heritage preservation and building facility improvement to fulfill the demands of artist accommodation. The symbolic red-brick building fabrics has been retained and the artists from the Oil Street Complex has been accommodated in the Cattle Depot Artist Village. Apart from the relocation of the tenants from the Oil Street Complex, the government would like to nurture the development of creative and cultural industry in the soil of the Cattle Depot Artist Village. However, when the soil becomes barren in that the artists dropped out their units, the resources on site including the ample public venues cannot be fully utilised and the bonding with the local community has been weakened, it would be difficult for the site to produce satisfying cultural products efficiently and the precious resources will be likely to be wasted partly. Thus, even as for a revitalised heritage site, it is still necessary to review on the current situation of the adaptive reuse project regularly and avoid any further decline of the site which is similar to the abandonment for the second time for the heritage site. Therefore, regarding the current situation of the Cattle Depot Artist Village, the thesis aims to observe and analyze the problems regarding the management and operation issues on site and provide effective solutions through studying local and overseas artist villages model in order to improve the cultural sustainability of the site and revitilise the site into a more community-based artist village.