Design Trust 2026 “The Art of Movement” Honourees | Mrs. Penelope Seidler and Ms. Nora Leung

Design Trust announced Mrs. Penelope Seidler and Ms. Nora Leung as “the Art of Movement” Design Trust 2026 Honourees,  in recognition of Mrs. Seidler as architect partner and wife of Harry Seidler who designed Hong Kong Club and her contributions to contemporary architecture, art patronage and education globally; and Ms. Leung’s dedication to architecture and urban landscape in Hong Kong and the region especially the seminal work on the Lippo Centre (formerly known as Bond Centre) designed by architect Paul Rudolph.

Mrs. Penelope Seidler and Lead Curator Marisa Yiu at the finissage programme Design Trust Sketchalogues 2026 on April 10^th

Mrs. Penelope Seidler is both an architect and  accountant and a cherished cultural philanthropist in the arts and architecture, within Australia and globally. She is a Director of Harry Seidler and Associates. Penelope has held positions on arts boards including the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Contemporary Art, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Venice Biennale. In 2001, she was awarded a Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in business leadership and was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2026 for service to the preservation of cultural heritage, to visual arts organisations and to architecture. In 2011, she was made a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur by the French government and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of New South Wales and in 2021 awarded Hon Doctor of Architecture from University of Sydney.

Penelope participated in Hong Kong Architectural Legacy Symposium by Design Trust on April 9^th, and the finissage programme Design Trust Sketchalogues 2026 on April 10^th, where she vividly shared  on her first trip to Hong Kong in 1959 with Harry Seidler, the journey of designing the Hong Kong Club Building, witnessing the transformation of Central Hong Kong. Responding to the Design Trust Sketchalogues 2026, she said: “When I was an architectural student, everything was done by hand. Sketching means everything to me – it is still a way for me to think about things.” Penelope Seidler and Polly Seidler also provided rare archive documents of the Hong Kong Club, and Harry Seilder’s earlier proposal for Hongkong Shanghai Bank Headquarter to empower Design Trust Exhibition 2026.

Ms. Nora Leung, is a Hong Kong architect living and working in Hong Kong. After graduating from The University of Hong Kong, she acquired first-hand experience working with Paul Rudolph on The Bond Centre project (now Lippo Centre), from the design’s conception through its construction process. In 1990, she published the book “Experiencing Bond Centre”, a detailed account of her experiences working on the project, which remains an important document and insightful account of Paul Rudolph’s design philosophy in his later career. The book was collected by the Smithsonian Institution. She subsequently worked with Paul Rudolph on the design of several unbuilt projects in South-east Asia and Hong Kong, until his passing in 1997. In 2018, she curated the exhibition “Paul Rudolph-the Hong Kong Journey” in the Center for Architecture, New York, where Design Trust supported “New Practices in Hong Kong Architecture: A Symposium” on the occasion. After her collaboration with Paul Rudolph, Nora continues to work as architect in Hong Kong and is the Founder and Principal Partner of Chau, Ku & Leung, Architects and Engineers, Limited.

Working closely with Paul Rudolph on the Bond Centre (now Lippo Centre), Nora has collected an expansive archive of original drawings, correspondences and documents of the design and construction process. She participated in Design Trust Art Basel Hong Kong Architecture & Art Walking Tour on March 24^th, and the public opening of Design Trust Exhibition 2026 on March 27^th to share her experience and reflection on working with Paul Rudolph on the landmark building: “His (Paul Rudolph) hand drawings are absolutely superb and it was during my work with him that I collected a lot of his sketches, which you can see actually from one of my exhibition that he sketches by hand of what he wants to create. Drawing by hand, connected to your brain, is what we did before.” Nora generously loaned materials from her archive to display at Design Trust Architectural Archive Research Prototype 2026 to inspire the community.