My Visit to Daniel Libeskind City University Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong.
The “Run Run Shaw” Creative Media Centre is situated to the North of the campus of the City University of Hong Kong. It is located on Tat Hong Avenue in the vicinity of the Festival Walk shopping centre near the MTR Kowloon Tong station.
Studio Daniel Libeskind and Leigh & Orange Architects built it just four years ago, 2010. I had previously visited Libeskind Berlin Jewish Museum, as well as his Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
So once again I was anxious to experience another of his masterpiece. During the construction I had ventured to the site several times, which continued to intrigue me, but unfortunately I was only able to glimpse the project from Tat Hong Avenue.
Although the exterior massing of the building seems unusual and “somewhat-different” for a 9 stories structure, its “crystalline design” sets it apart from all other buildings in the area, and for that matter “apart from any other Hong Kong low-rise building”.
I would venture to say only Zaha Hadid’s Innovation Tower at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University could enjoy a similar classification. Interesting to note that although the Media Centre building massing is “somewhat-different”, the floor plans are conventional and functional.
It includes a range of spaces, from classrooms, auditorium, studios, lounges, exhibition areas, and a multi level atria, a roof terrace, and even spaces for the comfort of visitors.
The main Entry Lobby and a typical interior corridor.
A Casual student lounge next to the Multi-Level Interior Atria.
The Multi level atria.
And the Roof Terrace.
Sketchingjourney's Blog 
Reblogged this on Archi Blog.
It seems to me an entirely superficial design. (No surprise that schlockmeister, Daniel Libeskind is the culprit.). And your uninspired writing is itself an indication that the building failed to communicate anything of value or emotional interest. Personally, that seemed obvious from the outset, so I’m curious as to why you wasted your time sketching such a vapid and intellectually barren design when you could have spent your time more productively looking at a piece of decent architecture?
Not to worry its better than Zaha Hadid’s Poly U Innovation Tower. Give it a chance… We all have our personal aspirations.
Nice sketches. A few months back, I visited the Media Centre too and was not too inspired. It does have a lot of Libeskind trademark geometry and motifs, but guess the interior design might have been restrained due to programme constraints. Think the Berlin Jewish Museum is more successful in the overall design while the Royal Museum in Toronto is a disaster, a Libeskind meteorite forcefully collided into a classical architecture, with its external form having no relevance to the internal space or the historical exhibits inside.
Thank you. I fully agree with your interesting observations about the Media Centre. I also agree with your description “…meteorite collided into classical architecture…” about the Toronto Royal Museum. If you visit Zaha Hadid’s Innovation Centre you will discover that Libeskind’s Media Centre is not so bad after all. At least it has more functional and useable floor plans than Hadid’s. Having personally visited three of Libeskind masterpieces, I have come to better appreciate and understand his unique and personal juxtaposition of function and architectural form. The massing and exterior building shape somehow seems to contradict each other, yet Libeskind manages to make the plans workable. Thanks for visiting my Blog.