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Prof. Nelson Chen, a renowned Chinese architect, came on board early this year as the new Director of the School of Architecture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). His mission is to lead the School ‘from good to great’, to make it one that nurtures students who will eventually be able to shape and redefine the profession. 

Born in the U.S., Professor Chen has received numerous awards and wide recognition in the architectural profession. The very first award he received on his graduation from Harvard was the AIA School Medal awarded by The American Institute of Architect to first-ranked architectural graduates in the U.S. 

Professor Chen moved back to Hong Kong in 1986 to help his father-in-law, Mr. Clifford Wong, also a well-known architect, to complete his unfinished residential projects, Hong Lok Yuen in Tai Po and Fairview Park in Yuen Long. Professor Chen’s wife also returned with him, giving up her academic career after receiving her PhD in Physics at MIT where she assisted a Nobel Prize winner. The couple have been living in Hong Kong ever since. 

The ivory white Fairview Park Alliance Church by the lakeside of Fairview Park, and the recently renovated St. Andrew’s Church in Tsim Sha Tsui are two of the outstanding works of Professor Chen. The St Andrew’s project won the UNESCO Award of Merit. What made Professor Chen reduce his successful private practice and put teaching at CUHK as his first priority? 

Professor Chen’s association with CUHK began over 20 years ago when his architecture firm submitted a design proposal for the University’s first engineering building. Although the design was not adopted, it impressed Prof. Tunney Lee, the founding Chairperson of the then Department of Architecture. From then, Professor Chen spared time to share his knowledge and experience with students as a visiting lecturer and design critic. One of his students has since become the associate principal in his firm. 

Professor Chen has been impressed by the achievement of CUHK School of Architecture which has a relatively short history of only 20 years. He believes that an architect should be committed to making a positive difference in the environment and culture. As the new Director, Professor Chen calls for integrating research and design so that each informs and enriches the other within the curriculum and reiterating a closer engagement and integration with the profession outside the school. ‘At the end of the day, a distinction must be drawn between merely training our students to join the ranks of today’s profession and educating our students to be able to adapt to the inevitable changes in the future profession. More importantly, students should eventually be able to shape and redefine the profession with competence and leadership instead of simply accepting the existing culture of it.’ 

Professor Chen said, ‘Architecture students worldwide are notorious for working late hours and overnight to develop their designs. There is never a perfect design solution, and every single design has room for improvement. To succeed as an architect, you have to grasp artistic ability to visualize and draw, acquire quantitative skills for structures and technology, cultivate social awareness and business acumen. What’s more important is to have that confidence and conviction to make something better than you first found it. I hope that our students will be, on one hand, humble and open-minded and, on the other hand, self-confident and resilient. In the course of their studies and work, they will learn that the challenges in this profession are so multi-faceted and totally absorbing.’ 

Architecture is a living art. It could last to become a cultural heritage. Professor Chen reminded students that an architect had to be committed to making a positive difference in the environment and culture. ‘Designing our environment is a great privilege – it is creative and influential. But, this privilege comes with responsibility. My hope and expectation is that graduates of our School will design buildings and build careers with less concern for “what’s first?” but a profound commitment to “what lasts.”‘