Playground Before, Now and Then
How do public playgrounds contribute to shaping the urban environment hardware and socio-cultural software of our city? And how should consensus be consolidated throughout their making process? ‘Playground Before, Now and Then’ is a research project that document the social innovative making process of this new playground urbanism.
How do public playgrounds contribute to shaping the urban environment hardware and socio-cultural software of our city? And how should consensus be consolidated throughout their making process? ‘Playground Before, Now and Then’ is a research project that document the social innovative making process of this new playground urbanism.
In 2021, Hong Kong embarked in a wave of renewal for 170 public playgrounds under government campaign. The cultural and urban capacity of playgrounds as inter-related network of public spaces are exemplified. Such critical turning point calls for a correspondingly renewed multi-layered engagement methodology to address the cultural, communal, functional and children developmental needs of the new generation playground design.
This project documents the process and findings of the multi-layered engagement framework experimented by designers and practitioners locally and globally, to embark in a comprehensive discourse about placemaking through playground, play and design, and the power of public engagement.
- 2022
- Grantee: Kevin Siu
Kevin Siu co-founded AaaM Architects with the belief on architecture as a medium for culture and social interactions. He has been leading the studio to promote architectural and design culture through works in architecture, interiors, installations and a spectrum of public engagement and design educational projects. He has also been active in the media and has been contributing articles on architecture and design to a number of media platforms in Hong Kong and the PRC. AaaM’s works have been receiving international acclamations, including Japan Good Design Award - Best 100, DFA Award, Singapore Good Design Award, K-Design Award, Germany Iconic Award, and etc.
Kevin has been the Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture at the Chu Hai College of Higher Education in Hong Kong since 2012. He was also the recipient of HKIA Young Architect Award Honorable Mention in 2017 and Perspective 40 under 40 in 2018.