Literature denotes human history, civilisation process, time and space in a descriptive form. Yet architecture concerns not only the spatial environment, but is also a medium for human living and interaction, a thinking process as well as a cultural container. Architecture is a silent literature. We use literature to construct a space, a network, a realm, where architecture is the focus as well as a medium with which all walks of life can engage and interact. This installation serves as a prologue for the public architectural library in AaaM’s studio space in PMQ Block A S610.

Most sports games are designed in a binary opposition mode, for instance, basketball, soccer, table tennis, etc., reflecting an inclination towards an “either or” mentality. This inevitably emphasises the differences that foster rivalry between groups of people. The installation attempts to challenge and examine such norm in a playful and relaxed manner. This re-designed table tennis breaks the binary opposition. A circular self-revolving table allows multiple players to compete in all directions. Players could compete individually or join hands randomly to form teams.

The marble game we played when we were kids is now becoming a collection of your dreams and thoughts. We now use translucent papers to create marbles that can carry your dreams and thoughts, and can be viewed when placed inside a gigantic bear – a “Game Changer” that changes the marble game.

Our pursuit for speed and efficiency has blinded us from the simple fact that life is made up of little, seemingly insignificant things. While camera signifies the capture and freezing of memory, different faces of Hong Kong landscapes are printed on the filters. Standing still, viewers can insert different filters to appreciate the beauty of these localities, while their curiosity is aroused via the bizarrely displaced landscape-filters.

I walked around the barracks. Everything inside the fence seems to always be fleeting. After the handover, these British-style buildings have been kept almost the same as in the colonial era, despite now accommodating the Chinese troops. This is a question inherited from history, and the answer seems to be lying behind the fence of the camp. I created a mechanical device to reproduce the bits and pieces, to understand the relationship that feels both near and distant, which can affect the understanding of identity, something I have long been searching for but always find elusive.

To dare to dream is to live life in colour. The function of DREAM WEAVER is to allow one’s imagination to run wild, and to celebrate the ways in which people interact with public artworks. Our project errs towards a positive community, giving little ones to dream of living with unicorns, learning to fly, or sitting next to their best friend in class. DREAM WEAVER is a journey, for us the curators as well as for the public. For ultimately, to live in a united community, is to celebrate each other's dreams.

A puddle appears transiently after a rain, and provides that brief period of fun and imagination to children and artists alike. The puddle reflects the landscape, the sky, the light and a window that fluctuates with its environs. It offers a mode of perspective in which an upside down viewer stares back. The viewer comes to realise the “non-existing” qualities of the puddle because it reflects something “existing” in the surroundings. The puddle is a sculpture by itself through negating itself, and in its place new interactions between human, environs and art appear.

BlackBOX is an exhibition that celebrates design and innovation from Melbourne, Victoria Australia. The exhibition features a field of thirty-six products designed by professional Melbourne based designers. Each project is represented as a digital archive activated on a smartphone as visitors approach each individual black box. The exhibition is named after The black box flight recorder, invented in Melbourne in 1957 by David Warren. Adopted as the world standard air safety device, it is installed on all commercial aircraft so this innovative research has had global impact.

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” ― Nikola Tesla Resonance Aura IV uses the persistence of vision, sound and mechanical movement to present a new perspective of energy that focuses on our body, mind and soul. Resonance Aura IV creates dynamic three-dimensional visuals along with time axis. Together with the sound of singing bowls, this kinetic light sculpture creates the basic tone and combines with its relative Chakras to generate ancient Solfeggio frequency for sound healing purpose.

Instead of building monumental art pieces, both artists would like to challenge themselves to use e-waste to create and give new life to them with simple resources. Three types of devices, namely scanners, printers and radios, are taken apart. The core mechanisms to generate light (Relight), movement (Remove) and sound (Retune) are reused.

Wastage and pollution that prevail in Hong Kong is one of our major concerns. We hope to raise public awareness of this problem and of the environment through our project – SAVE THE FISH.

The Art of Speed is an open-ended interactive installation that inspires children to create their own obstacle courses for toy cars. Suitable for children from as young as one year old, the aim is to allow them to freely design the tracks and intuitively learn about force and motion through manipulation of the direction and gradient of their cars’ tracks. Obstacles are created with the help of everyday recycled materials such as tissue boxes, beverage cartons, water bottles and wooden stools. Please feel free to bring your own materials from home to add to your tracks.

We play along with set of rules in conventional ball games. Whether we play against one another, in teams, or practise on our own, we aim to achieve certain objectives in a game. When there are no rules in a game, creativity comes into play. Given a space filled with a pool of balls and no rules, how far can our creativity lead us? This installation captures your creativity into animated GIFs, and let you bring the game home with a QR code.

“Memory is a wonderful thing if you don't have to deal with the past.” The release of the first game console Magnavox Odyssey in 1972 has changed the world, for video games have become core to many people’s childhood memory since then. In this little exhibition, we will go back to the past to explore some significant consoles that have changed the game industry. You can also see some of Restart Workshop's products which re-activate old consoles and have them connected to new technologies.

The competition, which takes place every two years, is aimed at enhancing the significance of Swiss design. It awards prizes for outstanding achievements in all design disciplines relevant to industry. The selection represents a wide array of products (launched in the market), projects (invention and concepts that seek industrial partners) as well as research projects that influence the market, industries and design scene.

Indigo Rain is an experimental installation presenting the relationships between indigo, fashion and nature. Indigo liquid will be dripped from the top onto dress, fabric roll, paper or furniture at the base, gradually, in the course of exhibition, transforming the latter into pieces of art. The work will dye different materials, possibly anything in the world, to explore what may be dyed. Besides, there will be a dancer to interact with indigo rain to discover more possibilities of the indigo dye.

Intense:Intense is a joint exhibition by Taiwanese typeface designers Joe Chang and Julius Hui from Hong Kong to showcase their Yoshihiko typeface and Aero Mincho typeface respectively. There will be a workshop series for audience to have a taste of calligraphy and practical type design. The first Intense:Intense exhibition + workshop series were in Taipei’s Not Just Library in April 2016, curated by Tamago Yeh.

The modern way of living has reached a state that sustainability is the new necessity. Our ancestors have not only met their essential needs, but were also able to live in balance with nature. They could cultivate a sustainable environment for succeeding generations. Perhaps we should look into their traditional wisdom when driving design innovation for a desirable future. We start with delving into one of the traditional materials: bamboo mat which can be often seen in Chinese kitchen. Our intention is to reveal its forgotten value and repurpose its use with new interpretation.

It’s human to never cease exploring. This is the nature of humanity, now and future. We always fantasise about the mysterious universe, and far-fetching space travelling will be the next milestone in human evolution. With an ever-increasing population and technological advancement, space colonisation might create a better life and a better future for Hong Kong people. Inspired by the spectacular universe and the beautiful planets, our URI light bulbs will be applied on the design of a solar system model, leading to a stunning visual effect and an educational experience for visitors.

The currency we retained has experienced the Gresham's Law. Afterall how do the series of local economic games benefit the people?

The exhibition Hong Kong Beyond Vision features a series of Hong Kong iconic landmark as well as products and objects that represent Hong Kong culture. Selected elements will be carefully crafted and converted into Tactile-Audio Interaction System (TAIS) panels that allow both sighted and non-sighted visitors to touch, hear and feel. The “Touch-able” Self-Portrait workshop is an attempt to draw without seeing, so that participants think through drawing our own perception of being sighted and non-sighted.

The artwork is our own interpretation of “Bokusho”, an avant-garde calligraphy. It explores traditional calligraphy and ink painting in a different way. Photos of Japanese pines, calligraphic strokes and alphabets are combined and printed onto translucent fabrics. Visitors are able to walk into the artwork, making them part of a calligraphic pine forest. Do we define an art form by its subject matter, its media or its aesthetic style? This piece attempts to question such definition and become a “game changer” in the field of traditional art.

Speakers: John Campbell, Corrin Chan, Peter W. Ferretto, Yan Gao, Anderson Lee, Nasrine Seraji, Thomas Tsang Architecture plays many essential roles in the fabric of the built environment, but it seems that Hong Kong favours more the efficient and economic building solutions that can be ultimately measured. When it comes to the discourse of architecture in cities, there are two distinct paradigms that the discussion often follows. It goes either to the persistent intentions of architectural strategies that address the issues and problems, while most of the time not raising heads above the parapet of ideology; or it goes to the blame of the wider socio-political and economic issues as core of problems and not architecture itself, hence end of discussion. Hong Kong appears to have fallen into the latter paradigm with less willingness in pursuing architectural ideologies. In the contrary, the first tier cities in Mainland China, i.e. Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, which have probably tighter socio-political and economic constrains, increasingly exhibit more courage in practising architectural ideologies and crediting innovation, despite that Hong Kong should have more international architects with wider visions. Hong Kong has become a city that is essentially characterised by relentless accumulation of uncharacteristic buildings. Is it because that the stakeholders have little interest in delivering the unmeasurable quality of architecture? Or the statutory regulations are so stringent that they eliminate most possible creation of architectural alternatives? Maybe architecture in Hong Kong isn’t what it appears to be, but have architectural intelligence deeply buried under the uniformed outlook? If it’s not architecture, then what is the problem? We accuse obstacles in the way of architects in implementing designs in full because ideology and cash flow never seem to get along well. After all, without architecture, buildings simply can’t be enjoyed. What is architecture’s role therein making the city of Hong Kong? It sounds like a redundant question, but this is the question we need to be contemplating, so that we can exploit “the room for architecture”.

Speakers: Susie Au, Vicky Fung, Chow Yiu-Fai. “Not only expressing, but also manifesting.” Creative people often have a lot of beautiful ideas. Expressing them poses a complicated question, and manifesting them might be even more difficult. UTOPIA, Momentarily, a programme in this year’s New Vision Arts Festival created by Susie Au, Vicky Fung and Chow Yiu-Fai, takes popular music into a drama theatre with pop singers, professional actors as well as amateur performers from public auditions. In the past few months, for so many moments, they realise that utopia exists not only on stage but also in real life. A game by three creative talents, without anything to do with success or failure, concerns co-existence and symbiosis with a set of rules changed.

Speakers: Caleb Ng, Joshua Ng. As founders of Twins Kitchen / Common Ground, Caleb Ng and Joshua Ng know how serious food industry’s wastage problems is from the first hand, as chefs and restauranteurs as well as experienced food consultants. They therefore feel the need to foreground the issue and offer creative solutions to change the food ecosystem nowadays. Through this design dialogue, they would like to share some creative alternatives and solutions from their current projects as to how to produce less waste and upcycling waste for other purposes through food design.

Speakers: Judith Lau, Chan Yuen-Sum Organizer: Sovereign Art Foundation Part 1 – Arts Therapy: Two expert teachers from The Sovereign Art Foundation’s “Make It Better” project, Sum Chan and Judith Lau, will share their experiences and unique insights from working in the field. The speakers will talk about why is creativity important in education, about what is arts therapy, how arts therapy is incorporated into workshops for children who are underprivileged or with special education needs, and how this can help them building confidence and interpersonal skills. Join this dialogue to hear their views on how we, as a community, can “Make It Better” via the arts. Speakers: Prudence Choy, Shenny Leung Organizer: TINbox Part 2 – Encouraging Creative and Open-Ended Play: With so much emphasis on academia and achievement here in Hong Kong, we seem to have forgotten to inspire the next generation of makers and doers. What does it mean to foster creativity and how should we go about it? If children are born to think and create independently and individually, why do we restrict them? We will take a closer look at how Hong Kong has fallen far behind cities such as Singapore and Taipei when it comes to nurturing creativity and providing parents with adequate government resources to help raise happy and healthy children.

Speakers: Christopher Hugentobler We empower students to learn confidently and succeed in life. Education equity demands a focused understanding of each student's unique needs. In addition to free education for all, every student deserves to be in the driver's seat of their own story. Drawing upon Confucius, this is the mission we have set ourselves through technology.

Proposition Team: Peggy Lui, Emidio Piermarini, Soraya Somarathne Opposition Team: Truddy Cheung, Eimund Loo, Andrew Chen Host: Roger Wu Combining the British tradition of serious debates with a contemporary twist, this event promises to be an informative yet edgy, fun and interactive exchange of views on an engaging topic related to the theme of deTour 2016.  

Speakers: Stefano Cannicci, Ph.D. Professor Cannicci is an Associate Professor at the School of Biological Science and Resident Researcher at the Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS), HKU. He has been studying mangrove ecology and biodiversity all over the world (East Africa –Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique-, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Brazil) for more than 20 years and is interested in the patterns of diversity of crabs and molluscs in mangroves and in their role in ecosystem functioning. He has been studying behavioural ecology, eco-physiology, taxonomy and phylogenetic relationship of the most common mangrove crabs, the Family Sesarmidae and the genus Uca (the fiddler crabs). He has more than 90 publication in peer-reviewed international scientific journals and is an invited member of the Mangrove Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the largest organization devoted to Nature Conservation

Speakers: Joe Chang, Julius Hui , Tamago Yeh. Hong Kong’s typeface designer Julius Hui, along with Taiwanese typeface designer Joe Chang, and OVAL’s design director Tamago Yeh, jointly provide an outline of Hong Kong and Taiwan’s typographic scenery through sharing their latest works, their thoughts and views toward Chinese typography.

Speakers: Benny Au, Eric Zhu, Wong Tin-Yan, Lau Chi-Chung “How would you play if you can set the rules?” 4 creators from different backgrounds. 4 distinctive methods and perspectives. “What Zine?!” is a prelude to “Here is Zine・Here is Hong Kong” Exhibition, which was opened in late December at PMQ.

Speakers: Jonas Christen (Zurich University of the Arts); Magdalena Prozda (Geneva University of Arts and Design); Juan Ferrari (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland); Representative from Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts; Representative from École cantonale d'art de Lausanne Design Prize Switzerland and leading Swiss universities in applied arts and design invite you to explore practice-based educational approaches that cope with the rapid transformations in the design discipline. New basis of knowledge, possibilities and influence of design are evolving at a fast pace. The increasing complexity of problems to be met by design approaches is permanently transforming the designers’ profession. International and multi-level knowledge from experience and collaboration at an early professional stage better prepare designers for the job market. Testimonials from students in different disciplines, backgrounds and nationalities will share their experiences and projects in this dialogue.

Dance Performance: Solo dance by Ms. Mui Cheuk Yin Speakers: Ranee K – Fashion Designer and Founder of ranee_ k Polly Ho – Design Director, Loom Loop Amy Wong – Founder, amy’c Clothing Design Helius Yuen – Cheongsam collector and promoter Moderator:Anita Tsang – Co-founder, Cheongsam Connect Cheongsam represents an important and unique heritage of Hong Kong; let us revive it from a fond collective memory to a place in our daily lives. What is the evolutionary process of Hong Kong cheongsam and what are its characteristic features? How do local designers sustain and develop Hong Kong cheongsam? What are the current promotional efforts (e.g. at schools and professional bodies) and its prospect? This will be a candid dialogue between fashion designers, cheongsam tailors, wearers and promoters.

Speakers：Augustin Scott de Martinville (Founding Partner of BIG-GAME) What does it take to develop products for the global market, while the clients come from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds? With the aim to exchange with you and provide deeper insights, BIG-GAME will be sharing anecdotes from and about the development processes of some of their products, while applying and translating their own high standards and product narratives. BIG-GAME stands for a youthful and refreshing design idiom, notable both for its functionality and for its playful approach – one that succeeds in redefining the Swiss design quality that everyone talks about.

Speakers：Dr. Silke Claus /bayern design GmbH; Konstantin Landuris /Konstantin Landuris Studio; Nina Wolf /Nju Studio Bayern Design shows German design icons such as Faber Castell, Nachtmann, Nils Holger Moormann, Puma, Rosenthal and Sigllicht. What makes Bavaria a very special place for design in Germany? Creativity is the foundation of good design, though not the only one. Good design requires craftsmanship and a habitat, a task, a goal, an application, a great deal of open mindedness and, most importantly, jobs and spending power. The unique economic power of the state of Bavaria has built a home for design. Companies in Bavaria can draw on premium creative potential right on locality because the state is an excellent site for creative minds. According to the EU Commission, Munich has a strong cluster of creative businesses preceded only by Paris and London in the EU. Companies’ high level of expertise with craftsmanship and production technology is what makes Bavaria a particularly attractive region for designers. Here they find suitable partners in the manufacturing trade to help them put their visionary ideas into practice. The unceasing demand abroad for design made in Germany, the high level of Bavarian academic institutions, and the state’s proximity to European target markets continue to appeal to customers and designers from Germany and abroad. Selected designers, like Konstantin Landuris, will present their way of work and innovative design on stage.

Speakers: Masaki Nakamura (General Manager, “Centennial Collection”), Tomoyuki Kobayashi (Chairman, SUWADA Blacksmith Works. Inc.) During deTour 2016, Good Design Store at PMQ hold the exhibition “Centennial Collection” from Niigata, Japan, plus a talk by Mr. Masaki Nakamura, General Manager of “Centennial Collection”, and Mr. Tomoyuki Kobayashi, Chairman of SUWADA Blacksmith Works. Inc. “Centennial Collection” is an international brand-building project that manufacturers in the Niigata prefecture and the Niigata Industrial Creation Organization (NICO) collaborate to develop a new collection each year. Drawing on a century of heritage, this year the Collection presents lifestyle tools for the next generation.

Co-Creator: Twins Kitchen Nowadays, with social issues such as soaring rent increment and limited space in Hong Kong as well as in the rest of the world, it is indeed difficult for food-culture enthusiasts or chefs to introduce interesting and creative concept to the startup of their business, not to mention the sustainability and practicality of the restaurants. That’s why the idea of 'Pop-up Kitchen' has never been more popular than it is now. Pop-up Kitchen enables restaurants owners and chefs to experiment with new concepts at a comparatively low cost. Massimo Bottura, the internationally renowned chef whose restaurant has been awarded as World’s 50 Best Restaurant No.1, introduced a pop-up kitchen in the Rio Olympics this year to serve free dishes made possible by food waste to all residents. This concept with upcycling food waste is possibly impractical at a long-term restaurant business under various circumstances, yet it is definitely an important move for changing the food ecosystem in long run. The idea of a Pop-up kitchen encourages opportunities and experiments for creative startup, at the same time helps spread the spectrum of innovative food-culture. Echoing the theme of deTour 2016 - ‘Game Changer’, we hope to present a Creative Food Mart with food and beverage that are interesting and inspiring to the audience, to provoke public awareness of how food could change the world in different perspectives.

Co-Creator: Twins Kitchen   Here at deTour Café by Twins Kitchen, what meant to be in the bin will go on your plate again. This is an experimental project that we prepare some of our dishes from waste we usually have in a café, like steamed milk, brewed coffee ground and roasted leftover. Instead of throwing them away, we choose to up-cycle them and make them edible again. By creating an interactive and innovative experience with food design, we demonstrate the creation of delicious and playful dishes without wasting our produces. We can even up-cycle some of the otherwise “wasted” produce by giving them a second life.