ARCH5110/6110C
Advanced Architectural Design Studio I & II – Nature City / City Nature
Target Students MArch1, MArch2
Course Term 1 & 2
Course Type Required
Venue Studio
Teacher(s) TANG, Elva / GODEFROY, Claude Bøjer / LEON, Diego Ramirez
The studio is the continuation of our design studio series that focuses on sustainability in the context of Hong Kong. We aim to formulate and develop a specific and sustainable architecture for Hong Kong. A Charter for Hong Kong Architecture has been developed over past studios and will serve as the foundation of this studio.
Today Hong Kong’s public realm is scarce, harsh, overheated, polluted and nature is absent. Minuscule flats and outdated workspaces with noisy aircons force people into alienating shopping malls. We believe the agenda for a sustainable future for Hong Kong should be to strive for:
- a specific architecture that nurtures the uniqueness of its culture;
- a subtropical architecture that creates comfort and wellbeing by passive means;
- a green architecture that brings nature back into the heart of our city; and
- an engaged architecture that gives back to the city and addresses social challenges.
This design studio will consider the above agenda wholistically with focus to create a green architecture in Hong Kong that brings nature back into the heart of our city. We choose to transform and innovate along the tram line on the Hong Kong Island.
Students will work individually on their chosen programs and site while experimenting with hybridity of programs. The programs should support a place of working or a place of living for a sustainable future. The working/living component should be integrated with public program(s), for examples a local library, an auditorium, a kindergarten, a church, a small museum/exhibition hall, a community hall, a food court etc. Program hybridity, multiple usage and flexibility should be considered as part of a wholistic sustainable approach.
We will research the many initiatives and regulations in different parts of the world that pushes for the greener cities. A field trip to Singapore in October will be the focus of study. Singapore, renowned for its innovative approaches to urban sustainability and green living, serves as a living laboratory where students can observe successful case studies and best practices in integrating nature into architecture and urban development. We will visit successful examples of buildings and urban parks, as well as engage into dialogues with public and private stakeholders in the city.
Learning from the research, we will experiment and define a set of Development Guidelines for the HK Island Tram line transformation. This array of projects will combine into “Hong Kong Stories”; a collection of case studies to showcase a sustainable future for the city.
