Melody YIU

  • 2021-22 Direct Grant for Research, CUHK Faculty of Social Science | Key issues and problems Most cultural buildings in Hong Kong are publicly funded, where the cultural institution carries a public mission and in essence, public space. However, this is a type of space often bypassed in the public space discourse. While cultural architecture is…

    Read more →

  • There was a paradigm change around the mid-20th century in urban design and planning, from the Modernist top-down planning manifesto to a concern with the human-scale urban experience. Urbanists such as Jane Jacobs advocated an observational approach to learning about how the city works (1961). This is a view shared by the Danish architect Jan…

    Read more →

  • The proposed research consists of three stages in response to the project’s aims. Stage 1 is a spatial analysis of existing conditions, followed by a fieldwork stage to investigate public space user experience, and a final stage to analyze data collected and formulate recommendations. It will be conducted in qualitative methods, including architectural mapping and…

    Read more →

  • In February 1974, a Cultural Complex sub-committee under the Standing Committee of the Whole Council of Urban Council was setup to coordinate the overall project that was originally under three separate Select Committee (Museum and Art Gallery Selection Committee, Recreation and Amenity Select Committee, City Hall Select Committee). As the master plan was drafted by…

    Read more →

  • Cultural architecture is often celebrated for its distinction in design to the credit of the architect. However, as we unpack the idea of architectural landmark as a public institution, we would find many more factors in its making beyond the architect’s drawing board. This brief review of public offices involved in cultural infrastructure development serves…

    Read more →

  • arch5731B | 2020/21 summer elective workshop for UG & MArch students. This course will review cultural architecture and its public space in Hong Kong, reflecting upon how cultural acts in public space plays a role in the making of urban landscape. The dynamics between built and experienced space can be portrait as a spatial narrative,…

    Read more →

  • Inaugurated with a full month of celebratory festival in November 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre marks its significances as the cultural and architectural landmark of the city’s most prosperous development period at the end of the 20th century. The project span over two decades in its making, from early proposals of a new museum…

    Read more →

  • Why study HKCC?

    Since the time of its opening in November 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC) has been a subject of debate as the new cultural landmark of the city. Situated along the Victoria harbour front, it was criticised by the public for its windowless facade, while initial acoustic quality of the concert hall was also…

    Read more →

  • Stage.Performance.City

    Introductory lecture for the 2021 summer elective “Cultural Landscape of the City” at School of Architecture, cuhk, a course to explore the cross-over of theatre and architecture through spatial exploration of the City as a stage of performance. I. What is “Cultural Landscape” of the City? When we talk about cultural architecture – the grand…

    Read more →

  • arch5131D | 202021T2 elective course for UG & MArch students. This course explores key ideas about cartography as a medium in architecture and urbanism. From conceptual mind-map to advance technology in urban data mapping, different ways of documentation and representation has been used to record our built environment. The abstraction of information through maps and…

    Read more →