RIBA hong kong reimagines pacific place mall with shop installations

RIBA hong kong reimagines pacific place mall with shop installations
all images courtesy of pacific place

in collaboration with pacific place mall, the hong kong chapter of the royal institute of british architects (RIBA) has installed three interactive, public installations by emerging architectural practices. created for ‘SHOP! 2014,’ one of four architectural events for the city: ‘EAT! SHOP! TALK! CELEBRATE!’ the competition sought to pair emerging RIBA-registered, hong kong-based design talents with specific spaces throughout the complex. this has given the young designers an opportunity to work on a direct commission with a high profile mixed-use developer, and in turn, provides the company with innovative contemporary designs. the winning teams were selected from 40 entries by a jury panel comprising the RIBA hong kong chapter, swire properties, and guest panelist hugh broughton, designer of the british antarctic research station.

detail of the wicker woven horns from below

‘this is OUR place,’ by howard chung, irene cheng, po and sabah ashiq, is a large scale project featuring a dozen oversized musical horns hanging from the ceiling of the garden court atrium. influenced by the existing interior materials of the space, the hovering instruments are made of wicker woven against a bronze metal skeleton to create a warm ambience. visible from afar, the work encourages people to step into the horns to experience the interactive, multimedia installation. visitors can choose to immerse themselves in the 360° video underneath three big horns or explore multifaceted imagery of themselves in the smaller ones, which contain illusionary mirrors and lights.

the reflectivity of the lights create an optical illusion for anyone standing below them

each horn has its own unique shape and size

along the mall’s long corridor on the first level is ‘hall of fame,’ a modern steel structure that takes reference of china’s ancient way of text recording designed by edmond wong, gary law, kylie chan, and charis mok. using steel as a frame, it is formed by suspended raw bamboo and fiberglass tubes to create a curved, silk-like surface with messages displayed by back-lit perforations. visitors can walk along the canopy to view birthday cards designed by directors and creative leads of brands such as smythson and harvey nichols.

green bamboo sets the mood for shoppers as they pass underneath the structure

the birthday cards of the creative brands appear as their own storefronts

view of ‘hall of fame’ from above

‘now and then’ is located at the centre of park court on the first level, by slavomir siska, ruyin liu and tie fan. the installation consists of five individual sculptures, each sitting in a pot that bears a resemblance to plants, symbolizing life and growth. arranged in a pentagon and linked by thick and thin black lines, the bulbous shapes represent the history and transformation of pacific place since its beginning. each form is constructed at a unique height, allowing shoppers of all ages to view two TV screens that show videos of a special theme.

screens retell the history of pacific place

the contours of the installation create a moiré pattern 

now and then reflects the life and growth of the space

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.