Hong Kong Design Institute student projects

The Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) has unveiled a selection of student projects from its recent school show. The Dezeen School Shows feature includes an art nouveau-style cafe and shop at a racecourse, a jewellery collection representing healing, and a concept store focused on traditional signboards.

According to a school statement, HKDI is one of the most influential design institutions in Hong Kong. It provides high-quality education to nurture design talents for the creative industry. The institute offers over 20 full-time design programmes across departments including Architecture, Interior and Product Design, Communication Design, Digital Media, and Fashion and Image Design.

Architectural and Product Designs

Dorothy Chan's project, The Aqueous Breath, re-imagines a bird hide in Mai Po as a 'moored boat'. It aims to bridge the urban environment and the natural world. The design uses water-driven healing principles from neuro-architecture. It features a bamboo structure and site-harvested bark cladding.

Janice Chau created Feed the Fish, a modular pavilion for plastic waste awareness. It invites visitors to insert plastic bottles into the structure. This act, termed 'feeding the fish', makes the bottles an active component of the pavilion's architecture.

Yoyo Cheuk designed Zend Garden, a series of outdoor fitness equipment for seniors. It combines zen aesthetics with gentle exercise. The collection includes a Tai Chi gentle pusher made from stacked giant pebbles, a leg lift device, and a Y-shaped social seating bench.

Jewellery and Visual Concepts

Chantel Shum's jewellery series, Rebirth, narrates a journey from breakdown to bloom. It consists of five pieces: a necklace, earrings, a watch, a brooch, and a ring. The series uses blue-purple gemstones with sandblasting and polishing techniques to visualise healing.

Jason Lam developed Future Age, a lifestyle exhibition using virtual reality and 3D reconstruction. It envisions human existence over the next 50 years influenced by artificial intelligence. The exhibition aims to transform Gen Z's apprehensions into a constructive dialogue about AI.

Rame Seto's concept store, Collective Grocery Co, aims to raise awareness of traditional signboard culture in Hong Kong. Each product in the store represents a local industry and its connection to the city.

Narrative and Fashion Projects

Koi Wong's project, Slow Ding Ding, explores how Hong Kong's iconic tram can remind people to pause and rediscover slow living. Eleana Ng contributed as producer for the animated group project Two Gilded of Lilies, a story about two experimental female subjects seeking freedom.

Ben Chan served as director, scriptwriter, and art director for the film project Minute by Minute. The story involves a 70-year-old woman named Lan and her 17-year-old grandson Tse Chun in a city promoting a 'Battery Project'.

Yvonne Hung contributed styling for the fashion image project From Rust To Dawn, which uses the narrative structure of 'One Thousand and One Nights' to explore light and hope. Swally Lai developed The Silence Tear, a conceptual fashion collection raising awareness about the legacy of child labour.