In an era dominated by technology, this selection of drawings of Hong Kong demonstrates how the art of sketching remains a timeless and invaluable practice within architecture
Despite the digital age’s rapid transformation of the ways we work and live, sketching remains an essential and fundamental skill for every architect. Sketching by hand is the most personal, intuitive and direct way of communicating ideas and is deeply rooted in process.
The Art of Sketching is the inaugural exhibition of The Gallery of the DX design hub in the Sham Shui Po district, Kowloon. it follows an open call for entries by the RIBA Hong Kong Chapter and features over 145 works from both firms and individuals.
The common thread between all the submissions is Hong Kong – its geography, its natural and built environments, the lived experience of its people and the perspectives of newcomers experiencing Hong Kong for the first time. The drawings featured here adopt widely differing approaches and each sketch has its own unique perspective and character.
The diverse range of drawings reflects Hong Kong's uniqueness as a vibrant cosmopolitan city and global financial hub. The city is both incubator and showcase for homegrown and international talent.
Reminiscent of organic growth, Heatherwick Studio's striking sketch for a speculative hotel tower stands in stark contrast to the characteristic orthogonal geometry of glass and steel that dominates the urban landscape.
Snøhetta's ‘manifesto on collectiveness’ is a visceral multilayered sketch, integrating contributions from studio members for their shared office space. Each colour represents a contribution from a different individual, imparting an overall vibrant, dynamic and ultimately harmonious quality.
Embracing Hong Kong’s celebrated skyline, Lead8 presents a macro view of the harbour with the precision of an urban sketch, deftly integrating its proposal into the familiar landscape.
Farrells' study communicates the essence of its waterfront project in a series of swift, hand-drawn lines. There is an immediacy to the organic horizontal form that nestles next to the traditional towers of a residential neighbourhood.
With its clean unambiguous lines, WilkinsonEyre’s Sky Bridge study unites infrastructure and architecture to describe the building’s long-span structural geometry, aesthetics and functionality. An aeroplane created from a simple combination of line and shape deftly communicates the sheer scale and landscape quality of this hybrid form.
William Lim’s fluid Chinese landscapes and building elevations are exquisitely reminiscent of traditional Chinese ink paintings. Banyan Tree Zhuhai, executed in Chinese ink, represents the landscape as texture and density, leaving essential detail.
Christy Au’s monochrome drawings capture the city’s bamboo scaffolding and distinctive roofscapes. Highly evocative, her drawings make commonplace scenes extraordinary and acknowledge the historical significance of this fast-disappearing building typology.
These sketches collectively create a rich architectural narrative that reflects Hong Kong's unique blend of geographical diversity, cultural richness, and transformation, which continues to inspire and challenge architectural practices.
The exhibition opening is timely, coming shortly after two recent RIBA publications: The RIBA Collections: The Architecture Drawing Book by Charles Hind, Fiona Orsini and Susan Pughh, and A Practical Guide to Architectural Drawing by Guang Yu Ren and Edward Denison. These publications enrich our understanding of drawings as an enduring and unique creative activity for architects, emphasizing their importance in the architectural process and culture.
Concurrently with the practice sketches, Hind, Olivia Horsfall-Turner, and Valerie Carullo have been in Hong Kong serving as the jury for the Student Drawing Competition. The results of this competition will be published in a future issue.
The Art of Sketching continues at The Gallery 1/F, DX design hub, 280 Tung Chau Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong, until 25 January 2025