Dear Members and Friends of AIA Hong Kong:
With 2019 just starting, we send best wishes for Happy Holidays with a healthy, peaceful 2019 and a prosperous New Year of the Pig! We’d like to take a moment to reflect on the exciting year we've shared and to invite you to join us for events ahead.
We had many successful events this year (providing 42 continuing education credits) and were able to do so thanks to great participation and engagement. Our building tours – one or two of which will be offered again due to popular demand – capture the work and interests of our members and the work they do. Our sketch sessions continue to be successful thanks to enthusiastic member participation. Our Honors and Awards Celebration and Exhibition reached new highs for attendance and were directly followed by a same day dinner with guest speaker for the SAR Government and a special celebration of the elevation of one of our members to Fellowship in the Institute.
Our current AIA HK Fellows welcomed, John Sellery, FAIA and bestowed his pin as a culminating event for the 2018 awards dinner. He joins AIA HK members: Nelson Chen FAIA, William Lim FAIA, Grover Dear FAIA, Ronald Lu FAIA, Christine Bruckner FAIA, Moira Moser FAIA, Sean Chiao FAIA, Ken Hau FAIA and Diane Legge FAIA.
The Chapter hosted many events this year under the leadership of President Anderson Lee, AIA a teacher and practitioner. Events included a mentorship series called, “Hello Fellow” in which the chapter invites members to sit with our Chapter’s FAIA members to hear their path and design perspective and learn about their work. The program began with"Hello Fellow" with William Lim, FAIA (photo below). It was very encouraging to see a great turn out and members are looking forward to the next "Hello Fellow" with Professor Nelson Chen, FAIA coming soon.
Another first and highlight for the AIA Hong Kong Chapter was winning the 2018 FAIA Component Grant. The money was used to purchase ARE licensing study guide materials and has helped several members pass their exams to become fully licensed architects while over -seas :)
The major highlight event of the year certainly was the Chapter Annual Dinner and the Honors & Awards Presentation on Monday, November 19th. We were delighted to be able to share the design excellence of our members with the wider public at the Rotunda exhibition and to have a great turnout for both events of the evening!
There have been many events and exciting tours throughout this year as always and we continue to collaborate with the CUHK, HKU, HKIA, RIBA, Design Trust, HKIS, HKIUD, and all of our friends and colleagues in Hong Kong and beyond to share opportunities and diversify events.
One such event was collaborative symposium with the HKIA and RIBA (HK): Privatizing Public Space/Publicizing Private Space co-sponsored by Laws Group and Paul Y Engineering.
With the decrease in public spaces and an increase in the number of land sales, some of the world's developers have now begun to create public spaces within their developments that enhance the immediate environment, even at the expense of their allowable buildable area. Although 'private' and 'public' are seemingly opposites, these initiatives aim to provide amenities for the general public, and architects and urban designers are increasingly tasked with providing creative solutions. Simultaneously, designers must constantly adapt to shifting government policies regarding the maximum amount of buildable area.
Join us for a lecture by Winy Maas at CUHK on 24 January, 2019 if you are in town
AIA Hong Kong invites you to join The CUHK Kinoshita Lecture in Architecture 2019 – “What’s next?”, by one of the Founders of MVRDV, Winy Maas. The event will be held on 24 January 2019 (Thursday) 5:30pm at Lau Chor Tak Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, Yasumoto International Academic Park, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Winy Maas, Prof. Ir. Ing. FRIBA HAIA, is a founding director of Rotterdam-based MVRDV, a global architecture and urban planning firm established in 1993 along with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. He is also Director of The Why Factory, a research institute for the future city which he founded in 2008 at TU Delft, where he serves as Professor. Maas has been awarded the Order of the Netherlands Lion and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, as recognition for his contributions to architecture.
A member favorite is always our building tours. We continue to have many outstanding tours in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area Region of China. Some highlights included:
The H Queen’s – Art & Leisure Tower Tour on April 19 was well received.
Building tour of H Queen's - Art & Lifestyle Tower.
Designed by William Lim, FAIA, of CL3 Architects, H Queen's is Hong Kong’s first art and lifestyle hub. Developed by Henderson Land, the 24-storey building occupies a prime location in Central, with entrances on both Queen's Road and on Stanley Street.
The development emphasizes spaciousness, flexibility, functionality, eco-friendliness and energy efficiency. Interior spaces have been optimized for large-scale exhibitions, with systems for both outdoor and indoor displays, while a glass shuttle lift allows visitors to observe the galleries from G/F to 10/F. To ensure a variety of activities, several floors of the building have been dedicated to retail outlets and fine dining.
The building's public art program not only promotes local, emerging artists, but also aims to raise the level of art appreciation in Hong Kong. The tour was led by William Lim, FAIA, of CL3 Architects.
On May 26 the chapter hosted a successful outdoor family oriented Building Tour at Tsing Yi Southwest Leisure Building:
Tsing Yi Southwest Leisure Building - members and guests joined the Chapter for a fun outing to the Tsing Yi Southwest Leisure Building – a vibrant and landscape-filled sports hub for the community of Tsing Yi. We encourage you to join us with your kids to have fun in the biggest public children's play room in Hong Kong and invite friends to join us for a chill mini-picnic.
A June 6 tour of The Murray, Hong Kong was sponsored by B.S.C. Group Limited and Dornbracht. Located in the heart of Central, this former Hong Kong Government Headquarters is one of eight historic landmarks recognised by the Conserving Central Initiative, introduced by the HKSAR Government in 2013. After a redesign by Foster + Partners, Design Architect, with Wong and Ouyang, Civil & Structural Engineers, Urbis, Landscape Architect, and Tino Kwan, Lighting Consultant, the building has been transformed into the city’s newest landmark hotel, The Murray, Hong Kong, as the flagship property of Niccolo Hotels.
Designed by Ron Phillips in the 1960s, the building was regarded as an outstanding example of sustainable architecture in its time and has won numerous awards for its ground-breaking, energy-efficient design, including the Energy Efficient Building Award, in 1994. All of the signature features of the original Murray Building, including the facade with its imposing three-storey arches, the vehicle ramp and distinctive recessed windows, have been retained. The tour was be led by Colin Ward of Foster + Partners and representatives of The Murray, Hong Kong.
The Xiqu Center designed by Revery Architecture with Ronald Lu & Partners. The Xiqu Centre is a modern home for Chinese Opera in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The building was conceived as a cultural sanctuary: a blend of theatre, art, and public space, and a place for contemplation and celebration. A gateway to the new Cultural District, the eight-storey building’s facade is reminiscent of a beaded curtain, akin to the type often seen in traditional Chinese opera. The centre has a total area of 13,800m² and houses the Grand Theatre, accommodating 1,050 seats.
The Chapter continues to be grateful to our Corporate Affiliate members for their continued support and we look forward to continued opportunities to work together in 2019.
AIA Hong Kong is pleased to share that our many events - past and future - can be found on our website.
We look forward to welcoming you to participate in our tours and events any time you are in town! Please feel free to contact us at info@aiahk.org
