Digital artist Gerry Li’s Generated Memories–ArtLane, which won first place in the open group of the competition, takes inspiration from Henderson Land’s ArtLane project that changed an otherwise nondescript Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood into an art-filled and vibrant community. In doing so, ArtLane also changed how people will remember the neighbourhood: from an ordinary place to a colourful one.

For his project, Li played with the concept of the city’s evolution and the slippery nature of memories. Inspired by local residents’ memories of the ArtLane project, he has created an immersive art experience with technologies such as LiDAR scanning, machine learning, point-cloud and real-time 3D rendering.

“I find that memory is not merely a record of real life; it [also] has an impact on the decisions we make for the future. I always have this experience of remembering something, only to realise later that it’s my imagination, and this [inspired] me to explore memory,” he says. 

Li’s work invites visitors in an “inner universe of collective memories” through which he hopes people will see how they are all connected to one another and to the city.

Visual artist Christine Wong sees IFC mall’s rooftop as many people’s favourite place to catch a break. “The openness, the harbour view, the public tables and chairs—I envision more of these shared spaces where we can find a delightful pause from our busy lives,” she says.

Wong also believes that people’s sense of belonging to their home city stems from community and moments shared with friends and family—instead of its state-of-the-art infrastructure.

In her AR work, which came second in the open category, she amplifies nature and togetherness, which she calls “the denominators of joy”, in what looks like a green neighbourhood where humans and nature co-exist in harmony. “[The message of my artwork is] that innovation can come from shaping our environment in small ways to inspire the social and creative qualities in us,” she says.

Photographer Blair Sugarman imagined a thriving metropolis floating in the sky as his Hong Kong of tomorrow, and his piece came third in the open category. And according to Sugarman, imagining a city in the future is nothing new for him: “When I was younger, I used to play a lot of video games like Super Mario that involves jumping from one island to another. I also took inspiration from sci-fi movies where futuristic cities are often depicted as floating islands.”

In Sky City, various parts of the city are located in separate, eco-friendly bubbles, with each one having a self-contained, efficient biosphere. While he realises that floating sky cities can be a bit removed from reality, he wanted to emphasise the concept of being eco-friendly through being self-sustainable.

“A greater focus on sustainability, aesthetics and ergonomics would be a great step in Hong Kong’s land development,” he says. “I love iconic buildings that serve as key landmarks in my photos, but [I also hope they] serve as functional locations that are environmentally friendly.”

His artwork also comes with an AR bonus. Upon scanning a code, viewers can add new animated bubbles that float around in the picture.

With a background in art, design and education, Leung Kin Keung spotlights sustainable living and green development in his designs. His piece, which won outstanding award in the open group, focuses on a simple but important vision: the coexistence of nature and urban development.

He finds it encouraging that there’s a stronger voice in the urban design industry to prioritise sustainability, and he believes it can be driven further by incorporating more green spaces, vertical urban gardens or even farming workshops in the city.

What struck him as an outstanding example is One Innovale’s urban landscape gardens in Fanling, New Territories. He hopes his work can communicate the message that finding the right balance between traditional and modern urban design can bring Hong Kong’s green development to the next level.

Read more: Don’t think Antarctica’s climate crisis can affect Hong Kong? One local advocate tells us why that’s not true

A Letter from the Future, a video by Hong Kong Baptist University’s Academy of Film graduates Louis Dong, Oscar Leung and Luna Chui, which won first prize in the student category, tells the story of an architecture student who’s received a letter from her future self that emboldens her to pursue her dream designs that would impact the future.

Chui, the director and scriptwriter of the video, hopes for a more refined set of infrastructure in the city. “Our transportation is more user-friendly than before, but there’s still room for improvement,” she says. “I hope that our video will connect the old with the new, and inspire this generation to look back at our past to create a better future.”

Chui also says they joined the competition out of love for Hong Kong and they wanted to show how this generation thrives on challenges to make the city a better place in the future. This sentiment is represented by a scene in the video where the student struggles to the top of a hill to get a view of the city’s skyline—a skyline played a part in designing.

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