No_7_July_1968 — Page 7

news review

Big response to HK Pavilion design competition

HONG KONG Government reports a flood of en- quiries following its announcement of a series of design. competitions for specialised items required on the Hong Kong Pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka. A caller from the Chinese University of Hong Kong asked for 60 application forms for the sculpture competition

alone.

In the restaurant of the pavilion it is planned to have a mural, 21ft. long by 9ft. high. The design for this mural is being chosen by competition among students of the Department of Architecture of Hong Kong University, under Professor W. G. Gregory.

The first section of the inside of the pavilion which shows Social Progress is being designed by Mr. Jackson Wong. One of its main features will be a piece of sculpture named Progress. A competition for this sculpture is open to all artists in Hong Kong. Preli- minary rough sketches will be submitted and from these a sculptor will be chosen and will be commis- sioned to design the piece required.

In the Tourist/Cultural Heritage section of the pavilion will be a small art gallery in which will be shown representative paintings and sculpture produced in Hong Kong by Hong Kong artists. A series of works will be chosen and these will be changed every month. Mr. John Warner, Curator of the City Hall Museum, is organising an adult art competition and a school children's art competition and from these will be chosen the works to be shown at Osaka.

Entries for the sculpture exhibition close on November 30 and the result will be announced early in 1969. Entry forms are available from the Exhibition Administrator, GIS. Beaconsfield House, 5th Floor, Hong Kong.

150 years of building in Singapore

An exhibition and a new publication dealing with the 150 years of building in Singapore are to be pro- duced by the Singapore Institute of Architects to coin- cide with the Republic's celebrations next year.

A special committee has been formed by the Institute to document historic and contemporary buildings.

Mr. Lim Chong Keat, who has been re-elected president of SIA, said last month that this was an opportunity to do systematic documentation of impor- tant old buildings, some of which might have already been demolished. Contemporary buildings would be photographed and all available information on them recorded.

"The documentation will facilitate research and enable us to arrive at a more objective view on pro-

Far East BUILDER, July 1968.

blems of preservation, restoration and new viable uses of old buildings with in the context of urban renewal, he said.

In this project the SIA would seek the co-operation of the National Archives and the History Association. of Singapore and any other interested body.

Mr. Lim also disclosed that the Practice Com- mittee of the SIA was looking into the registration of contractors. While the Public Works Department and the Housing and Development Board kept their own registers, there was no co-ordinated official register of contractors.

The aim of an official register was to safeguard technical standards and ascertain and improve or- ganisational capacities of the building industry. The ŠIA had invited the Singapore Contractors Association to send representatives to the committee which would make recommendations on the establishment of a re- gister.

"The purpose is not to exclude anyone but to open the door to any bona fide contractor who has the ability and capacity to undertake building work," said Mr. Lim. "The register will also help the profession to assess the capacity of the building industry in rela- tion to increased development envisaged by Government.

"Registration will also encourage contractors to employ more trained personnel, like graduates in building and engineering from the Polytechnic."

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New members of the SIA council for 1968/69 are: past president Mr. Alfred H. K. Wong; vice- president Mr. C. A. V. Chew; secretary

Mr. Ho Pak Toe; treasurer Mr. Albert H. K. Hong; members Alan F. C. Choe, Rex Koh Kim Chuan, Kuah Leong Heng, Lim Chin Leong, David J. K. Lim, Lim Soon Chye, Ong Chin Bee, Sim Hong Boon, Wee Chwee Heng and Richard S. Y. Yim.

To design Coronation carriage

A SINGAPORE architect, Mr. Họ Kok Yin, has been commissioned to design a royal carriage for use in the installation celebrations of Sultan Hasanal Bolkia of Brunei on August 1. Mr. Ho said that his designs must conform to traditional patterns, some of which were being revived for the first time.

A recent aerial view of work progressing on Radio Hong Kong's new Broadcasting House at Broadcast Drive, Kowloon (Far East BUILDER March 1968). Costing HK$7.5 million to build and equip, the station will have 16 studios and recording rooms, control rooms, maintenance workshops, libraries, offices and canteen occupying a total floor area of 52,000 sq. ft. N.J. Pappas and Associates, Montreal, Canada, are the architects.

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