NO profession is like that of an architect. He leaves a permanent, and sometimes enviable, landmark that becomes part of the history of a city.
Bosco Ho Hin-ngai, designer of the new Hong Kong Baptist University campus, is aware of the pride and the risks involved in his profession.
Mr Ho is director of Ho and Partners Architects and has designed buildings for 26 years. Naturally, his 15-year-old firm is among the top in Hong Kong.
'You have to be feverishly in love with the living environment to be an architect,' said the 1968 University of Hong Kong architecture graduate.
Few people understand the two extremes involved in this job, Mr Ho says. 'One moment an architect can be on cloud nine with his distinguished landmark, and the next moment his business could go down with the stock market, as it happened in 1981, 1987 and again in June 1989.' He also runs the risk of wasting billions of dollars with a faulty structure.
Mr Ho's 230-staff company has an impressive list of clients, including the Housing Society, the Chinese University, Sun Hung Kai and the Bank of China. With offices in Singapore, Thailand and China, it is now engaged in the New Airport West Kowloon MTR Station project to Lantau.