Enter the design - a chance to shape Lee shrine
An open competition has been announced to design a Bruce Lee museum at the late kung fu star's former Kowloon Tong home - the first step to making it an attraction for his fans around the world.
As well as restoring the two-storey house at 41 Cumberland Road - which became a love hotel - designers must consider the look of a cinema and library to be built next to it.
The competition was agreed yesterday in talks between the government and the villa's owner, Yu Panglin, who has agreed to donate the property - worth HK$100 million - for the project. The actor spent his last years there before his death in 1973 at the age of 32.
'The competition will allow the incorporation of suitable design elements to maximise the use of space when restoring the property to its original appearance,' a government spokesman said.
Mr Yu will head a panel of adjudicators. Representatives from Kowloon City District Council and the architects', town planners' and surveyors' institutes would be invited to join it, said Michael Choi Ngai-min, chairman of property consultancy Land Power International, who has been helping Mr Yu on the project.
Mr Choi said the government was already working on the project - considering traffic arrangements and ways to expand the site's floor space, such as making the basement bigger.
'They have also begun contacting personalities related to Bruce Lee's life and career, including his daughter Shannon, his classmates from La Salle College, Golden Harvest [film studio] founder Raymond Chow Ting-hsing, veteran actors Shek Kin and Lam Kau,' he said.
Surveyor Raymond Chan Yuk-ming, who will help run the competition, said it could help achieve consensus on the project. He expects overseas interest in the contest.
