A tale of two museums: How Hong Kong’s arts hub design could have been more inclusive
- From the M+ to the Palace Museum, none of the high-profile venues in the West Kowloon Cultural District were offered up for greater participation in truly open design competitions, a missed chance to include the public and build civic pride
When working on a residential project on Stubbs Road, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry came to Hong Kong in 2005 and spoke of our city as a place with not much architecture, as most buildings resemble “products from the same cookie cutter”.
If buildings are hardware, architecture is hardware with a soul.
Hong Kong’s magical transformation from a fishing village and salt production fields to a major logistics hub and global financial centre is legendary. However, the scarcity of buildable lands forced landowners and developers to squeeze every square inch of space, churning out mainly rectilinear and indistinguishable floor plans to maximise use and efficiency.
Throughout the years, opportunities for architecture were lost, although we kept on building. Hong Kong buildings epitomise “form follows function”, but probably not in the way imagined by Louis Sullivan when he coined the phrase.
In comparison with our economic growth, Hong Kong certainly lags behind in art and cultural development. But being a financial centre does not mean there is no room for high design and culture. New York and London are two of the best examples of megacities that are also leading cultural hubs and trendsetters.
Beyond the completion of two buildings in the much-anticipated cultural district, the two museums aspire towards a profound mental shift; a step towards creating world-class art houses with architectural merit.
Our lack of appreciation of the places reflects the failure of the venues to give their visitors a memorable experience.
The two new museums are set to change that, creating iconic and recognisable venues with architectural character, surrounded by urban spaces for the public to enjoy.
In an affluent society, our skills, intellect and appreciation of aesthetic values collectively define our self-esteem and culture. What is our city’s equivalent of the Eiffel Tower, Tower Bridge or Statue of Liberty?
Our stunning harbour is lined with famous bank buildings and other commercial towers with which white-collar workers and even expatriates might feel at home, but which the general public who sees them from afar can hardly associate with. To build a sense of belonging and civic pride, the public could be better engaged in the process of the making of the city.
Also, the architectural team was appointed with no competition held and no justification offered. Critics were opposed, not to the museum, the nod to the Forbidden City, or its cost, which the Jockey Club is picking up anyway, but to the lack of inclusion and engagement with the general public.
This lack of political sensitivity made the Palace Museum’s success questionable, something that an after-thought of a public consultation could not salvage.
Politicians are always stressing the importance of developing local talent. Yet the West Kowloon Cultural District committee would only look at risk-free, well-established design firms that, even better, come with a long list of job references.
There is no risk in hosting an anonymous open competition. Is Washington’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial or the World Trade Centre Memorial high-profile enough? They were designed by the then-unknown 21-year-old Yale architecture student Maya Lin and 35-year-old Michael Arad respectively. After winning the open design competitions, they were paired with experienced firms to materialise their visions.
This is how talent is discovered, knowledge passed through the generations, and dreams made. Such open platforms do not take away from the opportunities for star architects or well-established firms.
A sense of inclusion is critical in developing civic pride, especially when Hong Kong needs another magical transformation heading into the next era. What would be better than offering true opportunities for all to put the soul in our architecture?
Dennis Lee is a Hong Kong-born, America-licensed architect with 22 years of design experience in the US and China