Forest for All

Forest for All is a Hong Kong native species forest designed to heal Tao Fong Shanʼs degraded mountaintop ecosystem destroyed by previous human activity. As a creative reforestation project conceived for the long now, Forest for All restores the damaged mountain and empowers Hong Kong people to connect with nature through learning about and caring for the environment. Through this curated environmental education initiative and sustainable inclusive community project, everyone from young to elderly plants trees in Forest for All and learns through hands-on nature education. Designed for more-than-human life, Forest for All restores local biodiversity, improves air quality, and provides habitats for wildlife. Amid the urgency of climate change in todayʼs anthropocentric society, designers have an ethical responsibility to take action and contribute to more-than-human living spaces and trans-species comfort. Forest for All is created by and for Hong Kongʼs thriving life for future generations.

2025

Grantee: Lily Zhang, Wataru Shinji: Lily Zhang and Wataru Shinji design architecture, landscape, environment, and art projects in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Japan, and the United States to expand the limitless potential of
design. They aim to discover a new idea of comfort and living space for not only humans but also a multitude of other life in the world. Recent projects and achievements include Life Forest at Art Basel Hong Kong 2024, the First Place Award in the Shinkenchiku Central Glass International Architectural Design Competition 2023 in Tokyo, as well as a series of landscapes, gardens, and installations in the Hong Kong\Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism + Architecture 2022. Their work and contributions have been exhibited at the Foundation Cartier pour Lʼart Contemporain in Paris, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Museum of Modern Art in New York, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Arc en Rêve Centre d'Architecture Bordeaux, National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, Bangkok Design Week, Harvard University, Princeton University, The University of Tokyo, PMQ, and The Catalyst Gallery, among others. They currently teach at The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Architecture and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as the School of Architectureʼs inaugural Practitioners-in-Residence. Lily earned her Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University, and her B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. She is an invited Affirmations Planetary Cohort Respondent with Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Wataru earned his B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and has previously taught at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Princeton University School of Architecture, Rice University School of Architecture, Mendrisio Academy of Architecture, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and Chulalongkorn University. Their work, teaching, and research have led them to many places around the world, gathering a variety of experiences and perspectives on diverse environmental conditions to expand their design practice.