West Kowloon Cultural District - Museum Plus (M+) Design Competition

Invitation for Expression of Interest Open for Flagship Museum for Visual Culture

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority ("WKCDA") announced today details of the design competition for M+, Hong Kong's future museum for visual culture and launched an open invitation to architectural practices in Hong Kong and worldwide to submit Expression of Interest to participate.

M+, scheduled for completion in 2017, is an ambitious project. The scale of the museum building alone, at around 60,000 square metres, will be on par with the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Situated on the waterfront of the Victoria Harbour at the edge of a 14-hectare park, it will be one of 17 core arts and cultural venues in the West Kowloon Cultural District ("WKCD"). M+ will be the flagship hub for visual culture from the 20th and 21st century, alongside major performance spaces, creating interdisciplinary exchange between the visual arts and the performing arts in the city.

The physical design of M+ will be shaped around the museum's core values. Principally it will be a museum for the Hong Kong people, firmly rooted in the location and its unique culture, providing a Hong Kong perspective, with a global vision, expanding to other regions of China, Asia and the rest of the world. It will provide space for artists to meet, exhibit and experiment. It will house a world-class permanent visual culture collection of Hong Kong, Chinese, Asian and beyond in all its forms, providing and presenting multiple flexible platforms for multidisciplinary programming, exploring art, design, architecture and the moving image, celebrating the fluidity between the art forms that is characteristic of Asia's cultural ecology. M+ also aims to complement the 'white cubes' and 'black boxes' of the contemporary art museum with 'third spaces' - new formats of interactive space and new interfaces between public space and back-of-house where learning is prioritised.

Facilities will include over 15,000 square metres of exhibition space and 14,000 square metres for conservation and storage, an education centre, an archive library and bookstore, theatres and screen facilities, artist-in-residence studios and outdoor green spaces, subject to the future detailed design.

Submissions will be assessed by a world-class panel of eight jurors, chaired by Rafael Moneo, the Pritzker prize winning Spanish architect. Other members  include (in alphabetical order): Eve Blau, Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; Kathy Halbreich, Associate Director of Museum of Modern Arts New York;  William Lim, leading Hong Kong architect; Victor Lo, Chairman of Board of Directors, Hong Kong Design Centre;  Leslie Lu, leading Hong Kong architect; Lars Nittve, Executive Director, M+;  and Uli Sigg, the world's leading collector of Chinese contemporary art.  (See Annex 1 for details)

Mr Michael Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of WKCDA  said, "M+ will be the flagship visual arts venue for The West Kowloon Cultural District and for Hong Kong. It will provide essential space for the arts community, a world-class museum for the city, and a leader in the arts globally. The building should be a beacon for our commitment to this. "

Dr Lars Nittve, Executive Director of M+ said, "M+ is a project that strives to regenerate the institution known as a museum - a place where the museum visitors become active, learning participants. It aims to be a museum that is rooted in and shaped by its location - Hong Kong. A museum for its time and place also requires a building for its time and place. We are looking for a design team who share our values and ambitions and will work with us to set M+ apart as an entirely unique museum."

WKCDA welcome submissions from overseas and local design teams.  For overseas practices, it must collaborate with a Registered Practice of The Hong Kong Institute of Architects with an office in Hong Kong.

In December up to six design teams will be shortlisted and will be invited to submit concept designs by the WKCDA Board, upon recommendation by the Jury Panel. Entries from the shortlisted teams will be examined by the Jury Panel together with assessment through interviews. The Authority will be looking for a concept design that is original, sustainable, cost effective, and aligns with the ambitions of M+ and the overall planning intention of WKCD. Once appointed in summer 2013, the design team will work closely with the M+ team and WKCDA to develop the detailed design for the building.

Expression of Interest for Design/Design Consultant

Before submitting your enquiries:

1. You are suggested to read all our replies to the enquiries in the following section before submitting your enquiries.
2. Enquiries will only be received and responded to via emails. Any telephone or facsimile enquiries would not be entertained.
3. All enquiries should be sent to the email address: [email protected]
4. All enquiries submitted must be in English.
5. There will be computer generated reply for acknowledgement of receipt of your enquiries. Please submit your enquiries again ONLY if you fail to receive the acknowledgement. Please check your junk mailbox prior to resubmitting your enquiries.
6. All answers to enquiries will be posted onto this website by 5:00pm 5 October 2012. Answers to enquiries maybe responded to before the stipulated time and date. Participants are encouraged to check this website regularly.
7. The closing date for enquiries related to the EOI is 12:00 noon 28 September 2012 (Hong Kong Time).

Deadline for submission of an Expression of Interest is 15 October 2012. Further details are available in Annex 2 and on WKCDA's website.