Herzog & de Meuron's M+ celebrates five years of community-centred design in Hong Kong
Swiss architect firm Herzog & de Meuron's chief executive Wim Walschap discusses the firm's Hong Kong landmarks M+ and Tai Kwun, emphasising community-making, flexibility and sustainability. He also addresses the firm's expansion in mainland China and its cautious engagement with AI.
Herzog & de Meuron, the renowned Swiss architectural firm behind Hong Kong's contemporary art museum M+ and the revitalised heritage complex Tai Kwun, has profoundly shaped the city's cultural landscape. As M+ marks its fifth anniversary this month, the firm's chief executive Wim Walschap spoke to The Standard about the company's work in the region, its design philosophy, and its approach to climate change and artificial intelligence.
Walschap, who was partner in charge of the M+ project, recalled the vision behind it: "From the outset, we wanted to create public spaces the city could claim as its own." Community-making, he said, lies at the heart of the museum's design. From its porous, welcoming ground floor to the Grand Stair and the expansive outdoor Roof Garden, M+ offers places to "gather, meet, rest and take part in everyday civic life."
"The architecture provides a clear structure while leaving room for people to introduce their own activities and meanings," Walschap said. He noted that the public response to M+ and Tai Kwun suggests "a strong appetite for places where culture and everyday life can meet," adding that in a dense city like Hong Kong, their value lies as much in the exhibitions as "in the opportunity to spend time without a prescribed purpose."
Walschap emphasised that flexibility in design could help support an institution's long-term financial sustainability, a pressing concern for the West Kowloon Cultural District where M+ is situated. "Design can't fix an institution's finances, but it can help a museum remain relevant to the community it serves," he said. The firm's work in mainland China includes Beijing's National Stadium, the Grand Canal Museum Complex in Hangzhou, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Conghua Racecourse Grandstand in Guangzhou. "One striking aspect of working in China is the speed at which projects can move from design into construction," Walschap remarked.
Climate considerations inform H&dM's designs from the outset. M+'s ceramic facade is a nod to Asian building traditions and a protective response to Hong Kong's heat, humidity and wind. Walschap explained that a building's orientation, massing, passive shading and facade materials can have a big impact on how it responds to heat and cold. For the Hortus office building at the Switzerland Innovation Park, H&dM developed a material that reduces carbon emissions by up to 90 per cent compared with concrete slabs.
Having taken the helm in May, Walschap sees his core task as safeguarding the firm's legacy while guiding it through "an increasingly uncertain geopolitical and environmental future." He said the firm is engaging digital technologies, including AI, with "curiosity and a critical eye."