Today the shortlist of six design teams were revealed that have been invited to submit proposals for the architectural design of M+, Hong Kong’s future museum for 20th and 21st century visual culture within the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), scheduled for completion in 2017. M+ is an ambitious project, the scale of the museum building alone, at around 62,000 sq m, will be on par with the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Situated on the waterfront of the Victoria Harbour at the edge of a 14-hectare park, the architecture brief will be shaped around the museum’s core values. It will provide vital space for artists to meet, exhibit and experiment and will house a world-class permanent collection of Hong Kong, Chinese, and Asian visual culture: art, design, architecture and the moving image.

The six shortlisted teams are:
Herzog & de Meuron + TFP Farrells
Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA
Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Shigeru Ban Architects + Thomas Chow Architects
SNOHETTA
Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects + Benoy Limited

Mrs Carrie Lam, Chairman of the WKCDA Board, said: “The shortlist of design teams is phenomenal by any international standards. M+ will be a museum for the Hong Kong people, firmly rooted in the location and its unique culture, providing a Hong Kong perspective with a global vision.” Two of the six teams are signed up to WAN's Business Information Service which posted the tender.