From the editor

I was 29 years old when I moved to Hong Kong, two overweight suitcases and a one-year work contract in hand. I’d experienced life in a foreign city before, having spent three years in Tokyo, but Hong Kong sucked me in from the moment I stepped off the plane. The smell of something foreign filled my nostrils and I was immediately intoxicated. I vowed early on that I wouldn’t become one of those expats — the kind that comes for a year and ends up staying for decades. But little by little, year by year, one siu mai at a time, my plan came unstuck. That one-year jaunt turned into 16 years, and I have zero regrets.

There’s nowhere else quite like Hong Kong. Anyone who’s lived here, visited or even just passed through will sing its praises — for its food, the nightlife, world-class airport and ease of travel, shopping, professional opportunities and, of course, some of its lesser-known virtues, like the picturesque hiking trails, hidden caves and beaches, enchanting abandoned villages and unexpected wildlife.

At its best, Hong Kong fills you with wonder, delight, energy and inspiration. Yet, it’s one of the most expensive and densest cities in the world, where rich and poor live side by side, almost literally. It can be discomforting, overwhelming and exhausting. It’s a bit like living on a roller coaster. But if you can hack it, it’s a lot of fun.

In case you haven’t already guessed, this issue is our annual special edition, in which we explore and showcase the creative production and culture of one place, and this year it’s our beloved Hong Kong, the very birthplace of Design Anthology. These 180 pages are a tribute to the city’s steadfast creative community, its idealists and activists, its resolute entrepreneurs and devoted civil servants alike. 

Cities change and evolve over time; this has always been true for every major city across the world. Regardless of what Hong Kong’s future may hold, it will forever be immortalised in the memories and hearts of its devotees.

So, while travel remains off limits for many of us, we hope you enjoy exploring one of our favourite places in the world through the pages of this issue.

Stay safe and well.

Suzy Annetta
Editor-in-Chief

Inside the issue

Dossier

Openings
New openings in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo

Products 
New collections and collaborations 

Read
Upcoming and new books on design, art, interiors and architecture from some of the world’s best publishers

Introduction
M+ curator of design and architecture Shirley Surya considers Hong Kong’s identity as a transnational hub and a mediator of identities and ideas

Studio Culture
In its new ground-floor space, multidisciplinary design agency STUDIO ADJECTIVE has created a beautiful office and showroom, and established a connection with the local community

Survey
Meet the people defining Hong Kong’s home-grown design scene

A Day in the Life
We spend the day with A Beautiful Store founder Wallis Leung to find out about the daily rituals that inform and inspire her work

Visual Design
Hong Kong’s visual design landscape spans pioneers of graphic design to zine publishers eschewing the mainstream

Style

Editor’s Picks
A selection of home-grown Hong Kong essentials

Gender-fluid Fashion
PONDER.ER aims to challenge gender stereotypes, and expand and reinterpret contemporary men’s fashion

Wanderlust

Outlying Islands
Just a short ferry ride from the mainland, Hong Kong’s sleepy tropical islands offer a welcome antidote to the urban buzz

Neighbourhood Guide
Amid the clutter of iconic ‘old Hong Kong’, Sham Shui Po has gained a new identity as a creative breeding ground

Openings
The best of the new boutique and luxury designer hotels from around the world

Vernissage

Art Museum
The greatly anticipated M+ museum of visual culture opens soon in a Herzog & de Meuron-designed complex

Independent Art Spaces
Away from the city’s commercial scene, a growing number of artists are finding alternative spaces in which they can flourish

Profiles
We meet some of the individuals influencing Hong Kong’s art landscape

Home

Southside
The home of influential designer André Fu is eclectic, elegant and designed to celebrate connection with nature  

New Territories
Bamboo craftsman Gamzar Lee distilled the essence of his favourite material into the design of his home-studio

Wan Chai
kapok founder Arnault Castel is part of the unique residential community at Wan Chai’s historic Blue House

Southside
Ahlaiya Yung’s work and living space is a live-in showroom and speakeasy

Tsuen Wan
A duplex residence with a private garden is a harmonious combination of interior design and lush landscaping

Architectonics

Photo Essay
Award-winning architect Frank Leung captures the textures of Hong Kong’s urban fabric

Public Space 
Hong Kong is beginning to see the considered public spaces it so needs

Postmodernism
Are Hong Kong’s urban features examples of spontaneous vernacular postmodernism?

The Flâneur

The Potential City
A flâneur is an urban explorer — a connoisseur of the street. In our rotating column, guests share their musings, observations and critiques of the urban environment in cities around the world. In this issue, our co-founder reflects on his journey in Hong Kong