© Foster + Partners by Methanoia

Foster + Partners’ City Park proposal has recently been selected for the 40-hectare masterplan for West Kowloon Cultural District.  Since this past August, we have been sharing the three competing shortlisted projects – OMA’s  Three Villages, Rocco Design Architects’ Cultural Connect, and Foster’s City Park – and your comments have sparked great discussion concerning the advantages and disadvantages of each.   The selection process for the cultural district was quite unique as the three projects, that were selected from 12 proposals, then entered a public consultation exercise.  For three months, the people of the West Kowloon district had the opportunity to review and comment on the projects, which then had a strong impact on the panel’s final decision.

Foster’s proposal is organized around a 23 hectare public par, with cultural buildings scattered along the edges to become a natural extension of the local community.  Foster commented, “This is fantastic news. I have been travelling to Hong Kong for more than 32 years, since the Hongkong Bank first brought us here. This project offers an extraordinary opportunity – it is unprecedented in its scale, scope and vision. City Park will be the catalyst to transform the city locally and regionally, as well as on the world stage. Our design is rooted in Hong Kong’s urban DNA, the distinctive character that makes it such a dynamic city. There really is no other project like it!”

Be sure to read more about Foster’s proposal on AD here.

Courtesy of The Civil Engineering and Development Department of Hong Kong

The Civil Engineering and Development Department of Hong Kong has recently launched a International Design Ideas Competition for Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point Passenger Terminal Building and has shared with us their press release for this important piece of infrastructure.

For the full press release and the competition website please follow us after the break.
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© OMA - Chu Hai College in Hong Kong

Earlier today it was announced that OMA teamed with AMO have been commissioned to develop a new vision, Railway Vision 2020, for Hong Kong’s MTR, urban transit authority. Together they will produce new branding and identity, site analysis, sustainability research, and usage patterns studies. OMA will also be designing two prototype stations that will eventually span the entire transit network in Hong Kong. The prototype stations are expected to open before 2014.

The Railway Vision 2020 plan will be a collaborative effort between OMA (architecture) + AMO (design and research) with Stanford University, the City University of Hong Kong, and the University of Hong Kong.

This recent commission is a continuation of OMA’s ongoing success in Hong Kong.  OMA unveiled their master plan design for the West Kowloon Cultural District in late August, and produced the winning design earlier last year for the new campus of Chu Hai College in Hong Kong.

For the complete press release click here.

Courtesy of Rocker-Lange

Rocker-Lange architects shared with us the release of their research project, Serial Architecture – Systems of Multiplicities, which was also part of the exhibit “Quotidian Architectures” in the Hong Kong Pavillion at the Venice Biennale 2010. The project, accompanied by a 400+ book, rethinks quotidian architecture in Hong Kong, a city with an average density of over 6,300 people per square kilometer. More images and architect’s description after the break. read more »

Courtesy of Zoohaus

Now this is dense.  Kowloon Walled City, a Chinese settlement in Hong Kong was at one time thought to be the most dense place on the planet.  A Japanese team was able to document the city in section before it was disassembled in 1993.

Additional photographs following the break.

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© OMA

OMA’s first completed project in Hong Kong opened just last month. The Edouard Malingue Gallery is the city’s first gallery dedicated to Impressionist and Modernist masterpieces. The design juxtaposes two distinct environments: for the 750 square feet of exhibition space, an articulated sequence of three rooms encased in an aluminium volume visible from the street; for reception and administration, an open office area that reveals the original structure of the building.

More about the Edouard Malingue Gallery after the break.

Architects: OMA
Location: Hong Kong
Partner-in-charge: Rem Koolhaas
General Manager – Architect: David Gianotten
Project Leader: Giulia Foscari
Design Team: Jim Doson, Ekaterina Golovatyuk, Ravi Kamisetti, Katja Lam, Ted Lin, Betty Ng, Viviano Villarreal Bueron, Patrizia Zobernig
Contractor: EDM Construction Ldt
M&E Services, Fire Services and Structure: Arup
Acoustics: DVH Building and Industry
Lighting System: Zumtobel Ldt
Security System: ADT
Furniture: Cassina
Client: Edouard Malingue
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: OMA

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© Rocco Design Architects Limited

Here’s the third proposal by Rocco Design Architects Limited for the West Kowloon Cultural District (be sure to view OMA’s proposal and Foster + Partners’ proposal previously featured on AD).   Rocco’s concept, entitled ”Cultural Connect: Key to Sustained Vitality,” started with two basic questions - Have we ever wondered why we are fascinated by Qing Ming Riverside? And, why exactly do we want a West Kowloon Cultural Dsitrict.   Using these questions are a starting point, the proposal seeks to design a place where different groups of people can enjoy different activities “in the same space and at the same time.”

More about the proposal including images after the break. read more »

© Foster + Partners by Methanoia

Continuing with our coverage of the West Kowloon Arts District, here’s Foster+Partners’ proposal entitled City Park.  The proposal is based around a 23-hectare Great Park which will hold a sampling of cultural buildings of varying scales.  From the large Arena, Opera House and Exhibition Center to the smaller teahouses and small temples scattered throughout the landscape, the park will be a welcoming entity programmed to provide for the public.  Lord Foster, Founder and Chairman, said, “Hong Kong is a great city and this project captures what is important about its DNA: the civic spaces, the squares, the parks, the greenery, the avenues and the small side streets. At ‘City Park’ we have created a world class setting for a new cultural city for everyone.”

More images and more about the master plan after the break. read more »

Opening Ceremony. Photo via Bustler

On Monday, we shared OMA’s master plan proposal (a series of 3 villages that re-think traditional arts components) for the West Kowloon new arts district.  As we mentioned, OMA’s plan is competing with two other master plans – Foster + Partners and Rocco Design Architects Limited.  We’re excited to share these two master plans with you this week and get your feedback for the plan that you feel is most successful.

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority is beginning the Stage 2 Public Engagement exercise which will last for three months in order to provide the public with the opportunity to review all three plans. The plans will be judged upon their creativity, accessibility, connectivity, integration, vibrancy, uniqueness and sustainability.

A questionnaire will be distributed to each person viewing the plans asking for his/her opinion.  The Panel is very interested to hear the public’s opinion and the views from the exercise will have significant bearings on the Conceptual Plan Option eventually selected by the Authority.  It makes perfect sense for the public to have a strong voice in this new arts district, and we’re looking forward to hearing yours as we share the plans with you.

via Bustler

This past week, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority of Hong Kong unveiled OMA’s conceptual master plan for a new arts district (Koolhaas’ plan is one of three competing proposals). Divided into three villages, the 40 hectacre waterfront site places strong emphasis on the quality of the street life and the “cultural production where all aspects of the creative process are nurtured and made visible.”  The master plan has been years in the making, as Koolhaas established an office in Hong Kong to better understand the culture and context, as well as collaborate with financial and culture experts to design a feasible plan to positively affect the communities involved. Rem Koolhaas commented, “Using the village – a typology every citizen of Hong Kong is familiar with – as the model for our plan allows us to absorb the massive scale of WKCD’s ambition into manageable portions and forge deep connections with Kowloon, whose vital urban energy will be the lifeblood of WKCD.”

Images and more information about the master plan after the break. read more »

© Adrian Lo

Architect Adrian Lo shared with us his proposal for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Boundary Crossing Facilities Competition. See more images and architect’s description after the break. read more »

Courtesy of Adrian Lo

Architect Adrian Lo shared with us his proposal for the New Links New Kwun Tong Design Ideas Competition (see all the results here) in Hong Kong. The competition invited local professionals and the general public to submit ideas and concepts with innovative designs for the two pedestrian link systems in Kwun Tong for reference and implementation.

See more images and architect’s description after the break. read more »

On the occasion of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, INBAR and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries are organizing the International Bamboo and Rattan Products Ideas Competition to help drive green practices in cities around the world.

The competition theme will respond to the Expo’s theme “Better City, Better Life” by focusing on four categories- clothing, food, shelter and transport. This competition will provide a platform for producers, designers, practitioners, and organizations from around the world to present their innovative approaches to building green cities worldwide with bamboo and rattan.

For more information, visit the competition’s official website. Seen at Death by Architecture.

First Prize

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) is an unprecedented important strategic road corridor which links up three regions in the Pearl River Delta, China. In mid 2009, Highways Department initiated to organize an International Design Ideas Competition. Results were announced this month.

See the winners after the break. read more »

Architect Gary Chang’s apartment is located in downtown Hong Kong, and represents a remarkable example of interior refurbishment. With only 32 sqm, Chang studied the different distribution possibilities to optimize his space.

More information and images after the break. read more »

© Nirut Benjabanpo

Architects: CL3 Architects
Location: Island East, Hong Kong, China
Project Team: William Lim, Raymond Chow, Arthur Wai
Client: Swire Properties
Project Area: 17,000 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Nirut Benjabanpo

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The Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities International Design Ideas Competition invites qualified professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, planning and surveying and the general public to contribute ideas and concepts on the design for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF) for reference and future implementation by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSARG).

Registrations closes ends February 8. For more information on submission and schedule, go to the competition’s official website.

© OMA

OMA in association with Leigh & Orange Architects have won the international competition for a 28,000m2 campus for the Chu Hai College of Higher Education in Hong Kong.

The project consists on two 8-stories tall parallel volumes with a rich public space in between, housing three faculties (arts, science and engineering, business), with 10 departments and 2 research centers.

What I like about this project is how OMA incorporated the multidisciplinary focus of this college, trough a rich public space between these two volumes, a topography with library, cafeteria, gym and lecture theaters, which given its ramps, steps and shaded platforms, generate several different spaces for socializing, meeting, studying, etc. So, students from this 3 faculties will flow into this central public space, mixing together.

This project is led by Rem Koolhaas, General Manager of OMA Asia (Hong Kong) David Gianotten and associate Chris van Duijn.

More images after the break:

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© Ida Sze & Billy Chan

The theme of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo is “Better City, Better Life”, and the special theme for the Hong Kong Pavilion is “Hong Kong – a city with unlimited potential“. A concept design competition was held in 2008 and received some 80+ submissions. Ida & Billy’s submission was awarded the Frist Prize, and formed the basis for the final design and execution by the government and another architectural firm.

Their design is driven by the functional needs of the pavilion, that is how to provide the required exhbition space and other facilities within a limited space and with a height limit; and to make the Hong Kong Pavilion, which is much smaller in size than the other pavilions, to still have its own attraction and uniqness.

More images and full architect’s description after the break. read more »

© Bai Xiaoci

A new installation by Ball Nogues Studio for the 2009 Shenzhen Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism, in collaboration with American Apparel.

Curator: Beatrice Galilee

Temporary spatial installations within urban cultures are a rapidly evolving phenomenon. Unlike “permanent” buildings, these structures nimbly respond to the accelerated temporality of cities on the move like Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Increasingly they provide the urban spectacles that “signature” buildings aim to deliver. Like never before, cities are adorned with provisional environments and architecturally scaled events. This situation has been further emboldened by the financial meltdown in 2008 as investors look to spend money on big urban spectacles without the financial commitment of making buildings. Within this economic outlook, the disposable plates of architecture are better investments than a collection of fine tableware. However, an important question looms when cleaning up after the meal: can the plate be composted or should it be colored with crayon and reused as a party decoration?

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