Tao
Ho is the founder of Taoho Design. He is a renowned planner, architect,
designer and artist who moves between disciplines with an authority
rare in the modern world. He proves that it is possible to perform at
a high lives in a variety of disciplines and to combine this with an
active public life and wide-ranging personal interests.
As one of Hong Kong¡¯s most prolific and celebrated contemporary artists,
Dr Ho has produced an impressive body of work of painting and sculpture.
His artwork has been the subject of exhibitions in Hong Kong, Asia and
Europe.
Born in Shanghai in 1936, Tao Ho and his family emigrated to Hong Kong
in 1941. In 1956, the young Tao Ho moved to Berkshire County in the
American state of Massachusetts to attend Williams College, America¡¯s
premiere liberal arts college. At Williams, Ho studied under the famed
art historians Lain Faison and Whitney Stoddard, graduating in 1960
with a Bachelor of Arts (major in art history; double minor in music
and theology). Ho then went on to the Graduate School of Design (GSD)
at Harvard University, where he quickly gained the attention of Walter
Gropius and Sigfried Gideon. Soon after his arrival in Cambridge, Ho
began working at the Architects Collaborative (TAC) where he became
personal assistant to Gropius. He spent his summers in Cambridge working
at TAC, assisting Gropius with a variety of his architectural projects.
In 1964, Ho received a Master¡¯s in Architecture degree from Harvard.
After nearly a decade in Massachusetts, Ho returned to Hong Kong and
immediately began teaching architecture and design as a lecturer at
the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Ho was responsible for introducing
the Basic Design Course¡ªcreated at the Bauhaus School and introduced
to America by Gropius at GSD¡ªto Greater China via Hong Kong. In the
1960s, Ho worked to introduce to Hong Kong, the design infrastructure
and sophistication he found in America, helping to develop curricula
for architecture programmes in Hong Kong and playing a key role in the
development of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA). In 1968,
Tao Ho founded Taoho Design, Hong Kong¡¯s first native, multidisciplinary
design studio.
In 1979, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from
Williams College. In 1988, the American Institute of Architects awarded
Dr Ho with honorary fellowship; Dr Ho received similar accolades from
the Philippine Institute of Architects, the Singapore Institute of Architects
and l¡¯Ordre des Architects (France).
Dr Ho has lectured on social issues in architecture at universities
in Asia, North America and Europe, including Harvard University, Williams
College, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and the Technical University of Berlin. He was awarded the World
Economic Forum¡¯s Crystal Award in 1997 for his efforts to bridge East
and West through his artistic and cultural work. Dr Ho has been featured
in the pages of The Architectural Review, Contemporary Architecture,
A+U, Hinge and Esquire, as well as numerous design books, including
volumes published by Taschen and McGraw-Hill.
After more than four decades of artistic work and training a new generation
of designers, Tao Ho looked to retirement in 2001. The practice continues
in his spirit and remains firmly rooted in his ideas of an architecture
of community, an architecture that defers to its cultural heritage and
honours the natural environment. The work of Taoho Design draws much
of its inspiration from Dr Ho¡¯s artwork and his unique methods of combining
Eastern and Western design elements to create holistic design schemes.
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