Student Design of the Year Awards - ARCASIA 2025

Date 10.09.2025

Location Incheon, South Korea

Congratulations to our MArch student Tony Chiu Cheuk Lun for winning the ARCASIA Students' Design Competition 2025, with his project "Street, Landscape & Densification in Wan Chai". Supervised by Prof. Elva Tang, Prof. Claude Godefroy and Prof. Juan Diego Ramirez Leon, Chiu creates A transformative vision where Hong Kong's building typologies echo with community engagement with plug-in landscape and densification by reimagining Tong Lau typologies, rooftops and balconies transform into communal green spaces. The design develops a new node hub unifying the future and past, bringing new form, scale, rhythm to the space.

The ARCASIA Students' Design Competition 2025 is organised by the ARCASIA Council and held during The 21st Asian Congress of Architects in Incheon, Kore, in September 2025. The competition, with the theme "Plug-in Architecture for a Better Tomorrow", challenges students to develop “plug-in” architectural ideas that seamlessly integrate with existing buildings, structures, or social contexts.

Exploration on formats of urban landscape amidst HK‘s urban fabric & densification: a people-centric city with social cohesion

Promoting landscape integration in Wan Chai’s urban fabric, fostering community cohesion amid densification, is pivotal for the neighborhood’s future. A visionary project redefines densification, preserving the essence of Wan Chai. Prioritizing its unique streetscape, the initiative envisions a resilient form accommodating densification without compromising HK’s cultural identity.

Reimagining Tong Lau typologies, rooftops and balconies transform into communal green spaces, bonding the community. This innovative densification approach integrates mixed-use developments, sustaining street life vitality, and harmonizing urban growth with Wan Chai’s character, promoting a people-centric cityscape.

Awards