Michael Ho

My project explores the clash that arises from the expansion of the industrial into the non-industrial. The drawing on the right forms part of a series, which speculates on the clash between the industrial and non-industrial architecture in Manchester, Texas. The project is about the hybridisation of these two typologies and the architecture that arises from it. The work is a critique to the relentless expansion of petrochemical industry along the Houston Ship Channel. The focus will be on the condition of fenceline communities. These communities are adjacent to an industrial plant and are affected by the noise, odours, chemical emissions and traffic it generates. In order for Valero Energy Corporation to expand into the fenceline township of Manchester, the corporation and the community are finding a compromise, in which Valero Energy Corporation reuses derelict refineries, to create public facilities for the community of Manchester.