Synopsis
Reconnecting Cultures considers Rocco Design Architects' approach to the different contexts in which the practice works, by showcasing projects developed both in mainland China and Hong Kong, where different aesthetic and architectural strategies are employed to respond to disparate cultural and physical landscapes.
As a Chinese architectural practice based in Hong Kong, where oriental and Western, modern and traditional cultures are merging, Rocco Design's work is grounded in the belief that architecture is the embodiment of culture--embracing and reinterpreting the past, heritage and tradition, as well as addressing modernity--and the requirements of contemporary living, spatial relationships, materials, and the balance between the public and private realms. As such, Rocco Design is sensitive to the cultural context in which the practice works--their architecture is both an expression of form, and an interpretation of the culture at its heart.
This beautifully illustrated volume documents major projects such as the Distorted Courtyard House, which responds sensitively to its surrounding topography while remaining striking and provocative in terms of its contemporary architectural devices, the Jiu Jian Tang, Shanghai, and the Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou. At One Peking Road, Rocco Design's use of photovoltaic panels seamlessly integrates sustainability within iconic architecture. Other projects, such as the HKSAR Government Headquarters, Hong Kong, exemplify the practice's creation of significant and recognisable buildings that contribute to the development of 'place' and history.
Reconnecting Cultures offers the most substantial exploration of Rocco Design's work to date. Interviews with Rocco as well as contributions from eminent architectural commentators take the reader through the underlying theoretical and aesthetic preoccupations that shape the practice's work and make it resonate within both a Chinese and an increasingly global context.
About the Author
Fumihiko Maki is a leading Japanese architect at Maki & Associates. and internationally known as founding member of the Metabolists, an avant-garde group of then young Japanese architects. He has written numerous books on architecture including Nurturing Dreams: Collected Essays on Architecture and the City and Fumihiko Maki on his own practice. He received the Pritzker Prize (1993) and was recently awarded the AIA Gold Medal (2011).
Rocco Yim was born and educated in Hong Kong, and started his own practice in 1979. His works have consistently received awards in both Hong Kong and internationally. He is currently Director of the Hong Kong Design Centre and Honorary Professor at the Department of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong.
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