Winner: William Lim, CL3 Architects
Award: Honor Award for Architecture

Ladder - Bamboo Installation, Venice Biennale 2006
This installation demonstrates a very unusual bamboo construction technique which is unique to Hong Kong. Made up of 500 bamboo ladders tied together with traditional hand knotting technique, it resembles the solidity of a Chinese Fortress. The organic bamboo and the manual knots make each joint different, yet when repeated in an orderly way, results in a clear system of organization. The layers of ladders result in a visually complex yet controlled composition. A gap which serves as an entrance splits the structure in two, weakening the lateral forces of each side. 30 red neon tubes, representing the 30 days in a Lunar month, encased in clear acrylic tubes, act as the structural tie beams to pull the two sides together. A floor of red mirror reflects and duplicates the structure downwards. The black lacquered bamboo represents Hong Kong Heritage, and the red neon and mirror represents our city’s vibrancy and energy.

BACK