Living with Temporality: Transitional Housing Design and Beyond
Date 21.3.2025, Friday
Time 9:30AM - 1:30PM, 3:00PM - 4:30PM
Venue G/F Atrium, School of Architecture, LSK Architecture Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Language English
Transitional housing in Hong Kong represents both a response to the city’s affordable housing crisis and a testing ground for innovative approaches to housing. Emerging in 2017, this temporary housing typology has since evolved into a critical area of exploration for policymakers, NGOs, developers and architects.
Caught between competing priorities, transitional housing operates within a framework of tensions: efficiency versus human-centered design, top-down policy versus community-driven initiatives, quantity versus quality, and the temporal nature of living versus the enduring need for a sense of home and security.
In contrast with the government-led housing model, the active involvement of NGOs has created opportunities to rethink affordable homes that prioritize the quality of life alongside the quantity of provision. This prompts the potential for transitional housing to develop as a typology—not just for temporary shelter but for reimagining living quality. Architects, often with a limited role in these projects, can play a pivotal part in integrating user-centred design, thoughtful planning, spatial quality, material and environmental consciousness into housing solutions while balancing cost efficiency.
This symposium seeks to interrogate these dichotomies in transitional housing design while re-examining the role of architects in mediating spatial justice between stakeholders and reconciling competing priorities. Can efficiency and human-centered design coalesce to create housing that is both functional and humane? How can transitional housing balance the immediate need for rapid deployment with the long-term goal of fostering community and well-being? And what is the architect’s role in navigating these tensions to achieve equitable, sustainable, and habitable solutions?
This symposium will bring together architects, academics, industry professionals, and policymakers to examine the challenges and opportunities of affordable housing. Through the discussion, it shall explore strategies to enhance design quality, foster collaboration across disciplines, and discuss the role of architects in addressing housing quality. The symposium seeks to advance the future housing design towards human-centred and sustainable development.
The symposium consists of two panel discussion sessions and one keynote sharing, crossing between professionals, government, operators, and academia to discuss the challenge and future potential in affordable housing. The design charette in the afternoon will bring together professionals, NGOs, residents, and students to collaboratively brainstorm design ideas, the result will be summarised and included in a transitional housing design guide to be published later in the year. Concurrent exhibitions showcasing research findings and student projects will also be held throughout the day on 1/F.
09:30-09:45 Opening Remarks
- Peter W. Ferretto (Director, School of Architecture, CUHK)
- Maggie Ma (Organiser, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, CUHK )
09:45-10:05 Guest of Honour
- Ho Wing Yin, Winnie, JP (Secretary for Housing, HKSAR)
10:05-10:45 Presentation & Panel Discussion 1 – Affordable Housing as a New Design Typology
- Ho Wing Yin, Winnie, JP (Secretary for Housing, HKSAR)
- Joyce Ho (Architect of United Court)
- Dan Lau (Architect of Pok Oi Kong Ha Wai)
- Moderator: Corrin Chan (Board Member, Hong Kong Institute of Architects)
10:55-11:45 Presentation & Panel Discussion 2 – Transitional Housing Design Challenges and Opportunities
- Nelson Chen (Architect of Everest Residence, Honorary Professor, School of Architecture, CUHK)
- Maggie Ma (Organiser, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, CUHK)
- Jacqueline Lee (Senior Project Manager, Architectural Services Department)
- Moderator: Han Man (Lecturer, School of Architecture, CUHK)
12:00-13:30 Keynote Sharing & Discussion – Sustainable Affordable Housing Design
- Jeremy McLeod (Director, Breathe Architecture)
- Marta Peris & José Toral (Directors, Peris + Toral)
- Moderator: Cecilia Chu (Associate Professor, School of Architecture, CUHK)
15:00-16:30
- Design Charrette for Future Affordable Housing (Pre-registration required)
Organisers
Prof. Maggie Ma Kingsley as a part of a research project supported by The Faculty of Social Science and Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund CUHK ECS (24602022), with the assistance of Research Assistants Jen Lam and Lauren Fung.
