【Tech Sunday】Techformance–2025 UABB Hong Kong: AI-enabled Alternatives: Changes in Design Conventions The Hong Kong Institute of Architects Biennale Foundation Company Limited

Tech Sunday is a series of small forums organised by the UABB curatorial team 2025 on weekends. Each forum presents curated topics by the participating exhibitors, and we invite the public to take part in the intellectual exchange. Participants will understand the speaker's background, the body of work and the design intention behind the exhibit through each talk.

This session explores how AI is transforming design workflows, materiality, and the tangible processes.

Topics:

1. Computational Biophilia: Biomimicry-driven ecological architecture with regenerative materials ( Speaker: Provides Ng, Yaoyao Meng, Carlos Rivera )
2. Architecture Blind Box: Tangible Invisibility ( Speaker: Kit Wang Choi )
3. Institution and Industry Collaboration - how to push advanced tech to the next level? ( Speaker: Tris Kee )
4. Stone Synergy: AI-Driven Community Housing ( Speaker: Olivia Chen )
5. Discussion + Q&A

Language:
English

Speakers:
Provides Ng
Provides Ng is a Lecturer at Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) and conducts her doctoral research at the CUHK. She is the founder of the Digital Common(s) Initiative, which works to improve digital literacy in underprivileged communities. She actively advises the HKSAR government on cultural affairs, and serves as panel members at the Development Bureau and LCSD. She also holds leadership roles as Treasurer for the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) and co-founded two international AI-research collectives: Current.cam and R.E.Ar_.

Yaoyao Meng
Yaoyao Meng is award-winning interdisciplinary designer and UK Global Talent. She is a robotic specialist at the Architectural Robotics Lab, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Her research explores robotic fabrication, circular design strategies, and waste material regeneration to address resource scarcity, rising waste, and embodied carbon in construction. By integrating computational design with additive manufacturing, she develops bespoke, large-scale, and sustainable building systems.

Carlos Rivera Salaverry
Carlos Rivera Salaverry is an architect and educator from URP Peru, brings expertise in experimental parametric modeling, with special interest in form optimization through climatic and structural variables. He explores sustainable approaches to digital fabrication, integrating advanced computational methods to bridge design experimentation with material efficiency and construction feasibility.

Choi Kit Wang
Registered Architect (HK), Co-founder of HOUR25, and Board Member of the Hong Kong Architecture Centre (2023–2025).

Tris Kee
Prof Tris Kee is a registered architect and an AP. She is an Associate Professor of Architectural Studies in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She works collaboratively with the Industrial Center of PolyU and her team of research assistants. Ms. Jenny Huang is a research assistant in the Department of Building and Real Estate of PolyU. She has experience in design and installation and will assists this UABB exhibition. Ms Cynthia Yim is a research assistant in Department of Building and Real Estate of PolyU. She completed her architectural studies in Melbourne and became a registered architect. She is also a graduate of the MSc in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution and was am awardee of a scholarship. She now undertakes multiple research projects including a heritage sustainability of HK Bamboo Theatres.

Olivia Chen
Olivia Shuning Chen is an architectural designer and researcher, currently a Guest Speaker and Senior Research Assistant at the University of Hong Kong, where she teaches courses on design research, environmental architecture, and digital methods. Her expertise lies at the intersection of computational design, digital fabrication, and architectural automation. She is dedicated to exploring contemporary architecture and urbanism through the lens of these technological methodologies, examining their impact on political and design development processes. Her work bridges advanced computational research with practical application in design and making.