Foreign Architectural Design in Hong Kong - An Investigation of Four Campus Buildings

Since the 1997 handover, the Hong Kong government has opened public building design to international competition. Several campus buildings, designed by foreign architects, have been built or are now in the construction stage. Four buildings, at CityU, PolyU, the HK Design Institute and Chu Hai, are prominent.These campus buildings designed by (celebrity) foreign architects may become milestone buildings in the architectural history of Hong Kong in the 21st century. In spite of their great potential significance, there is no systematic research of these buildings, which prompts this study.The objectives include the examination of the design, building, and construction process, revealing the intentions in development and design; investigating the users’ response and expectations to these buildings; and surveying the attitudes and viewpoints of Hong Kong architects and professionals towards the imported design for important discoveries in analyzing the architectural design and production mechanism of 21st century Hong Kong.