Buildings will improve if public grasps significance of design, say architects
Standards will rise if people grasp how design affects quality of life, say architects
The standard of architecture will improve if Hongkongers pay more attention to how buildings affect their quality of life, two award-winning architects say.
People tended to think architecture was only about what a building looked like, said Stephen Hodder, president of the London-based Royal Institute of British Architects.
But he said: "Architecture is far more than that. Architecture impacts on the quality of life; it affects the way people live, work and play."
Hodder spoke amid calls for the government to give character to two planned towns in the northeastern New Territories to avoid replicating cookie-cutter development in the 1970s. Proposals for the new towns in Kwu Tung North and Fanling North are now before the Town Planning Board for approval.
The architect won the institute's prestigious Riba Stirling Prize in 1996 for the Centenary Building at the University of Salford in Manchester.
He was in Hong Kong for a Central exhibition celebrating British architecture in Asia. "Great by Design: British Architecture - Asian Vision" runs until Saturday.
Hodder expressed hope that the exhibition would spark debate about people's expectations of the building environment.
"Because that is when the public … understand the importance of architecture to quality of life. And that starts to bring about demand for greater standards in architecture."
The veteran architect, in practice since 1983, gave some advice to planners developing a new town. "Towns are for people," he said. "Get the spaces right, get the infrastructure right, and the rest follows. The buildings are temporary, the infrastructure and landscape are not."
His views were echoed by Stefan Krummeck, director of Terry Farrell and Partners.
But Krummeck acknowledged that architects might not be given enough time or budget to design nicer public housing buildings as these were low-cost projects.
He also agreed people had to be more concerned about their living environment.
"Their main concern is what the flat is about. Is it efficient? Hong Kong is all about efficiency. Every square inch is important. If the flat is efficient and you can get there easily by public transport, people normally don't care any more about other aspects."
The Hong Kong-based Krummeck led a design team in the development of Kowloon Station, which won the 2001 Best International Interchange Award. In Hong Kong, his firm also designed The Peak Tower and British consulate office.
