Micro-Sanctuaries: Reimagining Hong Kong’s Community-Crafted Worship Spaces

In this workshop, participants will explore Hong Kong's urban worship spaces. Document, analyse, and design their own modern micro-shrines. "Micro-Shrines" explores the adaptation and transformation of traditional religious spaces within Hong Kong's high-density urban environment. This workshop will examine temples and altars—spaces of deep cultural significance—and how they are compressed, distorted, and reinterpreted within the spatial constraints of the city, giving rise to hybrid forms that reflect both desire and pragmatic adaptation. Participants will first learn the fundamental elements of traditional temples, then take guided tours in Central and Sheung Wan to observe and document real-world examples of micro-shrines embedded within the urban fabric (including both formal and informal spaces). The workshop will guide participants in using photography and AI tools to analyse and extract the unique spatial and design essence of these altars. Using these distilled elements and insights, participants will then employ AI tools to design their own micro-shrine. Workshop knowledge and skills outcomes: Understanding the nature of informal religious spaces in Hong Kong; enhancing sensitivity towards overlooked elements in the urban environment; appreciating adaptive architectural strategies within constrained urban contexts; gaining basic familiarity with AI image analysis and generative tools in architectural research.