(From left to right) Mr Michael Ng, Partner of Foster + Partners; Dr Rocco Yim, Executive Director, Rocco Design Architects; Prof Jacques Herzog, Founding Partner of Herzog & de Meuron; Mr Henry Tang, Chairman of the WKCDA Board; Prof Pierre de Meuron, Founding Partner of Herzog & de Meuron; Mr Duncan Pescod, Chief Executive Officer of WKCDA; Mr Venelin Kokalov, Design Principal and Principal-in-Charge of Bing Thom Architects; Mr Ascan Mergenthaler, Senior Partner of Herzog & de Meuron. Courtesy of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
(6 December 2017, Hong Kong) The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) starts the festive month of December with an almost unique gathering of celebrated architects who have been involved in the master planning for the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) and designing its major arts and cultural facilities.
Hosted by Henry Tang, the Chairman of the WKCDA Board, and Duncan Pescod, Chief Executive Officer of WKCDA, the participating architects include:
- Michael Ng of Foster + Partners whose ‘City Park’ design is the vision now being realised into the Development Plan for WKCD;
- Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, and Ascan Mergenthaler of the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron whose design for the M+ building has received worldwide attention;
- Venelin Kokalov of Bing Thom Architects whose late founding principal led the design of the Xiqu Centre; and
- Rocco Yim of Rocco Design Architects which has been selected as the design consultant for the Hong Kong Palace Museum.
“WKCD is firmly on track to becoming a world-class integrated arts and cultural district. The first two flagships buildings have reached major construction milestones and will be opening to the public in the coming years,” said Mr Pescod. The Xiqu Centre project now clearly standing proud at the junction of Canton Road and Austin Road is moving towards the final phase of fitting out and the statutory building inspections are underway. The M+ building recently passed its most challenging phase of construction with the completion of the mega trusses to distribute the architecture’s massive weight safely over the tunnels of the Airport Express.
The coming Friday, M+ invites Soichiro Fukutake, an acclaimed Japanese architect, to share his experience and insight in the first Keynote event of the ongoing M+ Matters series, ‘Miracle of the Benesse Art Site Naoshima’. This talk is a partner programme of the Business of Design Week 2017.
Another highlight of this month is Rethinking Pei: A Centenary Symposium, a two-part symposium seeking to re-examine I.M. Pei in the context of the architect’s 100th birthday year. Two linked conferences organised by M+ with, respectively, the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong.
Last but not least, this month also see the three shortlisted Pavilion designs for the inaugural Hong Kong Young Architects and Designers Competition entering into the final selection stage leading to the announcement of the winner early next year. The competition is the first of its kind in Hong Kong aimed specifically at showcasing the creativity and potential of local architects and designers still in the early stages of their careers.