HKU Division of Landscape Architecture

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HKU Division of Landscape Architecture

The Division of Landscape Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong

24/07/2026

We are excited to share PDLA Studio I “Dynamics and Encounters” has won an Outstanding Award in 2026 World Landscape Architecture’s (WLA) University Studio Award world landscape architecture . Over the past eight years, the studio has crafted a strong pedagogical focus on fieldwork and site-sensitive design for our students.

Supervisors: Francisco Cevallos Barragan F.Cevallos.Barragan
William Shivers, PhD William Shivers
Ivan Valin Ivan Valin

Credits:
Image 2: Ya DENG, Ho Chun MAN
Image 4,5: Timon YUNG
Image 6: Xiaoya WANG
Image 7,8,9: Dennis ISIP
Image 10: Bill LI
Image 11: Ya DENG

23/07/2026

Common Core Course: CCHU9058 Nature in the City – Beyond the Concrete Jungle 
  
Instructor: Gavin S Coates  Gavin Coates
  
Teaching Assistants: Cynthia Tam Chi Wan, Hong Yan Chi Hong, Sindy Lau Sin Ting 
  
The summer semester Common Core Course CCHU9058 ‘Nature in the City’ is well underway with a cohort of 78 students. The course site walk was conducted 4 times - 20 students each time braved the intermittent torrential rainstorms to discover all kinds of elements of nature lurking in plain sight in our city!! 
  
HKU Landscape HKU Common Core

20/07/2026

The Common Core Course, CCHU9058 ‘Nature in the City – Beyond the Concrete Jungle’, kicked off last week with the ‘Interconnections Game’!

Students are divided into pairs, each pair representing one of a wide variety of topics ranging from religion, politics, art and warfare to artificial intelligence, real estate, ecology, energy, astronomy and economics etcetera. One of each pair stays resident on their topic while the other is the ambassador for that topic. The resident ties the end of a ball of string around him or herself, hands it to the ambassador who then carries the string to as many other topics as possible. Every time the representatives of two topics establish a connection between them, the visiting ambassador ties their string around the resident and moves on to the next topic. This experiential game demonstrates that all areas of human endeavor are ultimately interconnected. The game also serves as a rowdy and chaotic (read ‘fun’) icebreaker!

Instructor: Gavin S Coates .s.coates

Teaching Assistants: Cynthia Tam Chi Wan, Hong Yan Chi Hong, Sindy Lau Sin Ting

17/07/2026

Revitalizing Historic Landscapes: Lessons from Langtou, China (Apply by 5 Aug!)

We are excited to co-launch our latest professional development short course: ”Revitalizing Historic Urban and Rural Landscapes through Heritage-based Solutions: Lessons from Langtou, China.“
This unique program is a joint collaboration between:
* The University of Hong Kong (Division of Landscape Architecture / MSc in Conservation Programme)
* Tongji University / WHITR-AP
* HKICON

Why Join?
Through the lens of the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach, we will study Langtou—a 700-year-old ancient Lingnan village and its revitalization project. Participants will engage in high-level lectures, group work mapping historic landscapes, application of post-SDG and MONDIACULT frameworks within the online and 2-day immersive on-site field study.

Key Info at a Glance:
📅 Dates: 29 Aug (Online) | 5–6 Sept (On-site, Guangzhou) | 12 Sept (Online)
🎓 Who should apply: University and graduate students, Practicing heritage/planning professionals
⏰ Application Deadline: 5 August 2026
🎯 Don’t miss this chance to expand your practice with next-generation conservation strategies.
✨ Certificates of Attendance will be provided to participants who accomplish the sessions.
🚀 Outstanding performers will receive a special commendation, which will be considered in applications to the HKU MSc Conservation Programme, provided all necessary admission requirements are met.

👉 Learn more and apply here: https://www.hkicon.org/revitalizinghistoriclandscapes

10/07/2026

We are excited to share PDLA Studio I “Dynamics and Encounters” has been shortlisted for World Landscape Architecture’s (WLA) University Studio Award . Over the past eight years, the studio has crafted a strong pedagogical focus on fieldwork and site-sensitive design for our students. The studio documents and analyses the landscape dynamics and processes on Lantau Island’s Shap Long village asking students to observe across a variety of tools and techniques to craft a variety of programmatic outcomes to work with the landscape as a dynamic system.

Credits:
Image 2: Ya DENG, Ho Chun MAN
Image 4,5: Timon YUNG
Image 6: Xiaoya WANG
Image 7,8,9: Dennis ISIP
Image 10: Bill LI
Image 11: Ya DENG

08/07/2026

Stone & Sea: Lei Yue Mun Studio — Part I

This semester we began by learning to read the landscape before proposing to transform it. At Lei Yue Mun, students traced the relationships between granite quarries, the fishing village, the Tin Hau Temple, and the changing coastline through drawings, models, and fieldwork.

Rather than seeing stone as a material to extract, we approached it as memory, ecology, and infrastructure—a landscape shaped by both geological time and human labor. These first investigations became the foundation for imagining new futures grounded in the site’s history.

ARCH2202: BALS Landscape Studio 2- Stone & Sea: Lei Yue Mun Studio
Instructors: Sonny Xu
Teaching Assistant: Ban Han

26/06/2026

BA(LS) Year 1 Course LAND1501, Plants and Ecology in Hong Kong
Teacher: Mr Gavin COATES .s.coates
Teaching Assistant: Mr LI Huanyang, Mutsing

This course is designed to give students a comprehensive knowledge in plants, landscape planting design and management. Field trips to various urban and rural landscapes form a core part of the course.
Student assignments included a Plant Reference Assignment, a diary of plant discoveries throughout the semester.

1-4 Koo Ho Long Daniel Plant Reference Assignment
5 Wu Ka Hin Marcus Plant Reference Assignment
6-7 Pang Yat Tung Harold Plant Reference Assignment

And a Sectional Drawing Assignment illustrating an existing wooded area on the HKU Campus.

8 Lam Sze Hang Skyla Sectional Drawing Assignment - Plan
9 Lam Sze Hang Skyla Sectional Drawing Assignment - Section

25/06/2026

BA(LS) Year 1 Course LAND1501, Plants and Ecology in Hong Kong
Teacher: Mr Gavin COATES .s.coates
Teaching Assistant: Mr LI Huanyang, Mutsing

This course is designed to give students a comprehensive knowledge in plants, landscape planting design and management. Field trips to various urban and rural landscapes form a core part of the course. Thanks to the HK Countryside for hosting us at Lai Chi Wo Village and Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden for showing us their native woodland restoration program.

1 Cinnamomum camphora at HKU Campus
2 The HKU Campus is a useful resource for learning plants!
3 Site measurement at Sai Ying Pun Waterfront
4 Planting out Hemerocallis plants at Lai Chi Wo
5 Ficus microcarpa strangling Bischofia javanica in the fung shui woodland at Lai Chi Wo
6 Checking out cow dung at Lai Chi Wo!
7 The native tree nursery at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden
8 Woodland regeneration at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden
9 At the highest point of the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (picture by Cyrus)

Address

6/F Knowles Building, The University Of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong

Telephone

+852 3917 7699

Website

http://www.arch.hku.hk/programmes_/dla/

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