Date/Time
Date(s) - March 8, 2022
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Categories

• HSW

Dear Members

Please join our Fireside Chat, a joint venture between AIA Hong Kong and RIBA Hong Kong Chapter, in celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, 2022.

IWD is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year’s campaign theme, #BreakTheBias, focuses on topics that imagine a gender equal world, a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination – a world that is diverse, equitable, inclusive and a world where differences are valued and celebrated.

In recognizing the contributions of women around the world – particularly in our industry – we are honored to have Lay Bee Yap, Louise Browne, J Lee Rofkind, FAIA, and Kathy Zhu Schleiss, Assoc. AIA joining our Fireside Chat. During this webinar, the four speakers will share with us their career paths and contributions to sustainability and wellness as well as their advice for young architects and their proudest achievements and challenges in architecture.

This event will be moderated by Nuno Da Silva Tang, Assoc. AIA, Co-Chair of our AIA Hong Kong Programs Committee.

Details

Date:   March 8, 2022 (Tuesday)
Time:  6:30 – 7:30 PM (HKT)
CES:   1.0 LU/HSW
Fee:    Gratis

What We Learned From This Webinar:

1. be disciplined about your time management

2. be yourself

3. there’s still a long way to gender equality. Let’s work towards 50-50!

About the Speakers

Lay Bee Yap

As the Group Director of Architecture & Urban Design at URA Singapore, Lay Bee leads a multi-disciplinary team of architects and planners developing urban design strategies and formulates policies and programmes that continue to make Singapore a green, sustainable, attractive and vibrant global city. She has experience in public-private partnerships, having worked closely with other government and private sector agencies in Singapore to implement key projects. Lay Bee also oversees and carries out policy reviews, and organises public programmes to promote architectural and urban design excellence in the city state.

Louise Browne

Based in Hong Kong, Louise is a Principal at Grimshaw overseeing their China projects. Her career has taken her across the globe from Brazil to Ireland, Egypt, Hong Kong, and Australia. Her rich portfolio spans many sectors, from infrastructure and education to cultural projects – notably The Grand Museum in Egypt, a prototype high-rise school in Sydney, and, most recently, the Shenzhen East Airport Terminal 1 and transport hub.  She is the mother of three active boys who, when not running around after them, can often be found running on the trails of Hong Kong.

J Lee Rofkind, FAIA, LEED AP

J Lee Rofkind, FAIA, LEED AP, is the Principal and Regional Leader of Hospitality at HOK Hong Kong. With extensive experience designing luxury hotels around the world, she has covered three sides of the hotel design table:  operations, architecture and interior design.  She brings passion, creativity and practical insights to her practice.

J Lee has worked with various international hotel operators in China, Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Australia, North America and Europe.  She has a talent for transforming each client’s vision into timeless and modern designs, creating memorable guest experiences that express both the brand’s identity and the local culture.  Originally from Chicago and based in Hong Kong for the last 30 years, J Lee exemplifies a global thought leader with an innate ability to solve the most complex design problems, each one with a unique solution.

Kathy Zhu Schleiss, Assoc. AIA

Kathy Zhu Schleiss has more than 20 years professional practice in the Asia Pacific region and is currently the Managing Director of a German architecture firm. Under her leadership, the team won the SusTec in Shenzhen and the Foshan German Center. Kathy is the 2022 President of AIA Shanghai and has been a Board member of the Shanghai Chapter since 2014.  This year, she is also serving as a Board Member of AIA International. Kathy had previously served the Shanghai Chapter as Chair of the Outreach Committee in 2015/2016, and Chair of Women in Architecture in 2019.

About the Moderator

Nuno Da Silva Tang, Assoc. AIA

Nuno Da Silva Tang, Assoc. AIA, was born in Hong Kong. With a multicultural Chinese and Portuguese background, Nuno moved to Montreal at the age of six where he developed a passion for design and studied architecture at McGill University. He joined Louis Vuitton in Paris upon completing his studies and created new designs for the brand’s boutiques. Having gained expertise in luxury design, Nuno returned to Hong Kong to reconnect with his roots and to practice architecture in a new context.  In 2017, he launched his private practice where he has developed an approach to providing thoughtful and inventive designs for a wide range of spaces. Among other honors, in 2020 his design for HKU’s Li Ka Shing Medical School Lobby won the World Architecture Community Awards (WA Awards) and received international and local attention.