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Three architectural projects by members of the Department of Architecture , the University of Hong Kong (HKU) are on display at the HKU Architecture Gallery.

The projects are the Library Club in Shunde and the Snow Lodge in Niseko, Hokkaido, both completed;  and the Infinity Library in Dayi, Chengdu, which is at its detail design stage. They are designed by William Tam, Associate Professor of Practice at the Department of Architecture, and alumnus Stephen Chan who also received the HKIA Young Architect Award in 2004.

The projects investigate Built Forms and their resolution with narrative, context, function, space and construction, encouraging encounters, engaging movement and making everyday life attractive. Behind these projects is a search for the equilibrium resulting from the confluence of conception with technique. 

Library Club in Shunde (designed in 2016)
Inspired by duckweed in the Lingnan countryside, the building sinks whereas lawns extend to the interlacing, round-cornered roofs. The organic flow of the canopies, landscape, light and shadow form a three-dimensional garden, where local clay bricks are made convex/concave and spaced to create ever-changing transparency.

Snow Lodge in Niseko (designed in 2018)
Hokkaido is next to a ski resort where summer pastures are covered by winter snow. The streamlined architectural language inspired by skiing echoes the internal spatial sequence whilst its glass walls reveal and reflect movement. Along with its natural building materiality, the southeast-facing balcony opens to Mount Yotei, strengthening the relationship between man and nature.

Infinity Library in Dayi (designed in 2019)
Chengdu uses the infinity symbol to form a Mobius Strip, signifying the boundary-free course of pursuing knowledge. The bookshelves are part of the structure, so that taking a book out is to glimpse the natural world beyond. The stepped circulation follows the hilly landscape; its floor warps into a bridge with views to paddy fields. Within the loops are two courtyards mimicking terraces and reflecting the sky through its pond.

"In Search of Equilibrium" Exhibition
Date: 4 April (Sunday) to 25 April (Sunday) 2021
Time: 10:00am - 8:00pm
Venue: S507, 5/F, Block A, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong

Please visit the HKU Architecture Gallery Webpage for more details: https://www.arch.hku.hk/events_index/exhibitions/?cat=hku-architecture-gallery.

For enquiries, please contact Ms. Isabel Wong of the Department of Architecture, HKU at (Tel: 3917 2136, Email: isabel.wong@hku.hk).