Newsletter No. 12

CUHK N e w s l e t t e r ARCHITECTURE framework for the students so that when they approach an unfamiliar problem, they have a way of approaching it, and a way of solving the problem, and a way of analysing the problem, of researching it, and then being able to put it in concrete form so that whoever is involved in the process will be able to work with the architect's ideas. • Soyou're not targeting a particular area - public or private sector, government orprivate firms-for the students to fit into when they graduatefrom the programme? • That's right; we're going to equip them with a fundamental set of skills necessary for working in either setting. The architectural skills needed in the modem world are universal, while the application of them is very local. You need to have aset of skills that is very portable. An architect has to be able to realize, in a particular place and time, the very specific circumstances hemust work with. So you have on the one hand the very universal set of skills and approaches and even some sense of the responsibility of the architect, which then has to be carried out, not on paper, but on the ground. And that gives a very local flavour. One of the problems in modem architecture is that people mistake the universal skills for the form. That's one step toomany. That is, up to the point of being in a specific locality, a specific culture, it's universal, then it becomes a matter of application. • What about a very important local factor like Feng Shui. Will you account for something like this in your programme? • Feng Shui is fundamentally the art of siting, which, going back, was extremely useful for helping people understand where to put a building, or house, or various pieces inside a structure in consistency with Chinese philosophy. And I think that is very valuable. I think we have to recapture, in some way, some of this sense of ‘fitting in', or understanding the nature of the place. Some of the best architecture I've seen has a feeling that ‘fits’ the environment and circumstances at hand. There are a lot of valuable things in Feng Shui as a concept. When it becomes superstition, then I part ways with it. On the other hand, I think it's mostly harmless. It's kind of an interesting way for people to gain a sense of control over their environment. • Shouldyou teach it? • I don't think so, but I think you have to be aware of it. It's very important that people be aware that Feng Shui is one of the fundamental ways in which Hong Kong and southern Chinese, in some ways, think about their environment. Therefore it's pertinent. I think it would be very interesting to hearFeng Shui masters, and I think we should study their texts, and let people find their own way of dealing with it. • Whereon campus will the Depart- ment ofArchitecture be located? • Eventually in Chung Chi Phase III ， the new teaching block. In the meantime, we're looking for aplace. But an architecture department always uses studios as the centre of education, so it needs different kinds of space than other departments. Every student needs to have adesk, a place to work. We'll need shops, places to make things, to hang things up, and we have to create an appropriate environment; that itself becomes part of the whole architectural process. • Whatabout recruitment of staff? • Recruitment is going on. We have about four spaces for the next year, and approximately the same number each year until we attain the full complement. So we're going to be in a continuous recruitment mode for the next five or six years. We're looking for versatile people who can give of their time and pursue the kinds of things I've been talking about: the process and technical aspects and skills. • And what about the curriculum and its effecton recruitment? • The first year looks to be an integrated package which introduces all the aspects, including getting the fundamental skills of visualization, drawing, communication. We'll establish these things so we can go on to the next year. Then, as we begin to 7