The idea of relating a building to its context represents a basic understanding in designing architecture on a site, and in the company of other buildings. At the level of building, it exploits the unique quality of a site, informs the placement of building, and shapes the inside-outside relationship. At the contextual level, it considers architecture as a part of the city, and contributes to the making of public places.

In traditional societies, this architectural response is obvious – a house forming a part of a village, several houses forming a village square, and a village fitting seamlessly into the rural context. With increasing demand for individuality, larger scale of cities, and rapid urbanization, this fundamental requirement of architecture is often ignored. ‘Contextual design’ is sometimes argued to be of lesser importance given the vast scale, and internal concerns of architecture today. Yet the making of connectivity, openness, and publicness in architecture is ever more pressing in the contemporary city, for it alleviates isolation, fosters tolerance, and gives pleasure and meaning to places.

This studio investigates contextual response and place-making in architecture. The studio searches for the design of architecture that influences urban form generation and articulation; interfaces and dialogue between architecture and city; making of sustainable cties. Behind the studio is an attempt to use architectural design as a vehicle to contribute to alternative urban strategies and place-making in Hong Kong.