8 November 2012
Shortlisted Design Teams Announced for Hong Kong's Future Art-themed Park at the West Kowloon Cultural District
The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) announced today a shortlist of seven design teams that have been invited to submit technical proposals for the development of Hong Kong's first art-themed park, 14 hectares of landscaped public space for arts and culture at the West Kowloon Cultural District, by the waterfront in Kowloon.
The park, targeting to open by phases from 2014/2015, will be the first to be conceived as a cultural destination. The sculpted terrain, with abundant planting, will provide a new green open space in the heart of the city and a vibrant venue for music, dance, theatre, art exhibitions and other free outdoor cultural programmes. The designers will be challenged to maximise the greening opportunities involved and integrate innovative green ideas in their park design.
The seven shortlisted design teams (in alphabetical order) are:
Arts and culture elements for the park include:
Freespace: A prime venue for contemporary music of all scales and genres that is integrated into the landscaping of the park. Spanning 7000m², Freespace will include:
The Freespace Theatre, a flexible space that is intended for the presentation of music, interdisciplinary performances and multimedia presentations closely related to music for audiences from 450 to 900 people, with an online 'digital venue' that will complement the physical venue as an independent platform for all forms of digital and new media art projects.
The Music Box, integrated with a bar and a café and intended for the presentation of mainly local live music to an audience of 150 to 300.
The Outdoor Stage, designed for daily and free music events for 200. The seating of the Outdoor Stage will be integrated into landscaped slopes of the park.
The Lawn: Leisure grass-covered area capable of accommodating 6,000 to 10,000 people during events.
Arts Pavilions: These spaces will function as small scale exhibition and event spaces for the visual arts with a combined area of 100m2.
Sculptures and Installations:
Space will be specifically designed throughout the park for art installations and sculptures. The chosen design team will collaborate with artists from the early stages of the design in order to fully integrate permanent large-scale contemporary art into the design of the park. There will also be temporary exhibitions. The selection of artists will be made by M+, Hong Kong's future museum for visual culture in West Kowloon Cultural District, who will be responsible for the curatorial oversight of all visual art in the park.
These facilities will be set within a landscaped setting with site specific features along the waterfront and all ancillary buildings and amenities required for an urban park setting.
Mr Michael Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of WKCDA, said, "The park in the West Kowloon Cultural District will be an arts destination in its own right providing a vital flexible open space for the visual and performing arts. Opening in phases beginning from 2014/15, the park aspires to be the most dynamic and inspiring public space in Hong Kong with arts and culture at its core."
Twenty-two teams from all over the world expressed interest in being considered for the project, following an open call for Expression of Interest launched in July 2012. The teams were shortlisted by the Development Committee on recommendation from a Working Group of Park Development set up under WKCDA to steer and oversee the exercise.
The seven shortlisted design teams will be requested to submit a detailed technical proposal to WKCDA around end of this year. Entries from the shortlisted design teams will be judged by an assessment panel of leaders in the relevant professional and arts and culture fields from Hong Kong and internationally: Mr Andrew LAM Siu-lo, Prof Leslie CHEN, Ms Kai-Yin LO, Prof David LUNG Ping-yee, Dr Elvin WONG Chi-chung, Mr Michael LYNCH, Dr MW CHAN, Dr Lars NITTVE, Mr Louis YU. The chosen design team will be appointed by early 2013.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
WEST KOWLOON CULTURAL DISTRICT
The West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong is one of the largest arts and cultural projects in the world. Its vision is to provide a vibrant cultural quarter for the city; a vital platform for the local arts scene to interact, develop and collaborate; and major facilities to host and produce world-class exhibitions, performances and arts and cultural events. The District will include 17 core arts and cultural venues and 30,000 square metres of space dedicated to arts education. It will be a low-density development, providing ample open green space and embracing two kilometres of a vibrant harbour-front promenade. The park will constitute 14 of the 23 hectares of open space within the district which will also include a green avenue and open piazzas, and closely connected with the neighborhood.
The project will be developed in phases with construction scheduled to commence in 2013. The venues to be commissioned in Phase 1 include the Xiqu Centre (main theatre and Tea House), a Freespace with an outdoor stage, M+ (20th and 21st century visual culture museum), a Lyric Theatre, a Centre for Contemporary Performance, Medium Theatre I, a Music Centre with a Concert and Recital Hall, a Musical Theatre, a Mega Performance Venue and an Exhibition Centre. A host of ancillary facilities including a Resident Company Centre, other creative learning facilities and a number of Arts Pavilions for visual arts exhibitions will also be constructed in this phase. Phase 2 will involve the commissioning of the Great Theatre, a small theatre as part of the Xiqu Centre and the Medium Theatre II.
WKCDA's first cultural event was the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre which was staged at the future site of the Xiqu Centre near Canton Road during the Chinese New Year in 2012 and will return next year in response to popular demand.
Profile of Shortlisted Design Teams
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