Dear Members & Friends:
Some of you were able to escape the searing heat of August to vacation destinations far away. As the summer comes to a close, the Chapter has prepared a number of ‘cool’ events for the coming months.
Before I highlight these programs, it is my pleasure to draw your attention to a couple of things. The AIA National online publication, CONNECTION (The Architecture and Design Journal Of the Young Architects Forum) interviewed Ken Hau, AIA and Vikki Lew, AIA, about the AIA Hong Kong’s Young Architects Initiatives and YAG programs in 2015-2016. The journal also published a featured article : Emerging Hong Kong Firms including interviews with Vicky Chan, AIA, Kevin Lim, Assoc. AIA and Caroline Chou, Assoc. AIA. To conclude this Hong Kong special edition, it interviewed Sean Chiao, FAIA, in the article titled : “The Challenges of the Asia-Pacific Region”. Please take a moment to review it here.
I’m also proud to present to you our 2016 AIA Hong Kong Leadership Video Interviews produced by Scott Brooks, architectural photographer and AIA Hong Kong member. The 1st series includes seven interviews – with Christian Low, Christine Bruckner, Diane Legge Kemp, Grover Dear, John Chan, Moira Moser and Peter Basmajian, some of whom are AIA Fellows and all of whom are past Chapter Presidents and building industry leaders. While planning the interviews, Scott had this to say about the project, “Although I’m not an architect, I’ve been involved in the building industry and development finance for over 25 years. The AIA and its members are some of the most approachable and engaging professionals anywhere in the industry. Past chapter leadership and Fellows of the American Institute of Architects represent a deep knowledge base of industry practices and insights into future trends. Our goal with these videos should be to make this knowledge more accessible to our members, and promote the advocacy and community goals of the AIA, through an ongoing series addressing thought-provoking questions facing our industry and society in general.” Don’t miss out on this inspiring series of video interviews – available here.
On Wednesday, September 21, the Chapter and RIBA (HK) will jointly host a movie night featuring a documentary about the life and work of Frei Otto, one of the most celebrated German architects of the 20th century. The film Frei Otto : Spanning the Future is a 60 minute feature by filmmakers Simon Chiu (Executive Producer) and Joshua V. Hassel (Director). It will be Asia’s Premiere screening and Simon Chiu will be present to meet the audience and to answer any questions.
We will host a dinner to welcome our design awards panel of jurors on September 23rd. This year we are honored to have a distinguished panel including Yu-Ngok Lo, AIA (Principal, YNL Architects), Steven Miller, FAIA (International Director, AIA), Vincent Ng, HKIA, JP (President, HKIA), Nasrine Seraji (Founding Partner, Atelier Seraji Architects & Associes) and Takashi Yanai (Managing Partner, Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects). We are also pleased that Nasrine and Takashi will present their recent works.
The Chapter’s main event of the year, the AIA Hong Kong Honors & Awards Ceremony will be held on October 11 at the Marketplace, PMQ, Central, when the 2016 Design Awards and Chapter Citations will be announced. All of the submissions will be on exhibit at PMQ during and after the ceremony so come join the best design awards ceremony of the year and celebrate the awards with this year’s winners.