Tabla de contenidos para Issue 30 en Design Anthology, Asia Pacific Edition

I was 29 years old when I moved to Hong Kong, two overweight suitcases and a one-year work contract in hand. I’d experienced life in a foreign city before, having spent three years in Tokyo, but Hong Kong sucked me in from the moment I stepped off the plane. The smell of something foreign filled my nostrils and I was immediately intoxicated. I vowed early on that I wouldn’t become one of those expats — the kind that comes for a year and ends up staying for decades. But little by little, year by year, one siu mai at a time, my plan came unstuck. That one-year jaunt turned into 16 years, and I have zero regrets. There’s nowhere else quite like Hong Kong. Anyone who’s lived here, visited or…

When Emily Ho and Wilson Lee moved from their eighth-floor studio in Sheung Wan to a ground-floor space in nearby Sai Street, it was because they wanted to be closer to people and to the Tai Ping Shan Street neighbourhood — and to combine their interior design studio and growing retail brand in one space. Partners in life and work, Ho and Lee founded multidisciplinary design agency STUDIO ADJECTIVE five years ago, with Lee as the design director and Ho overseeing marketing and communications. They established Objective as an online lifestyle shop in 2019 to share pieces collected during their travels, and to communicate their aesthetic and design philosophies on a smaller scale. Now, Objective has come to life as the appointment-only showroom on the ground floor of their bright…

Hong Kong may be known for its towering skyscrapers and swanky shopping malls, but little over 100 years ago, what is now a thriving metropolis was a quiet backwater of sleepy fishing villages, rural hamlets and tropical, mountainous terrain. And much of this can still be experienced not far from the city. Sai Kung, a district in the eastern part of the New Territories, makes for an adventurous escape, with its pristine beaches, scenic trails, UNESCO Geopark and two UNESCO-merited landmarks. Urbanites often begin their journey on Sai Kung’s waterfront, where fishermen sell their catches to the adjacent row of seafood restaurants. Here, old ladies peddle tickets for sampan rides to nearby islands like Yim Tin Tsai, a small offshore isle that was a thriving Hakka settlement and salt farming…

There’s a lot for the eyes to process at Ahlaiya Yung’s multifunctional work and living space. Here is a man who isn’t afraid of colour, texture, shape or size, and certainly isn’t afraid to employ all of them at once, flirting with cacophony in creating a look that’s unabashedly distinct. At the entrance, neon Chinese characters spell out a phrase that translates to ‘Society of unusual dreamers’ — a description that essentially describes Yung’s life ethos. A former fashion designer, Yung is the founder of design studio Metasus, as well as the music bar and lounge Salon No. 10. He calls this space his studio, though it’s almost evocative of a speakeasy — a dark and cosy living room and private salon for artists, romantics and flâneurs. Though Yung describes…

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Contemporary Japanese Architecture by Philip Jodidio (TASCHEN) This work presents 55 projects by Japanese architects, mostly in their native country, and includes household names alongside less-known practitioners. Philip Jodidio’s introduction gives the thrust of the volume in discussing the history of Japanese architecture, its socio-economic context and key figures past, present and emerging. Of the current post-Fukushima period, he writes, ‘Japan has responded with energy and invention, but today’s buildings are surely greener, smaller, and less expensive than those of another era. This is a time of shrinking expectations’. Shrinking or not, expectations of Japanese architects remain high, and the volume displays their work beautifully via sumptuous photography on black paper. Projects vary from breathtaking natural spaces like Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Enoura Observatory to educational, cultural, commercial and residential works across…

Hong Kong is a city in motion. Forever adapting and evolving, its identity is born of a complex history that sits — sometimes uneasily these days — at the confluence of East and West. The vibrant Asian hub blends business acumen and commerce with a manufacturing history and a creative can-do spirit, which together shape and define its design identity. Architect Dennis Cheung of Studio RYTE believes that the city’s movement between extremes, from cultural to social to political, is helping to spark local innovation. ‘People are seeking new solutions, new perspectives and new environments. They have high expectations,’ he says. For Cheung, and others, sustainability is increasingly important, and he looks to use digital fabrication and material innovation to reduce overconsumption. Made from biodegradable flax fibre, his superlight, superstrong…

Practicality and flexibility are key characteristics of bamboo, and bamboo craftsman and interior designer Gamzar Lee has translated these two qualities into the design of his first independent interior project: his own home in Lohas Park in Hong Kong’s New Territories. To Lee, practicality means a ‘less is more’ approach, while flexibility comes via the dynamic flow between social and private spaces, and between the interiors and the peaceful green views that can be seen through the windows and from the apartment’s two balconies. ‘As a bamboo artist, I wanted the flexibility of the material to inform the interior concept of my home,’ Lee says. ‘Bamboo can be shaped into curves but still maintain its linearity. I selected furniture with similarly smooth, flowing organic lines, so each piece directs the…

Gardens are a rare commodity in urban Hong Kong. So when Vivian Hung of local Scandinavian furniture retailer and consultancy WOOL was invited to design a duplex residence with a private garden at the edge of a country park, she knew it would be one of a kind. The couple commissioning the project, who recently relocated from Shanghai to Hong Kong, have a very relaxed lifestyle and wanted to feel immersed in nature. So Hung enlisted Jeffrey Cheng, the founder of architecture and design studio Building Narrative, to work on landscaping, interior design and construction, while she curated the furniture, lighting and textiles. Nestled at the base of a high-rise in Tsuen Wan, the 110-square-metre residence feels at once restful and energising, a bridge between the indoors and out —…

MORNING ‘I don’t wake up too early, only at about nine or ten, and then I lie in bed for half an hour thinking about the day ahead,’ says Wallis Leung. She mentally runs through her schedule and any unresolved matters from the previous day, then makes herself a black coffee, does some stretches and finally checks her phone and gets ready for work. ‘Routine is really important to me, and I get nervous if I don’t run things through my mind in the morning,’ she says. MIDDAY Leung usually skips breakfast, so around noon she picks up a light lunch of onigiri (Japanese rice balls) from a 7-Eleven on her way to the boutique, an easy stroll from her home. Hidden on the third floor of a walk-up building,…

There’s a rising generation of fashion designers who see no boundaries when it comes to gender in clothing. PONDER.ER, the Hong Kong label founded by creative duo Alex Po and Derek Cheng, is part of that sea change. ‘To label something as men’s or women’s when it can really be worn by both genders doesn’t make sense to us,’ says Cheng. ‘We don’t think it’s necessary to put a label on it, and there are a lot of new designers with the same mindset.’ The story of PONDER.ER began when Po and Cheng met during their first year at Central Saint Martins in London. As the only two Hongkongers in the class, they had an immediate bond, and eventually became flatmates. They soon realised they shared an interest in exploring…

Artist Movana Chen Movana Chen is easily one of the city’s most compelling artists. Wearing other-worldly costumes made of knitted shredded paper — what she calls ‘body containers’ — she has performed in crowded streets in countless cities. Inside these snug, sculptural, sack-like garments, Chen’s body is entirely obscured. ‘But when you’re inside, no matter who you are, you’re simply a human. Inside we’re all the same,’ she says, explaining that the works affirm a sense of humanity and common ground. For other series, she has knitted together books and maps from across the world, creating works that literally break down borders and unify different cultures and countries. In 2011, Chen hit on the idea of inviting others to weave with her to create a sense of community and connection.…

Arnault Castel likes to start the day with a coffee on his balcony, surrounded by pot plants and a fledgling olive tree that reminds him of his native southern France. His black cat Solange pads around quietly, while two floors below, the streets hum with human activity. On weekends especially, sightseers circle the block and wander its courtyard, gawking at the iconic Blue House, a rare Grade I historic building that many are unaware remains home to a unique residential community. Fifteen years ago, it was a dilapidated 1920s tenement block in Wan Chai awaiting conversion into a tourist attraction. However, community action and efforts by local charity St. James’ Settlement saw the government commit to preserving both the building and its roster of tenants, the first revitalisation project in…

‘I admire the many other local architect-photographers who are much better at their craft,’ says architect Frank Leung, founder and principal of award-winning practice via. ‘I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a photographer as much as a mere image maker. I use this medium as a way to express my love for Hong Kong and its architecture, and capture the faces of Hong Kong’s people.’ For this photo essay, Leung has curated a selection of black-and-white and colour images — the former taken with his iPhone, the latter with his Leica M10 — that reflect his sentiments towards his home city.…

Long months without travel have forced Hongkongers to become tourists in their own city, rediscovering old neighbourhoods and noticing elements they’d previously overlooked. While wandering around highly urbanised areas, one might spot the playful forms of ubiquitous urban features like public toilets, shade structures or the ventilation shafts of the MTR (Mass Transit Railway), to name a few. Going unnoticed next to skyscrapers and mixed-use towers, these architectural forms seem to have become a playground for geometrical shapes, historical references and colourful surfaces, spontaneously expressing a specific moment in architecture: postmodernism. ‘Postmodern’ was first used as a label for architecture in 1945 by Joseph Hudnut. It signalled a departure from modernism, and was a reaction to the austerity, monotony and formality of the so-called International Style. In his book The…