The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) of the Macao SAR Government, in cooperation with the Architects Association of Macau and the Macao Urban Planning Institute, organises the Macao Exhibition at the 7th Shenzhen and Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture 2017 (hereinafter called “Bi-City Biennale”). The submission period of calling for proposals ended in early August. The submitted proposals for the Bi-City Biennale were then reviewed and selected by the Jury Commission composed of five experts and scholars from Shenzhen and Macao. The 1st Prize winner was Companhia de Arquitectura JWCC Limitada, who submitted the project entitled “City Magnified: Re-discovering of a Diminishing Urban Identity”, and will be responsible for planning the Macao Exhibition at the Bi-City Biennale. Other proposals were also awarded prizes, namely the 2nd prize was awarded to CURB — Centre for Architecture and Urbanism with the project “Macau, City of Villages - Diversity From the Bottom Up”, and the 3rd prize went to Cita Planeamento e Design Lda. for the project “Reconstruct‧Hang Vo Tong－The Macau Experience”. Meanwhile, an Honourable Mention was awarded to Wan Pio with their project “Safe Cordon”.
This year, the Bi-City Biennale will be carried out with the theme - “Cities, Grow in Difference”, to be featured at “Urban Villages – Nantou Old Town” as the main exhibition space. The Bi-City Biennale will explore the issue of urban growth and transformation, focusing particularly on the urban landscape, unique culture and economic phenomena caused by the process of rapid urbanization in the Pearl River Delta region, plus seeking the best solutions to solve practical problems. All submitted proposals were remarkable, unique, informative and creative, which were also in line with the theme of the Biennale, fully expressing the participants’ unique perspectives on the related areas.
The Jury Commission included the Vice Chairman of the Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture Organizing Committee Office, Chen Zhen; the Chairman of the Supervising Committee of the Macao Urban Planning Institute, Hélder Santos; the President of the Member’s Assembly of the Architects Association of Macau and member of the Urban Planning Committee, Leong Chong In; the President of the Board of Directors of the Architects Association of Macau, Wong Chung Yuen; and the Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of IC, Leong Wai Man. The proposals were reviewed and selected according to the established criteria, such as the proposal’s adequacy to the Biennale’s theme, the emphasis on Macao’s characteristics, the vanguardism, critique, originality, innovation and uniqueness of the exhibition concept and planning, the feasibility and practicality of the plan, the plan’s management and resources investment and the quality and advantages of the exhibits, among other factors.
The 1st Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture was held in Shenzhen in 2005 and Hong Kong was invited to participate and collaborate since 2007. It then became a unique bi-city biennale held in two cities. It is currently the only biennale in the world dedicated exclusively to a fixed theme: the city. Six editions of the biennale have already been carried out in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, alternately. Macao was invited to participate in the event for three consecutive years, namely 2013, 2015 and 2017, and has achieved significant results and valuable experiences.