Design Philosophy:
I guess by naming my heroes in architecture and design would manifest my design philosophies more so. I always look up to Renzo Piano and Peter Zumthor. The reason I love about Piano’s work is that one could always find extraordinary in the details of his works. Even though he is not keen on following the zeitgeist, but only to his own philosophy of beauty and sustainability. Comparing the two, Zumthor is still my favourite as his works are always poetic and inspiring. Zumthor’s works are calm and relevant and contextual.
I don’t believe design needs to be so radical and loud. To appreciate architecture is through discovery. Sometimes looking ordinary is not so bad, because architecture needs to work with the surrounding. However, once you are up close to it, you discover the intelligence and intension of the design. Someone then would gasp and say “ahhh, of course…..”
I am 40 year old this year, and probably a little late to this award. Compared to my peers or those who won this award before, I might be a little ordinary. I don’t come from a wealthy family. I do not have a creative practice working on upcycling materials, or working on public realm project. Worst of all, I am not even a HKIA member. However, I am a solid architect designing buildings in city outside HK. I started my practice when I was 32. In the age of 40, I have 2 built architectural projects under my practice, one in Shenzhen and one in Beijing and with 2 mix-use projects coming up in Nanjing. Over the past 8 years, my office has designed more than 2 million sqm of architectural spaces. I guess I have accomplished a lot in 8 years, but a conventional way of an architect.
