(Hong Kong, July 21, 2018) After 620 hours of learning and exploration over nine months, over 320 students from 29 secondary schools have completed the Hang Lung Young Architects Program (HLYAP) and taken a step towards their dream of becoming more deeply immersed in the world of architecture.
Today, Hang Lung Properties held a graduation ceremony for the Program participants at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, where the Program Advisers, numbering prominent architects and seasoned scholars, and Hang Lung’s top management together witnessed the birth of a new generation of young architects. The winners of the architectural tour design competition held in the last phase of the Program were also announced.
Launched by Hang Lung Properties, the HLYAP aims to inspire students to recognize the relationship between architecture and the community and better understand the cultural characteristics and historical significance of local buildings through a series of interactive lectures, workshops, photo contest, and guided tours, which took place over the course of an academic year.
Mr. Weber Lo, Chief Executive Officer of Hang Lung Properties, grew up in Wah Fu Estate, studied on Hong Kong Island during his secondary and university years, and has witnessed the transformation of the architectural landscape of Hong Kong over the years. At the graduation ceremony today, he expressed his heartfelt thanks to all Program Advisers, Program Mentors and participating students for inheriting the city’s architectural legacy together. He said, “As a major property developer in Hong Kong, Hang Lung is very pleased to leverage on our connections and the professional knowledge of our colleagues in establishing a platform for the inheritance of Hong Kong’s architecture. We hope this Program will ignite the architectural interests of young people, expand their horizons, and encourage students to appreciate the characteristics and historical stories behind the buildings in Hong Kong.”
Over the past nine months, participating students were involved in a series of activities related to architecture and have personally designed architectural guided tour routes with their freshly-acquired knowledge and skills. A total of 54 groups of students assumed the role of tour guides and led the panel of judges along routes of their own design. The judges scored the tours based on architectural knowledge, creativity, expression, among other factors, and selected three winning teams – Champion: Ying Wa Girls’ School; First Runner-up: Po On Commercial Association Wong Siu Ching Secondary School; Second Runner-up: YPICA Lee Lim Ming College. The three winning teams will receive scholarships and take part in architectural tours in Japan, Singapore, and Shanghai, organized by the HLYAP this summer. For further details about the winning teams, please refer to the appendix.
The Champion guided tour was curated by the team from Ying Wa Girls’ School and titled “Building for the People”. By visiting a number of old buildings and specialty shops located along Hollywood Road, the team hoped to reflect an understanding of how architecture manifested the daily lives and aspirations of the people in that period, and to recognize the strong connection between architecture and the community.
Chow Wai Yin, a Form 5 student at Ying Wa Girls’ School, has been an aspiring architect from a young age. She shared that the Program allowed her to explore her interest and career aspiration more, she said, “The entire Program has been a fruitful learning journey. Through the various guided tours and workshops, I have been able to learn the features of different architectural styles. I was particularly impressed by the topic dealing with the conservation of old buildings and the incorporation of new elements into them.”
Besides inviting 14 Directors from Hang Lung’s project management team as well as leading members of the architectural and academic communities as Program Advisers, the HLYAP also engaged 54 university students and graduates in architecture or related disciplines to act as Program Mentors and to share their insights with the younger participating students and give appropriate guidance and support throughout the Program. At the graduation ceremony, outstanding mentors were presented with certificates of commendation for their contribution to the inheritance of Hong Kong’s architecture and history that was bequeathed to students of the HLYAP.
The second edition of the HLYAP will open for registration in mid-2019.
