Building a show

A model of The Peak Tower, created by Fitch & Chung, shows the landmark architectural view of Hong Kong. Photos Provided to China Daily

The fifth M+ mobile exhibition focuses on the museum's architecture collection. Rebecca Lo finds that it chronicles how skylines have developed across the region.

One of the first things that architecture students learn is that buildings are contextual: They should always be designed for a specific site, culture, place and purpose. That is why there are so few architectural museums around the world. It is hardly easy - or appropriate - to stuff a building into a bigger one for public contemplation.

Yet the process of architecture leaves traces in the form of drawings, models and other more size-friendly documents that can be institutionally categorized and exhibited.

For the fifth M+ mobile exhibition, Aric Chen, the museum's design and architecture curator, put together sourced, purchased and donated works by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Steven Holl, as well as local heroes Tao Ho, Eric Lye and Rocco Yim.

M+ is the jewel in West Kowloon Cultural District's crown. Slated for completion in 2017, the competition to design the building drew such international firms as Sanaa, Toyo Ito and Renzo Piano, all of which vied for the coveted role of architect.

Those presentations, alongside the winning scheme by Herzog & de Meuron, make up the first component of the three-part exhibition. The others include M+'s architectural collection after a mere 10 months of sourcing and an interactive area allowing visitors to try their hand at making architecture.