The Whole World in a Drawer

by Nicola Desiderio on May 9, 2025

The exhibition “Projecting Future Heritage: A Hong Kong Archive” is a collateral event of the Venice Biennale 2025, hosted at Campo della Tana. Curated by Fai Au, Ying Zhou, and Sunnie S.Y. Lau, the exhibition aims to shed light on Hong Kong’s often-overlooked public infrastructure, which has been essential for the city’s urban growth. This project aligns with the theme of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition — curated by Carlo Ratti under the title “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective” — highlighting the collective intelligence of Hong Kong’s public infrastructure and its role in managing urban density and climate change. As cities worldwide face increasingly complex challenges, this exhibition provides a unique perspective on how architecture can preserve urban memory, acting as a “guardian” of a collective identity that evolves over time.

The exhibition setup unfolds in two main distinctive areas: the outer courtyard and the indoor spaces of the former warehouses of Campo della Tana, featuring eight thematic sections. The courtyard is occupied by the installation Staging the Archive, which takes the shape of a large amphitheater, enhancing the unique physicality of the space to create an open and accessible environment, ideal for a variety of events and daily activities. Here, a seating system — crafted using the traditional bamboo scaffolding technique mastered by Hong Kong artisans known as Shifu — becomes a central element of the experience. This structure not only celebrates the city’s historic building practices, highlighting their versatility and collective intelligence in managing urban space, but also raises awareness of their gradual disappearance, threatened by the adoption of steel alternatives. Furthermore, the use of this construction technique documents and interprets the concept of “scaffolding” not only as a physical element but also as a process — an action embodying artisanal knowledge recognized as “intangible heritage”.

Inside the former warehouses, visitors encounter a towering metallic egg entitled Memory Eggency — The Sonic Life of Urban Memory. The structure echoes the verticality of modern skyscrapers, while its decorated surface evokes the nostalgic charm of colonial-era ceramic tiles — a symbol of coexistence between past and future in the famous cha chaan tang, also known as “tea restaurants”, affordable diners serving traditional cuisine. Through this ovoid form, stepping inside the shell immerses visitors in the chaotic rhythms of the city, transformed into a layered exploration of urban memory where sound and light distill metropolitan energy into pure perception. Ambient recordings, archival audio, and superimposed urban images reconstruct Hong Kong’s sonic landscape, while projections and immersive visual effects amplify the experience, emphasizing the city’s morphology. The installation guides visitors on a sensory journey, redefining the perception of Hong Kong’s built environment and transforming it into a guardian of collective memory and belonging.

Multiple Mansions. This term refers to a building typology developed in the mid-20th century (multi-story and mixed-use), which owes its existence to post-war needs related to the transition of colonial governance, contingent planning, and residential relocation. Out of more than a thousand composite buildings constructed between the late 1950s and mid-1970s in the urban context of the metropolis, six have been selected for in-depth analysis: Mirador Mansions (1959), Chung King Mansions (1961), Kiu Kwan Mansions (1966), I Feng Mansions (1967), Man King Building (1967), and Metropole Building (1972). These buildings were chosen for their relevance in terms of innovation (typological, technological, programmatic, and territorial development) and their cultural significance (as sites of impactful events) that have shaped Hong Kong’s urban development. Their architects and developers come from diverse backgrounds and professional settings, highlighting creative and pragmatic approaches to composite building design.

Curb-scale Hong Kong: Infrastructures of the Street. This research — initiated in 2018 and compiled into a book —explores the infrastructural elements that make up Hong Kong’s streets, highlighting their role as urban narrators and civic protagonists. Through detailed drawings and analytical texts, the project makes these objects visible and emphasizes their importance in the city’s urban context. The study focuses on how the street, often viewed merely as a technical-bureaucratic space, can instead be interpreted as a site of social interaction and architectural design. The project includes studies on various streets of the city, analyzing their accessibility, resilience, and how they are shared between pedestrians and vehicles. Additionally, the book delves into these themes through a series of drawings and texts documenting the growth, decay, and transformation of urban spaces.

Made in Kwun Tong: Between Type and Territory. This archival project analyzes the industrial building typologies in the Kwun Tong district, documenting the area’s territorial transformation over the past century. One emblematic example is the deep-plan industrial building with a vertically layered structure — a unique architectural typology developed to address production needs, urban density, and local construction techniques. However, with the rapid urban evolution of recent decades, this building configuration is gradually losing its relevance. The research integrates various methodologies, including territorial mapping, plan analysis, data collection through real estate listings, and newly commissioned photography to document both the external appearance and the interior atmosphere of these industrial buildings. Through this collection, the study highlights the potential for reuse, adaptation, and reactivation of inactive structures, opening new perspectives for Hong Kong’s future urban development.

Social Condenser Extradinaire: Hong Kong’s Municipal Services Buildings. This section analyzes the Municipal Services Buildings (MSB), a type of public architecture often overlooked, yet symbolic of Hong Kong’s urban density and institutional history — now threatened by demolitions and redevelopment. The exhibition includes analytical and historical materials, such as architectural drawings, physical models, photographs, and documents from public agencies and private architects. The research focuses on vertical multifunctional civic buildings, originally developed by the Urban Council (abolished in 1999), and delves into studies of tropical modernist buildings, designed for natural ventilation but now often sealed off. The goal is to highlight the concept of openness and public service embodied by these buildings, encouraging reflection on their preservation and future in urban development.

By Us For Us: Future Proof Narratives of a Third Housing for Hong Kong. In the past, Hong Kong’s population played an active role in shaping urban settlements, influencing every level of residential space—from apartments to courtyards, from street facades to collective blocks and neighborhoods. Today, CBS Estates, the last witnesses of this experiment, risk disappearing despite their growing relevance in a global context where housing is increasingly inaccessible and individualized. This section aims to reintroduce a “third housing model” for the metropolis. It is structured into three parts: a discussion forum held on the exhibition’s opening day, a series of three “transcalar drawings” printed on tiles used as discussion tools, and a scaled model of a prototype project for the proposed new housing model.

Lasting Play. Cha Kwo Ling, one of the many villages slated for demolition in Hong Kong, represents a deep ancestral connection for its inhabitants, dating back nearly two centuries. Founded in the 18th century as a Hakka settlement, the village thrived through the extractive industry and a vibrant local culture. This urban enclave hosts key community institutions, including the Hoe Yee Lung Dragon Boat Team, the Qilin Dance Troupe, the Sze Shan Public School, and the Tin Hau Temple, which have long formed the social and cultural heart of the community. Through audio recordings, this work guides visitors into a deep listening experience, capturing the sonic essence of the village — the blend of industrial activity and community life, the construction noises merging with street traffic, and the rhythmic festival celebrations intertwining with daily voices. These elements are encapsulated in a digital LP titled Lasting Play — a symbolic gesture to preserve the village’s sonic memory despite its imminent disappearance, and more broadly, a reflection on the transformation of Hong Kong’s shared spaces and their ability to adapt to community needs over time.

Context as Generator, a methodological exploration on how to maintain, adapt and pass-on architecture in a time of crisis. The research, conducted by M.Arch students during the academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25, is documented in two volumes that compile in-depth analyses of existing buildings. The project unfolds in two phases: the first consists of a critical analysis of the urban context, while the second focuses on the design and implementation of architectural solutions. The exhibition exclusively presents the results of the first phase, leaving the students’ work intact. Each year, a new case study is selected to refine the methodology, with buildings such as Tsim Sha Tsui Centre and Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal. Through an approach based on resource efficiency and respect for the built heritage, the project proposes a sustainable and resilient architecture, capable of addressing the challenges of climate change and resource scarcity.

Returning to the title of this exhibition, “Projecting Future Heritage: A Hong Kong Archive” encapsulates a fascinating and multidimensional concept. “Projecting” implies forecasting and planning, looking ahead in time to anticipate the future. “Future” emphasizes long-term vision, the desire to build something that transcends the present. “Heritage”, finally, represents cultural, artistic, and social legacy, passed down not only as historical memory but as a living and dynamic element. This phrase applies to contexts related to heritage conservation, the creation of works that will gain historical value, and the ways in which a society influences the future through its actions and cultural choices. Summarizing its meaning, the title of this exhibition concerns the construction and definition of a cultural legacy meant to be transmitted to future generations — not only through preserving the past but also through innovation and transformation. In this sense, humanity —a s a community, society, and collective — is the architect and protagonist of its own future. Through its decisions, it can shape a legacy that is not merely a memory but a foundation upon which new perspectives and possibilities can be built.

The Whole World in a Drawer

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