https://www.scmp.com/rss/15987/feed Christopher Dewolf writes about urbanism, architecture and design – along with beer and other delicious beverages en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf For nearly a century, farmers in the northern New Territories have cultivated fish ponds to supply fresh seafood to Hong Kong markets. But with the Northern Metropolis project set to transform vast areas into housing, industrial zones and office space, this local form of aquaculture might soon disappear. What if there were a way for these fish ponds to coexist with new developments, serving vital ecological, economic and recreational functions for the future residents of the Northern... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3329056/solar-fish-pond-devices-boost-growth-less-labour-san-tin-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3329056/solar-fish-pond-devices-boost-growth-less-labour-san-tin-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf In the Kowloon City Municipal Services Building, you can play badminton, borrow a book from the library, sample some of Hong Kong’s best Thai food and shop in a wet market where actor Chow Yun-fat is sometimes spotted buying his groceries. But not for much longer. The landmark complex is set to be demolished and redevel­oped in the near future. For University of Hong Kong associate professor of architecture Ying Zhou, it’s an example of both Hong Kong’s architectural ingenuity and how crucial... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3321972/hong-kongs-urban-living-rooms-can-these-public-spaces-survive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3321972/hong-kongs-urban-living-rooms-can-these-public-spaces-survive?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 07:15:12 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf If you visit Venice, Italy, this year and stumble upon a courtyard wrapped in a lattice of bamboo poles, you might think you’ve been transported to the streets of Hong Kong. But it isn’t a mirage – it’s the SAR’s official contribution to the Venice Biennale of Architecture. The installation stands out for its utilitarian aesthetic. Designed by Hong Kong-based Beau Architects and the Architecture Land Initiative (a Swiss- and Hong Kong-based architectural cooperative), in collaboration with... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3318683/world-discovering-bamboo-scaffolding-hong-kong-phases-it-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3318683/world-discovering-bamboo-scaffolding-hong-kong-phases-it-out?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Jul 2025 22:15:09 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf The Olympian City plaza plays host to Christmas markets, and maybe the odd commercial event, but for the most part, it remains empty, a vast expanse of sun-beaten brick next to a noisy road, punctuated by palm trees offering little shade. “There’s a lot of space but nobody actually stays here,” says architect Su Chang. “So how do you form a sense of place? It’s quite challenging.” In 2023, Su and his studio, Su Chang Design Research Office, had the opportunity to improve the space when community... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3316931/revitalising-hong-kongs-olympian-city-plaza-shade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3316931/revitalising-hong-kongs-olympian-city-plaza-shade?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jul 2025 11:00:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf Many years ago, artist Adrian Wong Ho-yin was astonished to discover a lazy trick used by many Hong Kong contractors. He was walking down an alley in Tsim Sha Tsui, not far from Chungking Mansions, when he noticed a wall clad in mosaic tiles bulging from water damage. He looked more closely and realised that there were at least six or seven types of tiles layered atop each other. “It felt like I was standing in the present and looking through a wormhole into the past,” he says. He soon... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3314314/how-mosaics-capture-moments-hong-kong-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3314314/how-mosaics-capture-moments-hong-kong-history?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf It has been at least three years since Norman Foster was last in Hong Kong. “I’m overdue for a visit,” says the renowned British architect, who turns 90 next Sunday. The Pritzker Prize laureate has a long history with the city. In the mid-1980s, his design for the HSBC headquarters in Central propelled him to international fame, thanks to its innovative modular construction, inside-out structure and early focus on environmental sustainability. In the late 90s, Foster’s design for the Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3311478/architect-norman-foster-who-designed-hsbcs-hong-kong-hq-reflects-his-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3311478/architect-norman-foster-who-designed-hsbcs-hong-kong-hq-reflects-his-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 May 2025 09:00:16 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf When Lofter Group was founded by entrepreneur Carol Chow Pui-yin in 2012, its focus was on renovating old industrial properties. Now it has just unveiled its first new-build office tower, One Bedford Place, with an interior design that references the heritage of its surroundings in Tai Kok Tsui. And for that, the upstart property developer tapped architect Frank Leung and his design firm, via. The brief was to create a memorable series of common spaces within the 26-storey tower, designed by Ben... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3309652/inside-one-bedford-place-architects-nostalgic-tribute-old-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3309652/inside-one-bedford-place-architects-nostalgic-tribute-old-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 May 2025 03:00:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf In 2018, when a wave of long-standing Hong Kong shops closed because of rising rents and owners taking their retirement, Ian Ma Kei-loc felt compelled to act. He began visiting old shops to speak to their owners and document their stories. “I just wanted to make a simple record in case they disappeared,” he says. “But I realised just one person was not enough.” Today, Ma is joined by more than 10 others dedicated to recording the stories behind the family-run retail businesses that give much of... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3309508/hong-kongs-historical-shops-preserve-citys-unique-charm-and-craftsmanship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3309508/hong-kongs-historical-shops-preserve-citys-unique-charm-and-craftsmanship?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 May 2025 03:00:08 +0000 “I have always been interested in unusual projects,” says architect Corrin Chan. And what could be more unusual than a campground in an old rubbish tip? E-Co Village, which opened last year near Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O, is an initiative by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGH) charity to provide a fun space for families and school groups to connect with the great outdoors while learning about environmental sustainability. Along with campsites, it includes activity rooms, a farm, a butterfly... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3300512/how-rubbish-dump-became-eco-haven-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3300512/how-rubbish-dump-became-eco-haven-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Mar 2025 08:15:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf Just south of PMQ is a neighbourhood that almost disappeared. A little more than 15 years ago, the cluster of post-war tenements along Staunton, Wing Lee and Shing Wong streets was slated for redevelopment by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). Neighbourhood activists had been fighting the project for years, but as is often the case, there seemed to be little hope that this historic corner of Sheung Wan would be spared the wrecking ball. Then Echoes of the Rainbow was released. The 2010 film,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3297572/how-hong-kong-film-set-1960s-inspired-revival-9-post-war-buildings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3297572/how-hong-kong-film-set-1960s-inspired-revival-9-post-war-buildings?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2025 08:15:07 +0000 “Hong Kong is a cultural desert.” How many times have you heard this old chestnut? It’s not true, and as Enid Tsui notes in her illuminating new book Art in Hong Kong, it never has been. The axiom is attributed to Chinese writer Lu Xun, who wrote in the 1920s that “Hong Kong is not a cultural desert”, inadvertently setting off a century of haughty dismissals of the art and culture that have always thrived there. What Hong Kong did lack, for many years, was the infrastructure to support its... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3297816/art-hong-kong-enid-tsui-gives-brisk-account-citys-cultural-power-and-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3297816/art-hong-kong-enid-tsui-gives-brisk-account-citys-cultural-power-and-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:12:27 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf For years, a flat sat empty on the top floor of Chungking Mansions, in Tsim Sha Tsui, slowly deteriorating with each passing rainstorm and typhoon. Chinese-American architect Juan Du remembers the first time she saw the place with her colleague Natasza Minasiewicz. “It was mould-infested. There was water dripping into buckets all over the floor. There were electrical wires dangling,” says Du. “So I turned around to Natasza and said, ‘This is fantastic.’” If that was an unusual reaction, it’s... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3295496/crime-diversity-hub-how-rundown-flat-hong-kongs-infamous-chungking-mansions-became-haven-ethnic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3295496/crime-diversity-hub-how-rundown-flat-hong-kongs-infamous-chungking-mansions-became-haven-ethnic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jan 2025 10:15:07 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf In 1960s Hong Kong, timber was big business. The city was full of carpenters building everything from boats to fine furniture to simple tables, chairs and stools. But the shift of the industry to mainland China after the 1980s left many talented woodworkers without an outlet for their skills. Today, there is something of a revival taking place, with a small but dedicated number of woodworkers making custom furniture and wood objects in local studios, mostly tucked away in Hong Kong’s industrial... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3290456/timber-meet-these-hong-kong-woodworkers-cleaving-growing-bespoke-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3290456/timber-meet-these-hong-kong-woodworkers-cleaving-growing-bespoke-market?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Dec 2024 01:15:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf The Covid-19 pandemic saw Business of Design Week (BODW) scaled back, but in 2024 the annual design summit should surprise even those who won’t be in attendance at Wan Chai’s Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in December. The next few weeks sees a whole host of design-related exhibitions and other happenings taking place in venues all over the city. “This year, it’s all about diversity,” says Amy Chow Yuen-mei, project director of BODW in the City, a new wing within the mother ship. In... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3288595/hong-kongs-design-summit-set-thrill-diverse-accessible-offerings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3288595/hong-kongs-design-summit-set-thrill-diverse-accessible-offerings?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:30:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf Keith Chan Shing-hin knows housing estates. The 42-year-old interior designer has spent almost his entire life in City One, a 52-block estate in Sha Tin that is home to nearly 25,000 people. But he has also worked on dozens of renovations in other estates, trying to turn identikit flats in identikit towers into something welcoming and distinct. His assessment? “I would say they’re quite boring,” declares Chan, the founder of interior design house Hintegro. “There are many limitations when I... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3286743/design-secrets-hong-kongs-private-housing-estates?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3286743/design-secrets-hong-kongs-private-housing-estates?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Nov 2024 16:15:08 +0000 How do you design a space that feels comfortable for as many people as possible? That was the question Yann Follain asked himself when his design studio, WY-TO Singapore, was invited last year to revamp the Keppel Centre for Art Education, in Singapore’s National Gallery. “They have been doing great work laying the foundation of art education [since opening in 2015],” says Follain. “But it was not addressing the needs for all. It had to be more inclusive.” More specifically, it wasn’t tailored... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3273233/designing-inclusivity-how-can-we-make-public-spaces-more-welcoming-neurodivergent-visitors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3273233/designing-inclusivity-how-can-we-make-public-spaces-more-welcoming-neurodivergent-visitors?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:45:09 +0000 Think of Hong Kong’s most renowned buildings and chances are something designed by a famous overseas architect comes to mind. IFC? Cesar Pelli. Bank of China Tower? I.M. Pei. HSBC Building? Norman Foster. Raymond Fung Wing-kee wants to change that. His book, Untold Stories: Hong Kong Architecture, sheds light on 70 local buildings and urban spaces designed by Hong Kong architects. It has been a long time coming. “I had the idea in 1977 or ’78 when I came back from the States,” he says. “I was so... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3261745/70-extraordinary-hong-kong-buildings-and-urban-spaces-designed-local-architects-feature-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3261745/70-extraordinary-hong-kong-buildings-and-urban-spaces-designed-local-architects-feature-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 May 2024 23:15:17 +0000 Visiting Kai Tak for the first time can be a bewildering experience. An entirely new neighbourhood has emerged after years of walled-off construction on the site of Hong Kong’s former airport, studded with gleaming landmarks such as Airside, a shopping centre developed by Nan Fung and designed by Norwegian architects Snohetta. But deep inside this slick mall is Gate33, an art space that reflects the older, more familiar parts of the city that surround Kai Tak. That is especially true in its... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3260120/hong-kong-story-typography-exhibition-explores-old-kowloon-communities-around-gleaming-new-kai-tak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3260120/hong-kong-story-typography-exhibition-explores-old-kowloon-communities-around-gleaming-new-kai-tak?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2024 04:45:23 +0000 Hong Kong is changing – and so are the reasons to visit and explore it. There remain plenty of tourists eager to snap photos from The Peak or shop for the latest luxury goods, but more people are interested in the city’s cultural side. Now there is a guide for them. Design Citywalk HK is a pocket-sized book produced by the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) that covers Hong Kong’s museums, galleries and urban escapes, along with hotels, restaurants, shops and public spaces that might appeal to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3257706/visitors-guide-hong-kong-design-art-and-culture-covers-highlights-and-attractions-less-well-known?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3257706/visitors-guide-hong-kong-design-art-and-culture-covers-highlights-and-attractions-less-well-known?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Apr 2024 05:15:11 +0000 Beijing-based MAD Architects is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For founder Ma Yansong, it’s an opportunity to look back and forward at the same time. “Many projects are going to be completed next year, in 2025,” he says. “Many of them are also public buildings. That’s rare, for me at least, to have so many projects being completed at the same time. “I felt I needed an exhibition as a platform to have a dialogue with the public, to let them know what is the thinking behind all these... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3251062/how-star-chinese-architect-behind-canadas-absolute-towers-thinks-hong-kong-exhibition-goes-behind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3251062/how-star-chinese-architect-behind-canadas-absolute-towers-thinks-hong-kong-exhibition-goes-behind?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Feb 2024 03:15:13 +0000 It’s impossible to ignore The Henderson. As curvaceous as its neighbours are angular, the nearly complete 36-storey tower in Hong Kong’s Central business district, on the site of the former Murray Road Multi-storey Car Park, occupies a commanding position on the eastern edge of Chater Garden. The building’s developer, Henderson Land, compares the appearance of the 190m/623ft-tall tower designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to the layers of a bauhinia bud. And it’s that form factor that has so far... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3248516/if-it-looks-strange-it-sparks-discussion-why-new-hong-kong-skyscraper-henderson-central-was-designed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3248516/if-it-looks-strange-it-sparks-discussion-why-new-hong-kong-skyscraper-henderson-central-was-designed?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jan 2024 23:15:13 +0000 The Union Church has existed in Hong Kong for nearly 180 years, and in that time, it has called five buildings home. The first opened in Central district on Hollywood Road in 1844, followed by one on Staunton Street in 1866 and then Kennedy Road in 1890. That last church was destroyed during World War II and its replacement, completed in 1949, met the wrecking ball in 2017. Now, after six years of construction, the latest iteration of the church has opened with architecture that is decidedly... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3246843/hong-kongs-newest-skyscraper-church-look-inside-union-church-and-its-contemporary-design-gives-nod?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3246843/hong-kongs-newest-skyscraper-church-look-inside-union-church-and-its-contemporary-design-gives-nod?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jan 2024 05:15:10 +0000 Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu like to say they design buildings that will one day be ruins. This is part of their philosophy of adaptive reuse, which rejects the idea that a building can shrug off its past or ignore its surroundings. Nothing stays the same, so the Shanghai-based architects, who founded Neri&Hu Design and Research Office in 2004, say it’s important for them to always think of the past and future uses of any space they design. For most of the architects’ careers, that has informed a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3224141/venice-biennale-architecture-chinese-studios-adaptive-reuse-projects-show-its-belief-no-building-can?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3224141/venice-biennale-architecture-chinese-studios-adaptive-reuse-projects-show-its-belief-no-building-can?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jun 2023 08:15:08 +0000 When Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko took the helm of the 18th Venice Biennale of Architecture, the penny dropped. “An architecture exhibition is both a moment and a process,” she wrote in her introductory note to the biennale. The same can be said about the built environment. It can be captured, recorded and studied at any given moment, but its evolution is constant: understanding it requires understanding the processes that shape it. “Laboratory of the Future” is Lokko’s theme for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222407/hong-kong-venice-biennale-2023-sustainable-humane-architecture-fore-designers-explore-future-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222407/hong-kong-venice-biennale-2023-sustainable-humane-architecture-fore-designers-explore-future-city?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 May 2023 23:15:08 +0000 You might recognise Natural is Best from the snack chain’s countless outlets in malls and MTR subway stations around Hong Kong. Then again, you might not – many of them fade into the background of the retail landscape. But not the company’s new flagship store, which opened in late August in the basement of the Xiqu Centre, in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Inspired by the building’s vocation as a home to Chinese opera, Natural is Best hired Hong Kong architecture and interior design studio... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3199509/how-new-hong-kong-snack-shops-design-reflects-cantonese-operas-energy-and-deep-roots?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3199509/how-new-hong-kong-snack-shops-design-reflects-cantonese-operas-energy-and-deep-roots?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Nov 2022 10:15:15 +0000 What if libraries were fun? That’s the question that came to mind when Howard Chung and Irene Cheng of Hong Kong architectural practice HIR Studio were asked by the government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) to renovate the children’s section of Aberdeen Public Library. Like many of Hong Kong’s libraries, the facility in Aberdeen on the south side of Hong Kong Island was a cramped, fluorescent-lit space inside a municipal services building, which it shares with a wet market, a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3198253/much-playground-place-reading-books-redesigned-childrens-library-creates-blueprint-making-others?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3198253/much-playground-place-reading-books-redesigned-childrens-library-creates-blueprint-making-others?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Nov 2022 23:15:09 +0000 When Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into Hong Kong in September 2018, Ray Lok knew he would need to start over. At the time, he ran a 25,000 sq ft (2,320-square-metre) greenhouse in the city’s New Territories that supplied local restaurants and hotels with salad greens and other vegetables. It used a type of farming technique called aquaponics, in which water enriched by living fish (eating and producing waste) is fed hydroponically to plants in a closed-loop system. But the typhoon – Hong Kong’s most... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3197255/how-hong-kong-farm-responded-climate-change-growing-greens-sustainably-indoors-help-smart-interior?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3197255/how-hong-kong-farm-responded-climate-change-growing-greens-sustainably-indoors-help-smart-interior?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Oct 2022 05:45:09 +0000 Few cities offer such proximity to lush natural spaces as Hong Kong; no matter where you are in the city, there’s a country park not too far away. But the greenery often doesn’t find its way into the densely packed places where people live. Bryant Lu’s latest project sets out to change that. Courtyard Residence is one of the newest buildings designed by Ronald Lu and Partners (RLP), the architecture firm founded by Lu’s father in 1979. With seven “vertical courtyards” and spacious terraces... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3191992/people-want-more-greenery-and-indoor-outdoor-living?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3191992/people-want-more-greenery-and-indoor-outdoor-living?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Sep 2022 17:17:12 +0000 The scale of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park is enormous. When it is completed in 2024, dozens of athletic facilities, including a 50,000-seat stadium, will be spread out over 28 hectares of the former Kai Tak airport. It’s the kind of project that could easily go very wrong, resulting in an alienating landscape of oversized buildings used only for the occasional tournament or soccer game. But the architects behind the sports park say they are committed to avoiding that fate. Instead, they... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3190968/how-hong-kongs-kai-tak-sports-park-aims-be-part-peoples?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3190968/how-hong-kongs-kai-tak-sports-park-aims-be-part-peoples?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Sep 2022 08:15:18 +0000 There’s something captivating about abandoned spaces, especially abandoned railway stations. Constant movement has been replaced by an eerie stillness; a portal to elsewhere has become a window into the past. “Abandoned stations are quite a strong topic among railway-minded people,” says David Ross, author of several books on railways. “It’s digging back into a past that is very interesting, full of mechanical things that aren’t used any more.” Ross’ latest effort is Abandoned Train Stations, a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3185743/war-dying-industries-abandoned-train-stations-have-stories?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3185743/war-dying-industries-abandoned-train-stations-have-stories?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Jul 2022 09:15:22 +0000 Meet Me by the Fountain by Alexandra Lange, pub. Bloomsbury Publishing Malls are dead. That might come as news to people in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, where countless shopping centres are still heaving with people. But in the United States, the classic suburban shopping mall has been in terminal decline for some time – and the Covid-19 pandemic may have been the final nail in its coffin. This has been greeted with undisguised joy by a new generation of urban thinkers who prefer the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3184601/what-can-america-land-zombie-malls-learn-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3184601/what-can-america-land-zombie-malls-learn-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jul 2022 00:15:24 +0000 Many architects want to change the world. But are the folks at WOHA actually doing it? A new book by Australian-British architectural writer, photographer and publisher Patrick Bingham-Hall makes the case that the Singapore-based firm is redefining city-building as we know it by pioneering a kind of architecture that combines high-rise, high-density living with a strong connection to the outdoors and a minimal – or even positive – impact on the environment. It’s a case that has been made before.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3180688/how-global-warming-sparked-pairs-sustainable-architecture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3180688/how-global-warming-sparked-pairs-sustainable-architecture?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jun 2022 03:15:13 +0000 Supertall: How the World’s Tallest Buildings are Reshaping Our Cities and Our Lives, by Stefan Al. Published by W.W. Norton & Co Hong Kong is the world’s most vertical city, with more than 2,300 skyscrapers over 100 metres (328 feet) tall, according to building information directory Emporis. But the rest of the world is catching up. Nearly three times more skyscrapers have been built in the past decade than in the 30 years before that, with forests of tall buildings sprouting on every inhabited... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3179208/how-worlds-tallest-buildings-reshape-cities-and-lives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3179208/how-worlds-tallest-buildings-reshape-cities-and-lives?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 May 2022 03:15:17 +0000 In Hong Kong, when companies need to move offices most of their furniture and interior finishes end up in one place: the landfill. For a city that produces more than 5.3 million tonnes of waste every year, that’s a big problem – one that Robert Wall hopes to alleviate. “What is really remarkable is the quality of the furniture being discarded,” says Wall, managing director of JEB Group, which specialises in workplace design and architecture. Just under a year ago, he helped launch Sustainable... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3175184/when-office-leases-end-furniture-becomes-trash-not-any-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3175184/when-office-leases-end-furniture-becomes-trash-not-any-more?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Apr 2022 23:15:16 +0000 When interior designer Steve Leung was asked to host a panel discussion at the 2021 Business of Design Week (BODW) in Hong Kong, his thoughts turned to another event: the International Design Carnival in Guangzhou, to be held in late 2022 after being postponed by the pandemic. Along with two other Hong Kong designers, Freeman Lau and Tino Kwan, Leung will explore how urban dwellings will adapt to new lifestyles and technological realities in the coming years. “We have been pondering and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3157194/homes-future-mind-business-design-week-2021-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3157194/homes-future-mind-business-design-week-2021-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Nov 2021 09:15:19 +0000 If you’re looking for an example of inclusive design, the very text of Jeremy Myerson’s new book is a good place to start. Designing a World for Everyone: 30 Years of Inclusive Design is packed with richly illustrated examples of architecture, products and systems that were conceived to work for as many people as possible, regardless of age or ability. It’s written in a lively and familiar way, no doubt informed by Myerson’s previous career as a journalist. “People won’t read an academic text,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3142663/can-design-make-world-better-yes-think-sculptures-double?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3142663/can-design-make-world-better-yes-think-sculptures-double?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jul 2021 23:15:12 +0000 Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, the duo behind Neri&Hu, published their first book four years ago. It documented the first 10 years of their architectural practice, which they founded in Shanghai in 2004. “But it was kind of anticlimactic,” says Neri. A publication delay meant that it had already missed several years of evolution in the duo’s work by the time it came out. It also missed a pivotal moment in China, which had developed an appetite for thoughtful, sophisticated architecture after years... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3141615/why-design-couple-value-vernacular-architecture-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3141615/why-design-couple-value-vernacular-architecture-their?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jul 2021 10:45:18 +0000 When legal scholar Christopher Szabla moved into a flat in Hong Kong’s Kennedy Town area last autumn, he noticed an intriguing new plaza taking shape on the fast-gentrifying neighbourhood’s waterfront. “What caught my eye was a bunch of colourful shapes appearing there,” he says of the space that would become the Belcher Bay Promenade. Bright blue shipping pallets and plastic toys were scattered about, all free for the public to move around as they saw fit. Since the promenade opened in October... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3134916/public-spaces-are-open-flexible-and-actually-fun-really-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3134916/public-spaces-are-open-flexible-and-actually-fun-really-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 May 2021 23:15:07 +0000 Janis Provisor and Brad Davis are painters, designers and carpet makers. Their careers have spanned five decades and three continents. And all of this is reflected in the spacious, eclectic loft they share in New York. The couple moved into the Tribeca loft in 2002, when they returned to the United States from Hong Kong, where they had lived from 1993 and set up Fort Street Studio, an innovative carpet company that is the subject of their new book, A Tale of Warp and Weft. At the time, the loft... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3133902/couple-create-intimate-home-spacious-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3133902/couple-create-intimate-home-spacious-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 May 2021 18:30:07 +0000 It has been nearly three decades since American painters Brad Davis and Janis Provisor pivoted to an entirely new medium: carpets. That unexpected journey began in 1993, when the couple was already well known in the art world. The pair had just moved to Hangzhou in eastern China to set up a woodblock studio when they were struck by the idea of making a carpet that looked like a watercolour painting. Hangzhou is the centre of China’s silk industry, but at first they were told it would be too... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3128440/luxury-carpet-revolution-fort-street-studio-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3128440/luxury-carpet-revolution-fort-street-studio-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Apr 2021 04:15:09 +0000 For more than 20 years, Christian Zheng Sheng College has helped teenagers in Hong Kong struggling with drug addiction, but it has always endured a struggle of its own: finding a permanent home. Housed in a makeshift campus on the remote, roadless Chi Ma Wan peninsula on Lantau Island, in 2007 it was given the opportunity to take over an abandoned secondary school in Mui Wo, a town on the island. But that ignited a firestorm of controversy: residents objected to the prospect of being in the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3116304/how-architect-made-remote-hong-kong-hillside-location?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3116304/how-architect-made-remote-hong-kong-hillside-location?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jan 2021 04:15:16 +0000 How did you come up with the idea? “We sit a lot every day. We sit at work for eight hours without movement, so I wanted to create something playful that gives you the freedom to use it differently from a normal chair. At first it was a box made out of plywood – a rocking box. Then we wanted to do it with moulded plywood but we discovered it would be very heavy and not very stable. So we experimented with metal tubes and found we could make a very basic shape. That’s how we came up with the idea... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3114160/rocca-rocking-stool-keep-you-moving-while?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3114160/rocca-rocking-stool-keep-you-moving-while?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Jan 2021 09:45:09 +0000 A good view is a terrible thing to waste. And the view from the 690 sq ft Wong Chuk Hang flat that Tommy Hui Shui-cheung was hired to renovate is truly spectacular: a sweeping panorama of Bennett’s Hill and Aberdeen Harbour, with folds of greenery rolling into the sea. “We wondered how to focus the interior on the views,” says Hui, founder of local architecture firm TBC Studio. The clients, a young couple – a nurse and an urban planner – plan to have children, but for now they wanted a sanctuary... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3105243/how-hong-kong-apartments-views-informed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3105243/how-hong-kong-apartments-views-informed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Oct 2020 01:30:07 +0000 When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Hong Kong nearly nine months ago, sending everyone away from offices and schools and into their tiny flats, architect Marisa Yiu Kar-san started thinking about how even the smallest things could make a big difference when your life has shrunk to the size of your home. She decided to put out a call for interesting ideas. “These are small objects in response to the pandemic,” says Yiu, the co-founder of Design Trust, a charitable organisation that promotes design.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3102382/3d-print-your-face-mask-fit-antibacterial-handles-your-doors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3102382/3d-print-your-face-mask-fit-antibacterial-handles-your-doors?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Sep 2020 09:45:09 +0000 How did you come up with the idea for the Ozone Cabinet? “It happened during a dinner party four years ago, when I met an engineer who was developing a new system for ozone sanitisation in emergency rooms. We started thinking about how to integrate this system into our walk-in closets, wardrobes and trunks. “We started working together to understand how to create doors that can be sealed – we used a special gasket and an electronic lock that prevents the ozone from spilling out. The engineer... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3099815/new-ludovica-mascheroni-closet-can?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3099815/new-ludovica-mascheroni-closet-can?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2020 02:45:13 +0000 For some, staying home during the pandemic meant rearranging furniture or buying new houseplants. For interior designer Keith Chan Shing-hin’s client, it meant transforming his entire flat into a Japanese-inspired retreat. A few months ago, Chan, the founder of Hintegro, was contacted by a Chinese medicine practitioner who lives with his elderly mother in a 703 sq ft, two-bedroom flat in Taikoo Shing. With business down because of Covid-19 restrictions, the client decided to close his clinic and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3099659/japanese-minimalism-and-materials-are-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3099659/japanese-minimalism-and-materials-are-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Sep 2020 01:30:13 +0000 Hong Kong’s newest food hall has opened at a very strange time – in the midst of a pandemic – and in a rather odd place: in the basement of Jardine House. Both of those were a challenge for the designers at Linehouse, founded in 2013 by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling. Yet they managed to deliver something distinctive. BaseHall opened last month with nine stalls run by some of Hong Kong’s buzziest purveyors of food and drink, including Honbo, Co Thanh and Young Master Brewery. “I don’t think there’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3092102/designers-hong-kongs-newest-food-hall-jardine-house-basement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3092102/designers-hong-kongs-newest-food-hall-jardine-house-basement?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jul 2020 05:02:03 +0000 Tired of being cooped up at home because of fears about the coronavirus, some Hongkongers are looking for escape on the hiking trails of the northern New Territories. “It’s a good place to go. There’s fresh air,” says Stuart Yuen, third-generation owner of the Better ’Ole pub, which is a short walk from Sheung Shui MTR station and has roots that reach back to post-war Fanling. But while there is plenty to see in the countryside just beyond the East Rail Line, those who head straight out for a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3089613/historic-market-town-and-its-upstart-rival-hong-kongs-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3089613/historic-market-town-and-its-upstart-rival-hong-kongs-new?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jun 2020 03:15:08 +0000 Across Asia, the smiling man in a top hat and bowtie is a recognizable face, gracing the box of toothpaste brand Darlie for over 30 years. But Colgate-Palmolive said on Thursday that it would review the Chinese toothpaste brand, whose image has deep roots in blackface, as brands such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s re-evaluate their associations with racist iconography. Darlie is one of Asia’s best-selling toothpaste brands. In China, it is the top seller. Walk into any supermarket in Hong Kong,... https://www.scmp.com/identity/origins-colgate-darlie-black-person-toothpaste-explained/article/3089860?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/identity/origins-colgate-darlie-black-person-toothpaste-explained/article/3089860?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jun 2020 12:25:17 +0000 The brief “Our inspiration was taken from a charming traditional teahouse crossed with a Chinese temple exterior. We wanted to transport Moonkok visitors to another time and place, and pay homage to Mong Kok, meaning ‘prosperous corner’.” Interpretation “The corner shop is around 300 square feet. The seating is divided into three sections: an open countertop seating section, a middle wooden table and four high round marble tables with booth sofas. We were exploring having a diagonal entrance to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3088395/moonkok-bar-hong-kong-craft-brewery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3088395/moonkok-bar-hong-kong-craft-brewery?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jun 2020 07:15:05 +0000