Dispatches from Design Week in Hong Kong

We arrived at a tender time for Hong Kong, a global contingent of design and design-adjacent leaders jetting in for both the Business of Design Week in Hong Kong and Fortune’s Brainstorm Design in nearby Macao.  

The city was still recovering from its deadliest fire in decades. The high-rise complex Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, under renovation since 2024, was engulfed by a blaze that killed at least 159 people on November 26. Mourners continue to visit the site with tributes, and the resplendent nighttime skyline was subdued in a gesture of respect. Even the many official Christmas decorations, usually on full display by now, I’m told, were replaced by more restrained versions.

The cause was the use of substandard materials in the renovation efforts, most notably the distinctive green scaffolding nets used to wrap buildings under construction. Hong Kong, like mainland China, is abuzz with building and renovation. In a literal flash, the netting, which had been a signpost of progress, now loomed like a silent threat. (For more on the extraordinary rise of China as a building and engineering society, I would point you to Hoover Fellow Dan Wang’s compelling new book Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future.)

Having spent several days deeply absorbed in conversations about the business of design, leadership, and the future of the built environment, I was reminded that growth is a complex business at best, and a dangerous one at worst.

I’ll have more to share in the days to come, but I wanted to leave you with this video from multi-disciplinary designer (and Design Observer contributor) Kevin Bethune, who makes the case as few can for how to build extraordinary things despite the uncertainty we are all facing now. “To create anything new and novel, we have to be prepared to do things differently,” he says. Radical collaboration and inclusion are the way forward. “Who is at the table really matters.”

Ellen McGirt
Editor-in-Chief
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This edition of The Observatory was edited by Delaney Rebernik.

This is the web version of The Observatory, our (now weekly) dispatch from the editors and contributors at Design Observer. Want it in your inbox? Sign up here. While you’re at it, come say hi on YouTube, Reddit, or Bluesky — and don’t miss the latest gigs on our Job Board.

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The big think

In his first opinion piece for Design Observer, Jameson Proctor, a partner and CEO at brand innovation studio Athletics, shares a vivid case for an open, AI future. 

It’s one part history lesson, two parts rallying cry. 

“The AI stack is still forming,” he writes. “But if history is any indication, the platforms that empower more people to build, adapt, and create will win out.” It’s time for creatives to roll up their sleeves, he says. “Not just by experimenting with tools, but by shaping the infrastructure. Understanding what’s under the hood. Advocating for values that go deeper than novelty or speed.”

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Some fine print

Here’s a sampling of our latest and greatest from the Design Observer editorial and contributor network.

‘Thoughts & Prayers’ & bulletproof desks: Jessica Dimmock and Zackary Canepari on filming the active shooter preparedness industry. HBO’s new documentary, helmed by two lauded photographers-turned-parents, excavates the $3B market born from America’s school shooting problem. Interview by Alexis Haut.

The most disruptive thing a brand can do is be human. In her first opinion piece for Design Observer, Kim Devall, the creative director at Bindery, cites the rise of automation and new technology as a fundamental threat to doing good work. She encourages creatives of all stripes to slow down, embrace the struggle, and really make things. She knows it’s not easy. “There’s no shortcut for acquiring good taste, it’s something you have to build over time,” she said via email.

Making ‘change’ the product: Phil Gilbert on transforming IBM from the inside out. In a wide-ranging conversation with Design Observer, the architect of IBM’s “Hallmark” transformation explains why most corporate transformations fail, and why treating change like a premium product may be the only way organizations thrive in an AI-driven future. Interview by Ellen McGirt.

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Observed

What are you observing? Tell us.

Frank Gehry, the influential architect who set new standards for creativity in his field, has died after a brief respiratory illness. He was 96. “More than any other architect of his generation, Gehry amplified the role of architecture as a brand,” note Charles Jencks and Oliver Wainwright in the Guardian. “His marketing power would turn out to be his key strength, as well as his biggest weakness, with some of his later projects descending into self-referential cliche.” Gehry handled his more mixed reviews with an enduring calm. “You know, when [the Guggenheim] Bilbao was presented publicly, there was a candlelight vigil against me,” Gehry said at the time. “And then there was a thing in a Spanish paper saying, ‘Kill the American Architect.’ That was scary.”

When “amid” is in the headline, the story is never good. “Architect Shalom Baranes has replaced James McCrery to lead the White House ballroom project amid reported design disputes with Donald Trump.”

The enduring glory of everyday objects. How perfect is the fork? Serious question.

An Apple design stalwart jumps to Meta. Alan Dye, who led Apple’s user interface team for the better part of a decade, has been poached by Meta as the company seeks to deepen its presence in the wearable headset space. Design veteran Steve Lemay will take Dye’s place. More here and here.

For all the very good dogs. Merit badges for dogs? Oh yes, yes, yes.

The Pantone color of the year for 2026 is just white. Actually, it’s Pantone 11-2041 Cloud Dancer, a white shade with a hint of gray, desperation, and ennui. “The cacophony that surrounds us has become overwhelming, making it harder to hear the voices of our inner selves,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director, Pantone Color Institute. “A conscious statement of simplification, Cloud Dancer enhances our focus, providing release from the distraction of external influences.” The internet isn’t having it.

A bot that floats like a bee. A new microrobot from MIT with the flying speed and agility of an insect offers a host of potentially new applications, like search-and-rescue. “We want to be able to use these robots in scenarios that more traditional quadcopter robots would have trouble flying into, but that insects could navigate,” says associate professor Kevin Chen.

Remembering the British photographer who illuminated “the craziness of the English.” Martin Parr, who had earned a wide following for his unalloyed portrayals of English life, died on Saturday at his home in Bristol, England. He was 73.

In search of more durable concrete. A new field of expertise is emerging as the industry works to reduce the substance’s carbon footprint. South Florida, take a bow.

Versace designer Dario Vitale is leaving the brand, despite a stellar debut. The news comes just two days after Prada Group closed a deal to acquire Versace for $1.44 billion.

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Job board

Assistant Professor, Immersive Media and Visuals for Live Events, UC College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Dean of School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Exhibit Designer at Blair, Inc, Springfield, VA

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Yesterday and today

Back in the day, architecture critic Mark Lamster had mixed feelings about Frank Gehry’s residential tower in lower Manhattan. “When the morning sun animates the tower’s metal exterior — Gehry has compared its folds to the drapery of Bernini — it is surely a spectacular sight to behold, especially when it is viewed from Brooklyn. But on those many overcast afternoons when New York’s flat light drains the building of its sculptural magic, it reveals itself to be what it truly is: a very large developer tower with a dressed-up facade.”

This is the web version of The Observatory, our (now weekly) dispatch from the editors and contributors at Design Observer. Want it in your inbox? Sign up here. While you’re at it, come say hi on YouTube, Reddit, or Bluesky — and don’t miss the latest gigs on our Job Board.

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