"Lift Up Kowloon East" presents 30 sets of giant murals under Kwun Tong Bypass

Derrick and Annie designed the 30 sets of murals by depicting people from different periods and industries, documenting their works and lives to recognise their contributions in the development of Kowloon East, under the theme "Lift Up Kowloon East". Derrick, a young architect in his 30s, oversaw the project. He was delighted to provide a new perspective for the public to explore interactively the history and interesting stories of the district, and to give a new meaning to the city's infrastructure.

The giant murals of 30 characters from different walks of life at different periods of Kowloon East are now posted on 30 columns under the Kwun Tong Bypass. In fact, the team researched much about the history of the local community and found many industries had developed and are development in the district: The salt industry in the Southern Song Dynasty, the shipbuilding industry in the 1950s to 1960s, plastic flowers manufacturing during the emergence of light industry in Hong Kong, as well as the financial sector, design industry, and arts and cultural industry at present. The team also dug up some rarely known facts about the region. For example, the name "Kwun Tong" originated from Southern Song Dynasty when the government set up official ("Kwun") salt ponds ("Tong") in this area. The team, therefore, chose the salt workers and the origin of the name "Kwun Tong" as the starting point of the promenade stroll. Since assembling plastic flowers is a collective memory of a generation of Hong Kong people, plastic flower workers were chosen as one of the characters to highlight the Lion Rock spirit of hard work. Derrick especially loved the artwork showing the local food industry inspired by Kowloon Flour Mills, an important landmark of Kwun Tong for over half a century and one of a few flour mills still operating in Hong Kong. The team then designed a façade showing the barge and flour mills with the wheat plant and the workers. They also thoughtfully integrated the murals with the surroundings to interact with people. For example, the skateboarding area "Fly the Flyover" at Kwun Tong waterfront is very popular among young people, so a 7-meter-high skateboarder was created to enliven the space. Besides the murals, the team also created a photo filter for each character. Members of the public can become the characters of the stories by scanning the QR code on each column and then share the beautiful scenery of the Kwun Tong Promenade by checking in on their social media.

Derrick joined the competition "for fun" – in his own words. He was eager to accept the challenge by scaling up 2D artwork to huge 3D images. During the first field test, he was glad to see the playful way of telling stories through gigantic images. When the construction was completed, he was so moved and proud of his accomplishment by posting the giant murals on such a magnificent waterfront of Victoria Harbour.

The production processes took a total of three and a half months and was divided into five stages: measuring, removal of old murals, restoration of the column surface, field test and on-site construction. Leong said that the biggest challenge was the busyness of the public space. He had to coordinate with different government departments, construction units and the venue manager to ensure that the project could be completed on time without interrupting public events and restaurants' operations. Also, instead of using traditional hand drawing or oil painting, the team used 3M™ Premium Graphic Solutions because of easy application and removal and the steady performance in presenting the details of the artwork.

Ted Leung, Sales Manager of Commercial Solutions at 3M Hong Kong, said the competition organizer was very selective about the materials used. Since the venue is on the waterfront, the materials used should be durable outdoors and resistant to such factors as sea breezes, rain, and sunlight. The materials should also prevent smearing and fading, and must meet high safety standards, especially high resistance to fire and retardance to flame. Since the columns are curvy and the surface is uneven, the materials' conformability and stretchability should be considered. Also, the graphics must be easy to apply and clean, and easy to remove without damaging the surface of the columns. Actually, the old murals were exhibited on the columns for as long as five years. After removing the old materials, 3M™ professional application teams successfully restored the column surface without difficulties and residue. Therefore, after a series of tests and reviews, 3M™ Premium Graphic Solutions was chosen again for this project.