The winning design of the controversial West Kowloon arts hub has been finally chosen although members of the arts community remain unconvinced.
British architect Norman Foster won the competition to design the arts hub earlier this month with his 'City Park' concept.
He actually won the competition in 2002, and his design included a huge canopy. But then-chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan announced the scrapping of a single-tender and canopy in 2004 because of public pressure.
The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority's announcement matched the results of a public poll and seems the popular choice. But architectural professionals said the decision reflected the government's usual conservatism.
Announcing the choice of Foster's plan over two other designs, one by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and the other by local architect Rocco Yim Sen-kee, the authority's chairman Henry Tang Ying-yen praised it for allowing the highest degree of flexibility. He said the public had cited Foster's plan, with its big park, as their favourite.
The plan features a large 'forest' at the hub's western tip, puts traffic underground and boasts zero carbon emissions.