Magic Carpet was launched in 2013 by the School of Architecture and School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as an outreach programme combining documentation of daily life, community engagement and urban design. The project was first held in Sai Ying Pun in 2013 and was subsequently brought to Tin Shui Wai (2014) and To Kwa Wan (2016).

Magic Carpet transforms a public space into an outdoor cinema for one evening, in which movies about the neighbourhood are shown. The movies are produced by local secondary school students, following a series of workshops that prepare them to conduct video-interviews with the community. At Magic Carpet, community members and the general public interact with each other, building a stronger bond between themselves while empowering them to re-envision the possibilities of public space together.

Magic Carpet is our first step to transform public space. Further initiatives have been carried out to bring substantial change to society, such as Magic Tables in 2015.

The project has been supported by the Knowledge Transfer Fund of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Quality Education Fund, Hong Kong.

「妙想氈開」於 2013 年由香港中文大學建築學院和新聞與傳播學院攜手推出，是一項結合日常生活紀錄、社區參與和城市設計的外展計劃。2013 年，項目首次在西營盤舉辦，反應熱烈，其後更伸延至天水圍（2014）和土瓜灣區（2016）。

「妙想氈開」將公共空間變成只此一晚的露天影院，放映有關當地社區的影片。這些影片由當區中學生攝製，計劃團隊為此提供一系列工作坊，讓他們學習如何在社區內進行錄像訪問。在「妙想氈開」活動中，社區人士和廣大市民得以互相交流，為彼此建立更密切的關係，重新想像社區公共空間的可能性。

「妙想氈開」是我們改造公共空間的第一步。除此，我們亦籌辦了相關活動如 2015 年的 Magic Tables，藉以為社會帶來實質性的改變。

是次計劃為香港中文大學知識轉移基金及香港優質教育基金的支持項目。