In a deeply personal letter, co-founder and executive director of Design Trust, Marisa Yiu, reminds us of the importance of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage
Even for an eternal optimist like Marisa Yiu, this fifth wave of the pandemic has been emotionally taxing. Here, Yiu reveals how the pandemic has affected her home life, and why it’s crucial for business leaders to support the design community because, as she says, “Hong Kong is a learning lab and has always been a model city. A healthy city is a culturally rich city, and design is a core field that can regenerate a city in a positive way.”
March 15, 2022
If you know me well, you’d know that I always say I am a perpetual optimist. As an architect, I’m used to shaping and crafting the future; no matter how challenging a project is or how challenging the circumstances are, I still strive to do the best I can.
However, this fifth wave is challenging me and everyone around me. Especially seeing the parallel universes within our home versus the rest of the world. I am still inspired, hopeful and focused, despite the constant unknowns of this wave.
The pandemic has raised more questions than ever for our city, our public spaces, our future, and the people who make Hong Kong a global and international community.
For my children, swimming and after-school playtimes once provided balance and kept the family happy and sane. I am learning how to protect them and how to filter the insanity of what’s happening all around them, while managing their Zoom classes and lack of recreational activities. I’m inspired by our children’s resilience. They are focusing as best as they can on school, while adjusting to not seeing their friends and classmates every day. We’re still trying to build a renewed sense of community via Zoom and phone calls. Being all together at home has been important for family bonding, and striking the right balance between the studio and home while overseeing my children has been a true balancing act.
When I see a problem, I usually take it on to troubleshoot it and support the community. But then, there are times like these when you see a problem but it’s totally out of your hands. It raises even more questions and reveals more inadequacies in our [government] system.
My husband and business partner Eric [Schuldenfrei] has inspired me during our quasi-lockdown. He has been working seven days a week analysing specific housing estates and their design issues in relation to battling Covid-19. He has been sharing this knowledge with the government and the academic community.
As I write this, I must admit my disbelief in our city’s Covid-19 strategy. It has been emotionally draining. But despite this fifth wave creating even more uncertainty, I still hold on to my perpetual optimism, which is a mindset that I try to instill in my colleagues and collaborators at Design Trust and at my design studio Eskyiu.
Our work benefits the city—whether that’s shaping new types of playgrounds and micro parks, working with emerging designers, or trying experimental grant programmes—but it has been tested to the limit during these last few months. However, I remain here in Hong Kong to ensure we continue [our work] no matter how challenging it gets. We have a responsibility to see these projects through.
Hong Kong is a learning lab and has always been a model city—from its infrastructure to its extraordinary country parks to its magnificent harbour. A healthy city is a culturally rich city, and design is a core field that can regenerate a city in a positive way. Our Design Trust foundation will re-centre communities and create learning opportunities and connections beyond borders, which will bring hope and collaboration back to Hong Kong through design.
This year, I am looking forward to revealing our Design Trust Futures Studio theme while keeping the park-building programme alive. We are committed to bringing more positivity to these tough times through creativity and cultural programmes.
I hope to come out of this [pandemic] stronger, and I urge business leaders not to give up on Hong Kong. Please support the design industry, including the designers and researchers within it. It’s crucial to remember that the design industry is needed to ensure cities are engineered for strength and resilience. Our cultural heritage is the cornerstone of Hong Kong, and this passion for and fascination with Hong Kong’s heritage and the innovators I meet daily continue to give me the energy I need to keep going. We must highlight our city’s strengths despite so much negativity, and we must see design as an agent for positive change. Let’s continue to champion our unique city and let’s keep it up together. — Marisa Yiu
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