Looking to Hong Kong: The Architecture of Rocco Design, Yim architect book, HK publication

Looking to Hong Kong: The Architecture of Rocco Design

7 July 2025

Definitive monograph of Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim.

The book highlights Rocco Design’s major public and cultural projects—such as the Hong Kong Palace Museum and the iADC Design Museum—and reflects on architecture’s role in negotiating the city’s urban density and civic space:

Bao’an Cultural Complex, Bao’an District, Shenzhen, China, 2021 – the Complex’s performative facades:

photo © Rocco Design

Guangdong Museum building:

photo © Almond Chu

OCT Headquarters Tower Kunming, China, expected to be completed in 2025:

photo © Rocco Design

Architect Rocco Yim Book

The definitive monograph of Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim, whose four-decade long career continues to shape the skyline of the city.

“…the idea that one can look to Hong Kong to offer lessons on the art of architecture may border on the preposterous…”

Hong Kong Palace Museum:

photo © Rocco Design

iSQUARE, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, China, 2009
The IMAX cinema is perched on top of the podium, with projected restaurant terraces rising from the rear tower to enjoy unobstructed views of the harbour:

photo © Gammon Construction Ltd

W Guangzhou Hotel, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 2013
Vertically stacked hotel and residences in a geometric, interlocking arrangement forming a unified architectural mass:

photo © Likyfoto

Bringing together 25 projects, mostly within Hong Kong, including the high-profile East Kowloon Cultural Centre and the Hong Kong Palace Museum, this book showcases the work of the man single-handedly most responsible for the city’s modern architectural form.

Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre, Binjiang West Bank, Xuhui, Shanghai, China, 2023
Aerial view showing the building volumes opening up to the city:

photo © Rocco Design

The selected projects have been chosen for the way in which they reflect the design principles and practices of the studio, but also because they highlight the particularities of the city, such as its dense, vertical and connected nature. Further projects include the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre, OCT Headquarters Tower, Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum New Annex, and iADC Design Museum.

East Kowloon Cultural Centre, HK, China:

photo © Rocco Design

Growing up, studying and now practising in the city, his deep knowledge of its intricacies allows him to design buildings that make the city work better and improve the lives of those that live there, a principle which continues to drive him.

HKSAR Government Headquarters Admiralty, Hong Kong, China, 2011
The tranquil LegCo Garden adjacent to the LegCo Complex on the left and overlooked by the green carpet deck on the right:

photo © Marcel Lam

Rocco Yim was born and educated in Hong Kong, and is currently the Principal of Rocco Design Architects Associates Ltd. Since winning a First Prize Award for L’Opéra de la Bastille international competition in 1983, his works have consistently received awards both in Hong Kong and overseas.

Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum New Annex, Shatin, Hong Kong, China, expected to be completed in 2025
The museum hovers over existing trees and incorporates a pedestrian shortcut through its exhibition spaces, linking University Avenue in the foreground to the University Mall above to the right:

photo © Rocco Design

His works have been published in various regional and global journals and have been exhibited five times in the Venice Biennale over the last decade. He is currently Honorary Professor at CUHK, Adjunct Professor at HKU, Adjunct Professor at HKU SPACE, Museum Adviser to LCSD. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Social Sciences from the University of Hong Kong in 2013 and The Award for Outstanding Contribution in Arts from the HKADC in 2024.

Bao’an Cultural Complex, Bao’an District, Shenzhen, China, 2021 – the multi-dimensional experience along the linear atrium of the library:

photo © Rocco Design