Sustainable design and the impact that buildings and the construction industry have on the environment and climate change are of increasing importance worldwide. As architects, we have a shared responsibility to develop our cities without negatively impacting the use of resources and energy, and by minimizing the production of waste.
How can BIM assist?
BIM ensures that architects have more control over every aspect of their projects, from the way that spaces are arranged and oriented to the selection of materials and the efficiency of construction systems. Once a Digital Twin, or Virtual Project, has been created it is easy to evaluate each project in the virtual environment before the actual construction takes place. We can thereby make a big difference on the impact of what we design by optimizing our projects in terms of reduced energy consumption, the use of recycled materials – where possible – proper access and orientation, and the minimization of waste by careful control of quantities.
You can use your smartphone, tablet or PC to join. Install the zoom.us application prior to the meeting.
1. Please use your real name for registration so that we can credit 1.0 LU to you.
2. All attendees should mute their audio during the presentation to avoid signal interference.
3. On this occasion, only the host and panellists will be allowed to speak.
4. You may, however, type questions in the Q&A box at the bottom of your zoom screen.
5. The panellists will review your questions and provide responses, time allowing.
6. The presentation will be recorded.
Eugenio Fontan
• Master in Architecture – UPM (Spain)
• ARB Registered Architect
• HKIBIM Member
Eugenio Fontan is currently based in Hong Kong and has more than 12 years of experience on different kinds of projects using BIM in combination with other technologies. He has practiced in Europe, the Middle East and South-East Asia and is a Co-Founder of Enzyme APD, an international architecture and technology implementation firm. Currently with GRAPHISOFT, Eugenio utilizes BIM software to increase architects’ productivity and efficiency on a consultancy basis.
AIA Hong Kong is pleased to host a tour to Yi Pei Square Playground park, recently launched by Design Trust Futures Studio and other collaborators and stakeholders in the community.
Yi Pei Square Playground is a testament to Design Trust’s continuous and dedicated efforts in bringing together the local communities and other stakeholders from both private and public sectors to transform the unique concepts by cross-disciplinary design experts into meaningful outcomes that impact society or public spaces in Hong Kong. The Park explores the idea of creating a “communal living room” within a densely populated residential area in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, that is surrounded by subdivided flats, suitable for residents of all ages. The design of the space incorporated the residents’ needs researched through a series of public engagement and workshops, facilitating multi-generational interactions for residents. The public space allows the public to enjoy the inclusive and custom-made play equipment, dedicated leisure and activities zones for different users as well as the specially designed graphics and floor patterns. More details on the park here: https://designtrust.hk/newsletter/yi-pei-square-playground-tsuen-wan/
In this tour, Marisa Yiu, AIA, co-founder and Executive Director of Design Trust will share and discuss the collaborative process involved and her devotion to the positive values of design in the role for shaping a better Hong Kong and the region we live in. Please RSVP (rsvp@aiahk.org) with your full name and membership number by 5:00pm on Thursday May 13, 2021 and, if you have any questions, contact the Chapter office at rsvp@aiahk.org / 2882-6011.
Tour Date May 15, 2021 – Saturday
Time 1:30pm – 3:30pm
Location Yi Pei Square Playground, Tsuen Wan (Sha Tsui Road / Chuen Lung Street)
Fee HK$100
About the Speaker
Marisa Yiu, AIA
Co-Founder, Executive Director | DESIGN TRUST | HK
Founding Partner | ESKYIU | HK
MARISA YIU is the Co-founder and Executive Director of DESIGN TRUST, an initiative of Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design, which is a registered charity founded in 2007. DESIGN TRUST encourages and supports creative research initiatives related to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, within an international context. She has been instrumental in shaping the growth of this NGO since 2014, and spearheaded the Design Trust Futures Studio program in 2017. Yiu is also a practicing architect and Founding Partner of ESKYIU, an award winning, multi-disciplinary architectural design and research studio that actively integrates culture, community, art and technology into their projects, from their base in Hong Kong.
We often think about contemporary architecture in terms of its immediate impact, its hardware or software, plain or covert political objectives and so on. It is only when we have a bit of distance that we can then talk about its contribution to Architecture, vis-à-vis the works’ impact on the profession, on a city’s image, so on and so forth.
In Curating Architecture as Knowledge Production, Shirley Surya will discuss her work on curating Architecture as a geographically specific yet transnational design and historical project. We will be treated to her perspective on collecting architectural works as points for introspection, conjectures, and perhaps even validation – and just in time as Hong Kong gains new narratives through the M+ Design and Architecture collection.
You can use your smartphone, tablet or PC to join. Install the zoom.us application prior to the meeting.
1. Please use your real name for registration so that we can credit 2.0 LUs to you.
2. All attendees should mute their audio during the presentation to avoid signal interference.
3. On this occasion, only the host and panellists will be allowed to speak.
4. You may, however, type questions in the Q&A box at the bottom of your zoom screen.
5. The panellists will review your questions and provide responses, time allowing.
6. The presentation will be recorded.
The four exhibitions covered under this talk may be viewed via the links below:
[Yung Ho Chang + FCJZ: Material-ism (UCCA, Beijing, 2012)]
https://ucca.org.cn/en/exhibition/yung-ho-chang-fcjz-material-ism//
[Building M+ The museum and architecture collection (ArtisTree, Hong Kong, 2014)]
https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/whats-on/past-events/building-m-the-museum-and-architecture-collection/chapter/multimedia-199
[Incomplete urbanism: Attempts of Critical Spatial Practice (NTU CCA, Singapore, 2016)]
ntu.ccasingapore.org/exhibition/incomplete-urbanism-attempts-of-critical-spatial-practice
[In Search of Southeast Asia through M+ Collections (M+ Pavilion, Hong Kong, 2018)]
https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/insearchofsea/in-search-of-southeast-asia-through-the-m-collections
Speaker’s Profile
Shirley Surya is the Curator for Design and Architecture at M+, the new museum for visual culture in Hong Kong which will open at the end of 2021.
Since 2012, Shirley has contributed to building the M+ Collections through her research on design and architectural production in greater China and Southeast Asia. She co-curated Building M+: The Museum & Architecture Collection (2014), NEONSIGNS.HK (2014), In Search of Southeast Asiathrough the M+ Collections (2018) and the museum’s opening displays that will focus on Hong Kong and key narratives from the Design and Architecture collection.
Shirley received her BA in Media Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and her MA in History of Design from the Royal College of Art in London.
AIA Hong Kong 1st Quarterly Meeting – 2021
+ Urban Spectre – Memories and Spatial History in Hong Kong Cinema
Date
May 6th 2021 –Thursday
Time
1st Quarterly Meeting 7:00 – 7:30pm
Urban Spectre 7:30 – 9:00pm
Credit
1.5 LUs/HSW
Format
Zoom Webinar
Gratis
About the Event: Urban Spectre – Memories and Spatial History in Hong Kong Cinema
After the 1st Quarterly Meeting, this webinar will consider how the spatial history of our city is like a ghost that still lingers within Hong Kong films.
We will revisit different kinds of living spaces – both the physical spaces themselves and via topophilia, or “the sense of place”, as seen through the lens of Hong Kong cinema and with reference to a new book by Dr. Esther MK Cheung.
Featured Movies
1. Made in Hong Kong 香港制造 (1997)
2. The Longest Summer 去年煙花特別多 (1998)
3. Little Cheung 細路祥 (1999)
4. Young and Dangerous film series 古惑仔系列 (1995-2000)
5. Port of Call 踏血尋梅 (2015)
6. Weeds on Fire 點五步 (2016)
7. A Mad World 一念無明 (2016)
8. Beyond the Dream 幻愛 (2019)
9. Still Human 淪落人 (2018)
10. One Second Champion 一秒拳王 (2020)
You can use your smartphone, tablet or PC to join. Install the zoom.us application prior to the meeting.
1. Please use your real name for registration so that we can credit 1.5 LUs/HSW to you.
2. All attendees should mute their audio during the presentation to avoid signal interference.
3. On this occasion, only the host and panellists will be allowed to speak.
4. You may, however, type questions in the Q&A box at the bottom of your zoom screen.
5. The panellists will review your questions and provide responses, time allowing.
6. The presentation will be recorded.
Siu Heng is a veteran arts administrator and communications professional. He has worked for various educational and cultural institutions, organizing and promoting arts, cultural programmes and film festivals. Having started his own company in 2014, he has continued to serve Hong Kong’s creative sectors as an experienced editor and translator, and has recently translated a book on Hong Kong cinema study.
Siu Heng holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Translation, and an M.A. in Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Hong Kong, and has been a member of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society since 2006.
Alfred S. H. Ho
Alfred Ho is a Hong Kong architect and urban researcher who graduated from the University of Hong Kong and subsequently obtained his Master’s Degree in Architecture from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He has written on topics as varied as Hong Kong consumer culture and consumption, housing, conservation, and urban development. Alfred set up Urban Studies Institute Limited as a charitable institution in late 2017 for urban research, conservation initiatives, architecture and community design in Hong Kong.
He is currently establishing the Hong Kong Property Brochure Archive as an online historical and research database for private housing in Hong Kong from the 1960s to 2010 and onwards.
Moderators
Fei Mui, AIA
Chang Su, AIA
This webinar will be moderated by 2021 AIA Hong Kong Programs Co-chairs Fei Mui, AIA, and Chang Su, AIA.
With Spring well underway, we have made some headway on several initiatives this year. This newsletter is a brief update ahead of our First Quarterly Meeting next month, date to be announced in an upcoming EDM.
for young members and aspiring architects
PATH TO LICENSURE
We kicked off the year with our Becoming an Architect webinar, when our Young Architect’s Group (YAG) chair, Hinki Kwong, spoke to 57 students from The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Chu Hai College of Higher Education and City University of Hong Kong on becoming US licensed architects. The presentation was followed by a discussion with Su Chang, Dennis Cheung and Josely Lam on their experiences of M. Arch programs in the US. The Q&A session was particularly lively as the three speakers had graduated from local undergraduate programs themselves and could relate well to our audience.
Many students showed keen interest in pursuing professional development and registration in the US and this has even sparked interest in renewals in our student membership category.
MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
From this group of students, we were able to launch the YAG mentorship program with an inaugural batch of 70 mentees and 15 mentors. Hinki Kwong led the hour-long icebreaker where mentors and mentees got to ‘mingle’ in a virtual landscape. Many thanks to our mentors for heeding our call to serve, and we look forward to hearing more as the program progresses this year.
The 2-hour long webinar attracted 2,000 viewers across various social platforms and is currently the most-watched video in AIA Hong Kong’s history. The webinar gave a detailed breakdown of the architectural and structural quality of Bishop Hill. Heritage leaders shared their insights on how old buildings are being evaluated, in Hong Kong and overseas, on both their cultural and architectural merit. The presentation also addressed many questions about the complicated process of heritage assessment and showed a potential future for the protection of Bishop Hill as part of the water supply infrastructure in Kowloon.
As part of our technical workshop series, Eugenio Fontan from Graphisoft shared insights on the latest BIM trends and best practices. For those who missed this primer, the recording will be made available on our YouTube channel. Eugenio was back on March 23rd and 25th with two deep-dive workshops on “sustainable project development” and “BIM in 100 clicks,” respectively, for anyone who was interested in energy modeling and learning more about Archicad – and two more sessions are scheduled for May. Hopefully, at least one of these can take place at our PMQ Chapter Office. Again, we are using a Doodle survey after the March sessions where you can tell us what you’d like to learn by casting your vote on a topic of interest – so make sure you stay until the end and let us know!
Separately, we are excited to advise that Autodesk has joined our Corporate Affiliate program. We are working with their team for BIM training sessions and webinars on several URA heritage case studies (Central Market and the Shanghai Street Project), artificial intelligence and generative design.
Paul and Evelyn from New Office Works (NOW) kicked off the First Projects series with a candid account of their journey from school to practice. If you have visited the Growing Up pavilion, the office’s winning entry in the Hong Kong Young Architects & Designers Competition, you will have appreciated this talk as the duo retraced the development of their ideas and design vocabularies through a balance of research, competition and commissioned work.
We found the “Middle Man Hong Kong” video essays a particularly inspiring example of self-initiated projects that are just as important to forming a practice as paid commissions. Supported by Design Trust, the video essays take a fresh look at Hong Kong’s urbanity through the lens of architecture, offering key takeaways that underline the studio’s approach to their later work.
A warm thank you to Jeff Tung and Winnie Yeung of New World Development for giving us a stellar tour of the State Theatre on King’s Road. Winnie and Jeff reanimated the building and the neighborhood’s transformation over the last 70 years, virtually peeling off layers of the facade in the internal arcade as we went back in time from the retail outlets and billiards halls of the 1990s to its glorious origins as a premier theatre destination in the late ’50s. The project is scheduled to reopen in 2026, and we will arrange several more tours between now and then, so do stay tuned.
Due to the recurring spike/s in COVID numbers, however, EXCO has decided to take precautionary measures and postpone physical gatherings in the month of April during which time the Programs Committee will review the touring capacity of our proposed venue list. Conditions permitting, our goal is to begin reintroducing building tours in small groups of 4, starting in May.
COMMUNICATIONS
Welcome Ivan Mak, who has joined our Communications Committee and will be managing the Chapter’s LinkedIn Account. Together with Catherine Kao on Instagram, Scott Brooks, our Communications Committee Chair, and Peter Basmajian as our copy-editor, I think we are in good hands to tell the stories we have to share this year!
CHAPTER OFFICE UPGRADES
Last but not least, to better serve our membership and to enable greater participation in the broader community and, possibly, from other regions in the near future, we have embarked on three important IT upgrades, including a centralized, searchable communication channel for all committees, cloud accounting, and modernization of our website infrastructure. Many thanks to Chapter secretary Sung Won Lee for leading these efforts on Microsoft Teams for committee work, our Treasurer, Caroline Chou, for working with Fresh Accounting on Xero, and our office manager, Clare Huang, for implementing these updates!
AIA Hong Kong Chapter is going to launch a mentorship program for students, and we are now seeking both young and seasoned members to volunteer as mentors!
What you will need to do as a mentor:
Together with another mentor, you will be assigned with 2-3 mentees.
Join our online kick-off party on March 18, 2021;
Meet your mentees as a group twice this year – either online or in-person.
Who will be your mentees:
Students from accredited architectural programs from HKU, CUHK, City University and Chu Hai University.
Mentors who successfully complete our program will be given 3 LUs.
If you are interested to participate as a mentor, please fill in the questionnaire here.
AIA Hong Kong is excited to announce First Projects, a series of conversations about “the construction of a practice” with talented young individuals who have initiated and maintained a career in architecture and design.
Architects from Hong Kong, the US and the Asia-Pacific region will reflect upon how their firm started – be it a first house, a lost competition, an unsolicited proposal, or a work on paper – and how that became the catalyst for the architectural adventures they are in now.
We will kick off this series with Paul Tse AIA and Evelyn Ting AIA, co-founders and directors of New Office Works (NOW).
You can use your smartphone, tablet or PC to join. Install the zoom.us application prior to the meeting.
Please use your real name for registration so that we can credit 2 LUs to you.
All attendees should mute their audio during the presentation to avoid signal interference.
On this occasion, only the host and panellists will be allowed to speak.
You may, however, type questions in the Q&A box at the bottom of your zoom screen.
The panellists will review your questions and provide responses, time allowing.
The presentation will be recorded.
Speakers’ Profiles
Paul Tse, AIA
Paul is Co-founder and Design Director of New Office Works (NOW), and a registered architect in the State of New York. With over ten years of professional experience in London, Shanghai, New York and Beijing, Paul leads design and project management on architecture and interior projects. He received his Master of Architecture from RMIT University in Melbourne, and his Master in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University GSAPP, where he was awarded the Honor Award for Excellence in Design. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and winner of the 2019 DFA Young Talent Design Award.
Evelyn Ting, AIA
Evelyn is Co-founder and Managing Director of New Office Works (NOW), and a registered architect in the State of Massachusetts. With experience in architecture and editorial work environments, Evelyn oversees both architecture projects and research initiatives and publications. She received her Master of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University. She was a teaching assistant for MIT’s Graduate Core Design Studio and was part of the curatorial team for the U.S pavilion at the 14th Venice Biennale. She is currently a Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.
New Office Works (NOW)
New Office Works (NOW) is an architecture and design studio devoted to the production of inventive spaces and objects. Based in Hong Kong, the office creates projects that build upon the vocabulary accumulated “then” while satisfying the needs and desires of “now.” From buildings and interiors to art installations and furniture, each project encompasses an exploration of detail and material. The design process is a rigorous search for surprising results through hands-on crafting and making of models and prototypes, and careful studies of textures and finishes. NOW was named by Archdaily one of the Best Young Practices of 2020, and has won numerous competitions such as 1st prize in the inaugural Hong Kong Young Architects & Designers Competition. The office is also recognized by various international awards such as Perspective Magazine’s 40 Under 40 and the Architecture MasterPrize. Recently completed projects include the West Kowloon Pavilion, Hong Kong Design Centre, and a retail pavilion for DFS Group in Vietnam.
Happy Chinese New Year! Please be informed of our office arrangement over the holiday:
Feb 11: Office closes from 4:00pm for Chinese New Year’s Eve
Feb 12 – 19: Office closes for Chinese New Year holiday
Feb 22: COVID Office Hours resume:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday – PMQ office opens 10.00am – 5.00pm.
Tuesday, Thursday – Remote support
Stay Safe! We wish you and your family a healthy year of the Ox!
The Bishop Hill reservoir recently became “the talk of the town” when the underground structure was exposed during demolition and, with all the public attention, it’s very likely that the reservoir will now be conserved in one way or another. In our first webinar of 2021, we would like to explore how we might improve architectural conservation policies in Hong Kong by looking at other cities’ experience.
Shita Lam, who discovered the site in 2017 while doing research for her master’s thesis, will take us through the research she’s done with input from Architect Nicky Wong, founder of Hong Kong Heritage Exploration and Structural Engineer Marc Frost.
Fredo Cheung, Vice-President of the Hong Kong Institute of Architectural Conservationists will explain Hong Kong’s current heritage building grading system. Jennifer Lang, current Director of the MSc (Conservation) program at HKU, will discuss the US heritage conservation system based on her 30 years of experience there.
Professor Puay-peng Ho, Mr. Lee Chi Ming and John Raphael Miminas will join the session to explore possible strategies for further architectural conservation in the territory.
This event is supported by The Hong Kong Institute of Architectural Conservationists (HKICON) and The Institution of Civil Engineers, Hong Kong Association (ICE HKA).
You can use your smartphone, tablet or PC to join. Install the zoom.us application prior to the meeting.
Please use your real name for registration so that we can credit 2 LUs to you.
All attendees should mute their audio during the presentation to avoid signal interference.
On this occasion, only the host and panellists will be allowed to speak.
You may, however, type questions in the Q&A box at the bottom of your zoom screen.
The panellists will review your questions and provide responses, time allowing.
This webinar will also be available on FB live. If you use this platform instead of zoom, please be sure to leave your name and AIA number in the FB live comment box to ensure that you will be credited with the LUs.
Shita Lam Ka Wai
M.Arch; M.A. (Phil); BSSc (Arch Studies)(Hons)
Shita Lam holds BSSc (Arch Studies), Master of Architecture and Master of Arts in Philosophy degrees from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and is a Graduate Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects.
Lam’s research interest is concentrated on sacral architecture. During her 2018 study of urban voids in Hong Kong, she discovered the disused Bishop Hill underground service reservoir / balancing tank for which she proposed an adaptive reuse meditation space as her thesis. The reservoir subsequently gained prominent media attention in late 2020 when it was uncovered during demolition – which has since been suspended. Conservation grading by the Antiquities and Monuments Office will now be carried out while Lam continues her architectural research on the site.
Fredo Cheung
BA (Architectural Studies) HKU; Master of Architecture HKU; MSc (Conservation) HKU; HKICON
Fredo Cheung is the Vice-President of the Hong Kong Institute of Architectural Conservationists (HKICON). Before embarking on a career in heritage preservation, he worked at Leigh & Orange and, later, Ronald Lu & Partners, specializing in the design of institutional buildings in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the Middle East, and was involved in several award winning projects over the years. His encounter with heritage issues during his early career spurred his later interest in architectural conservation. Upon completion of his studies in the HKU Architectural Conservation Programme, he began to develop a portfolio of projects as a heritage consultant. Currently, he divides his time between teaching and pursuing his PhD.
Jennifer Lang
PhD HKU; MSc (Conservation) HKU; MS (Historic Preservation) Columbia University; BA (Art History) NYU
Jennifer Lang is an architectural historian and building conservationist with more than 30 years of combined professional and academic experience in built-heritage conservation. Currently, she is the Director of the MSc (Conservation) program and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong where she teaches graduate students in architectural conservation. She is the immediate past president of HKICON (Hong Kong Institute of Architectural Conservationists).
Jennifer has extensive experience documenting and evaluating industrial architecture and infrastructure. Notably, she has worked as a senior architectural historian for an environmental consulting firm in California documenting water conveyance systems, hydroelectric power stations and railroad features for the National Register Of Historic Places and for the California Register of Historical Resources.
Jennifer has a BA in Art History from NYU, an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University, and both an MS in Conservation and a PhD in Architecture from Hong Kong University. Her dissertation focused on the industrial architecture and company town housing of the Taikoo Sugar Refinery built by the Swire Company in Hong Kong from the 1880s to the 1970s.
Ho Puay Peng
UNESCO Chair on Architectural Heritage Conservation and Management in Asia
Professor and Head – Department of Architecture – National University of Singapore
Professor Ho holds the UNESCO Chair on Architectural Heritage Conservation and Management in Asia and is currently Head of the Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore.
Having close to 30 years of experience in academia, Puay-Peng’s main research interests are in architectural history and conservation practices, and in how such knowledge can be translated into teaching and practice. Prior to joining NUS in 2017, Puay-Peng was Professor of Architecture and Director of the School of Architecture and University Dean of Students at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sustaining his research is the quest to understand religious cultures and their architectural forms, while his main focus is the Buddhist architecture and rituals of medieval China.
Puay-Peng has been a conservation consultant, architect and adviser on some one hundred conservation projects in Hong Kong and Singapore since 2003, including the Police Married Quarters (PMQ), Haw Par Villa, Comix Homebase, Oil Street Art Space, the Court of Final Appeal, and the New Campus for Chicago University Booth School – all of which are in Hong Kong. He has also been appointed to many public and private boards and committees including Chairman of the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust; member of the Town Planning Board, the Antiquities Advisory Board, and, currently, the Senior Advisory Board of Global Heritage Fund; and as a Patron of the International Dunhuang Project of The British Library.
John Raphael Miminas
B.Arch; MSc UD; MSc CHB; SAR MSA MRAIC
John Miminas is an architectural designer with more than 18 years of combined architecture, urban design and heritage conservation experience. He recently joined Roger Mears Architects, London, where he is realising his dream of repairing historic church buildings and other places of worship.
Prior to this he helped establish the Queen Street West Conservation Area in Toronto, Canada. He is now involved with the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage which seeks to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on church buildings by helping manage, quantify and accelerate urgent repairs and sensitive maintenance.John has led the conservation and refurbishment of Grade II, Grade II* and Grade I listed buildings throughout London, including 18th century Georgian terrace houses, government buildings and the Royal Albert Hall.
John is a graduate of the Carleton University School of Architecture, Ottawa, Canada where he received his BArch; The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) for his MSc in Urban Design; and the University of Bath where he obtained his MSc in Conservation of Historic Buildings. He is a registered architect in Sweden.
Ir LEE Chi Ming is the Board Chairman of CarbonCare InnoLab, an NGO dedicated to exploring opportunities for action, innovation and awareness on climate change and carbon reduction for the people of Hong Kong. He is also the vice-chairman of the local think tank Land Watch, which specializes in the study of local land use policy. He is a director of Beeinventor, a company focusing on IoT (Internet of Things) technology to create smart products for improving both the health and safety of workers and the management of construction sites.
Ir LEE was the chairman of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Hong Kong Association (2013-2015) and the Hong Kong Representative to the ICE Council (2013-2017). Before his retirement from the Water Supplies Department after 32 years of service, he was the head of the Design Division, overseeing the design and construction of projects worth more than HK$4 billion. He has extensive experience in project planning, finance and management as well as in EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) and other sustainability studies.
Greetings, and a warm welcome! This is our first AIA Hong Kong Chapter Newsletter of 2021.
I want to begin with a note of gratitude to our 2020 President, Vicky Chan, and to EXCO, and committee members for their distinguished service. Despite the challenges brought on by COVID, the Chapter offered no fewer than 13 LUs and 17 HSW/LUs over a host of webinars, FAIA speaker series, and a spirited design competition jointly hosted with RIBA to design community spaces for our past Community Citation winner, Light Be. These events told stories of resilience in our community, investigated wellness trends, debated deep learning in places of work, and explored the future of automated design and sustainable urban developments. They were well attended by local members and brought us closer to overseas chapters.
I would also like to recognize Yimei Chan, our Chapter’s first GBA representative, who, together with Florence Chan, 2020 secretary and 2021 vice president, have amassed a core group of architects in the region ready to collaborate with the Chapter.
On Chapter matters, I am pleased to welcome Graphisoft into our Corporate Affiliate program. As one of the leading champions for Open BIM, Graphisoft will share the latest trends and capabilities of BIM platforms in an upcoming series of seminars and deep-dive workshops.
The 2021-25 Strategic Plan is now complete. Special thanks to Scott Brooks for leading the strategic planning process; to Megan Donges and Yimei Chan for their direction during the formulation of the program; to Yimei, Yanshun Lee, and Christian Low for studying the strategic plans of other National Components for background information; to Yina Ng for shepherding the member survey from concept to collation of results; to Valerie Or for her valuable contributions throughout, and particularly for digesting volumes of National Component strategic planning reports; and to Nelson Chen, FAIA, for distilling the output from our planning workshops into the core statements that form the basis of our 2021-2025 Strategic Blueprint. More details to come on our website and posts, so do keep an eye out for them. In the meantime, I invite each of you to read the member survey summary report and, in particular, the top seven most requested items on page 6 of the report, which underpins our focus this year.
With that in mind, the 2021 theme to “Serve and Inspire” frames our strategy:
◦ To serve is to commit to the betterment of others, and to lead by doing, and thereby
◦ To inspire future generations of Citizen Architects
To grow our membership, we need to invest in our members and partners, current and future.
So this year, in addition to traditional building tours, technical seminars, and workshops, our programs committee, led by members Fei Mui and Su Chang, will be working closely with YAG chair Hinki Kwong to launch a series of initiatives aimed at promoting emerging practices, supporting aspiring Architects on their path to licensure, and implementing mentorship programs for all.
– The First project series will invite emerging practices both from within the membership as well as from around the world to share stories about their first commissions.
– In conjunction with grumpy hours, fire-side chats will aim to provide emotional and profes-sional support in a more casual setting. This will be a precursor to the formal mentoring program in the works.
– The Path to US Licensure will invite students from HKU, CUHK, Chu Hai College and CityU, all schools with HKIA accredited architecture programs to join YAG chair Hinki Kwong as he speaks with local graduates Dennis Cheung, Su Chang, and Josely Lam on their experiences and progression from local universities to the US and back. This event will be co-hosted with HKU, CUHK, Chu Hai College, and CityU.
– Open BIM workshops with Graphisoft will showcase the latest trend towards inclusive, open platform BIM collaborations, and follow on deep-dive workshops.
The first few confirmed events from these series will be as follows:
February 8th YAG: Path to US Licensure
February 18th Programs: Rediscovering Bishop Hill Reservoir
February 25th Programs: First Project Sereis / New Office Works
March 11th Programs: BIM and Computational Design / Graphisoft
June 11th Programs: First Project Series / Kwong Vong Linow
October 8th Programs: First Project Series / Chenchow Little
Please subscribe to the program’s calendar here and stay tuned to announcements for upcoming events. With a bit of luck, we shall resume physical events in Q2 / Q3. In the meantime, if you have any program suggestions and/or would like to submit a question to the Q&A portion of our events, please put the event name on the subject line and email your suggestion/questions to programs@aiahk.org by February 12th.
The Chapter is what we make of it. It is my honor to serve with such a committed team, and I look forward to meeting each and every one of you in due course.
Special thanks also to past president Kevin Lim who has agreed to stay on as our IR representative this year, to Caroline Chou for stepping up as treasurer, Ivy Tam for her years of service as membership chair, Joyce Lam, our incoming membership chair, Elva Tang, for a stellar job on H&A, Mona Yeung incoming H&A chair, and Peter Basmajian, who continues his long history of serving members and the Chapter by chairing, and hosting, the Nominating Committee for the 10th consecutive year.
Lastly, I would like to recognize the following individuals who have given their time to serve on Chapter committees in 2020, many of whom are staying on in 2021.
