Selected unanimously by an international jury panel, the winning architectural team will work with the WKCDA over the next four years to design and deliver a facility which will house Hong Kong’s future museum for 20th and 21st century visual culture.
To be on par with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the 60,000m² M+ museum will be situated on the waterfront of the Victoria Harbour at the edge of the 14-hectare Park.
The museum will be developed with a global vision and will provide a Hong Kong perspective with focus on people and its culture. It will also provide space for artists to meet.
The M+ museum is scheduled for completion at the end of 2017, and will be one of the first batches of arts and cultural venues to be completed in the WKCD.
The complete WKCD will feature a host of arts and cultural venues, out of which – Xiqu Centre, M+, eastern portion of the Park facing the waterfront (including the Arts Pavilion), Freespace (a black box and an outdoor stage in the form of an acoustic shell), and a modular performance venue – will be part of the first phase which will complete by 2018.
The second phase is expected to include the Lyric Theatre, Medium Theatre I, Centre for Contemporary Performance, and some resident company facilities while other remaining venues will be built after the completion of the integrated basement.
A $21.6b upfront endowment was granted in 2008 to implement the complete WKCD project with the Administration to sought remaining funding separately from the Legislative Council (LegCo).
As the integrated basement was not covered in the recommendations of the Consultative Committee on the Core Arts and Cultural Facilities of the WKCD, the Administration is now expected to fully fund and take up the capital works of the integrated basement.
