The principal of Rocco Design Architects Associates, Rocco Yim is responsible for many of Hong Kong’s most immediately recognisable buildings, as well as an equally impressive portfolio in mainland China. He has more than 100 projects under his belt in his hometown, including the Central Government Complex at Tamar, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, One Peking Road, Wesleyan House Methodist International Church, Kerry Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel and iSquare; highlights over the border include the Guangdong Museum, the Baoan Cultural Complex and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. He is also an honorary professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and an adjunct professor at HKU Space.

He was first drawn to architecture, he says, by the fact that it provides its own context.

“I’d always been interested in art at school. Then I discovered that architecture seemed to be more than art; it was the art of problem solving. In fact I would say that the extent to which an architect is successful is the extent to which he or she can elevate problem solving into an artform.

“It’s difficult to create something out of nothing. Architecture is different: there’s something for you to focus on; your artistic instinct is driven by the need to address certain issues.”

He started his career working at established architecture firm Spence Robinson, but it wasn’t long before he struck out on his own, in 1979—something that he says happened entirely because of the project that also established his name as an architect: the Franki Centre in Kowloon Tong.

“I never planned to set up on my own. I’d have been quite content to work in a big office or even in government. But then a friend asked for ideas for a project, and then he asked if I’d be interested in carrying out the whole thing. It was something no architect could say no to, so I did it.”

Any among the numerous buildings he’s created, several are close to his heart because they’re such a specific response to the unique circumstances of Hong Kong: those on incredibly compact parcels of land, such as the Palace Museum and Chu Hai College of Higher Education in Tuen Mun; and those with competing demands, such as Tamar. “It’s one of the few projects that allows the public to penetrate through what should be a very secure site,” he says of the latter. “You have to bring the three branches of government together, but each has to have its own unique entrance, and you have to let the public in without disturbing anyone.”

That commitment to connecting cities and improving the lives of the people who live in them is what continues to drive him, he says.

“I’m interested in making use of architecture to improve the working of the city. We work for the greater good. We can’t just concentrate on our own little piece of work; we have to look at how it influences its surroundings and creates opportunities for its neighbours.”