On 5 April, the CUHK School of Architecture collaborated with RMIT University of Melbourne, Australia to organize ‘Farm HD Symposium’, the first symposium of ‘FarmHD’, at An Integrated Teaching Building. Farm HD is a research project of RMIT University that is investigating new architectural prototypes for urban farming. The symposium is part of an ongoing series of events in South East Asia that aims to present ideas, projects and speculations on urban designs that enable farming in high-density cities. CUHK was selected for the landmark event for its strong research focus on urban farming and a number of rooftop farming prototypes operating within the campus.

The event gathered experts on urban farming and vertical design from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Melbourne and Vietnam. Among the topics shared, Prof. Thomas Chung of School of Architecture introduced ‘Value Farm’ and ‘Floating Fields’, his two projects at Shekou that have integrated farming and aquaponics into architectural design.

The speakers and guests were invited to a special tour of several campus rooftop farming projects organized by the School of Architecture. Sites included the aquaponics project on Kuo Mou Hall and the rooftop farms on the University Library Extension Building, Hui Yeung Shing Building and An Integrated Teaching Building respectively.