Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong

By Joshua Lau & Alvin Yip

Curator for Hong Kong Pavilion

Completion Year 2006

HKIA Annual Awards 2006

Award for Members' Work Outside of Hong Kong

Hong Kong Debut at Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition

At VICE VERSA, each extrapolates two contexts with a singular move
 

VICE VERSA was one of the most attended and vigorously discussed exhibitions amongst more than 50 participating countries at this year Venice Biennale, which is a success and a milestone for Hong Kong architecture. Inaugurated in early September, curators Alvin Yip, Joshua Lau and Billy Tam with the exhibiting architects and artists have demonstrated the unique architectural character of Hong Kong. Curator pronounces the original concept of "displacement" to describe architecture of Hong Kong, "at VICE VERSA, each of the 8 exhibitors was given a thesis and asked to react and make ‘displacement' in very limited time. Indeed I admire the talent of many whom improvise foreign conditions not unlike the performing artists. The temporality and immediacy critically narrate a kind of Hong Kong practice. Hostelling hot cash and volatile desires, Hong Kong is a unique creation in the history of city-making. Our first presentation at this most progressive architecture exposition is instrumental in constructing a discourse, to imagine new urban paradigms, tactics and identities for modern Chinese cities in a global age."

All eight exhibitors have made presence to reveal to the world an unfamiliar portrait of Hong Kong,  the group include CL3 Architects Ltd; Andrew Lee King Fun & Associates Architects Ltd; Rocco Design Ltd; Vito Bertin, Gu Daqing and Woo Pui-leng; Laurence Liauw with Videotage; Architecture Design and Research Group Ltd; Hong Kong Housing Authority; Wallace Chang.