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An Independent Architecture School For Hong Kong

Part 1 Project 2001
Ka Man Cheung
University of Hong Kong | China
Nomadic School of Architecture

Places are like human's face, when observed, one will find the genius - the soul of each place. There is no better way of understanding a place than actually situate at the environment, work and live in it, observe it, touch it, smell it, feel it and hear from it.

Mobilized-locational campus enables the students to work and live in a new environment from time to time and let them to be exposed to various alternative design experiences. The school is proposed to be an assemblage of several UNITs which forms a BASE at a certain location. Units of each year may settle at different locations and move to another location after a certain period of time. This enables the students to get stimulations from different environment and gives them an opportunity to participate with landscape more thoroughly - to incorporate other senses besides sight, particularly in terms of bodily or emotional encounter. From then, design with the landscape becomes a living process rather than a static product.

Experiment is the only way to put theory into practice. The site of the school is a paradise for the learners to practice what they have learnt over their academic years. The graduates can actually renew and redesign part of the schools (units). Through actual experience, the students can actually put theory into practice. And at the same time, the form of the school is ever ad hoc and under continuous metamorphosis.



This scheme represents a rational concept on design of architectural education space. The use of modular units to provide both standard for control as well as flexibility for freedom is demonstrated. The mechanism on flexibility illustrated an important reaction for education to respond to the continued changes in current society. Workshops and classrooms can be re-arranged to suit different size of operation. Portion of the learning institute can even be established at any other areas by transporting the container-like classrooms.

This scheme is also credited of the pursuit to details, showing the build-ability of the project and the sensitivity of design of the student. The idea with the container boxes on rails is simple but workable solution to make a dynamic setting. The adaptability of the project for various site conditions in a high-density urban context is also recommended, for its integration with society and outreaching to the environment.

2001
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