Looking for the Voids - Research
Looking for the Voids is a long-term research project investigating the liminal urban spaces of Asian cities—thresholds, residual fragments, and informal in-betweens that resist conventional architectural categorization. Drawing from 15 years of fieldwork in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Seoul, the research bridges observation and intervention, proposing a method for reading the city as a tool for design. Through five spatial principles—void, interlock, boundaries, overlap, and frugality—it offers a critical framework for shaping architecture that is minimal, adaptive, and deeply attuned to context.
Locations: Hong Kong - Bangkok - Seoul
Dates: 2006 - 2023
Principal Investigator: Géraldine Borio
Research Assistants: Tina Wang Tianduo; Kelly Mok Man Wing, with contributions from assistants involved in the reviewed projects
Conferences and Keynotes
16 11 2023
Looking for the Voids and Drawing the Liminal, paper presented at Drawing the Urban, Symposium co-organized by ETH Zurich and USI Mendrisio, Switzerland. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G. Peer-reviewed.
28 11 2019
Learning from Hong Kong and Asian Liminal Spaces, paper presented at the Symposium Made by People: Micro-Design in the Asia Pacific City, the School of Architecture, The University of Queensland, Brisbane. Sole author & Research [PI]: Peer-reviewed.
15 03 2019
Studying Hong Kong from the Liminal, paper presented at the Symposium Mapping Creativity: Exploring Narrative Strategies for the Advancement of the Creative Ecologies in Hong Kong and at a Global Scale organized by the Academy of Visual Arts (AVA) and the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G. Peer-reviewed.
14 03 2024
Investigating Bangkok, Hong Kong and Seoul from their Liminal Spaces Korean University of the Arts, Keynote Lecture at the Department of Architecture, Seoul, South Korea. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
06 12 2023
Looking for the Voids Kyoto University, Keynote Lecture at the Department of Architecture, Kyoto, Japan. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
05 12 2023
Looking for the Voids, Keynote Lecture part of the Architecture for Global Intimacy lecture series, Kindai University, Osaka, Japan. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
15 06 2023
Looking for the Voids in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Seoul, Lecture at Domansa, Seoul, Korea. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
25 02 2021
Learning from Urban Liminal Spaces in Asia, paper presented at the Research Seminar Series, Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
14 12 2019
Observing the liminal in Hong Kong Urban context, Keynote at SEA, Architecture Department, Mumbai. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
27 04 2018
Parallel Works: Looking for the In-Betweens, Lecture at Nakatani Lab. Waseda University, Dept. of Architecture, Tokyo, Japan. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
25 04 2018
Voids, Gaps and Left-Overs within Hong Kong’s Dense Urban Fabric, Lecture at Almazan Lab. Keio University, Dept. of Architecture, Tokyo. Sole author & Research [PI]: Borio, G.
