ART & DESIGN
Hard work pays off, even if it isn’t for now, it will eventually From being a member of the national fencing team at the age of 15, to setting up an award-winning architecture and design firm, Florence Kong has gone from strength to strength. Kong’s athletic training from early on in life has taught her the importance of perseverance and teamwork. To this day, they remain the core values that underlie her work ethic. “From my training as a sportsman, I learned to trust that hard work pays off, even if it isn’t for now, it will eventually,” she says. Kong started her career in architecture working with a number of architectural studios and property developers with projects around the world including Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Mainland China and Hong Kong. After graduating from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Kong trained under luminaries such as Zaha Hadid and Kohn Pedersen Fox, before returning to Hong Kong to set up her own architecture design studio in 2015. Her latest project is a collaboration with MIT Innovation Node, for the 17th Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition, which has been postponed for at least a year due to the pandemic. “It’s tough for everyone during this time. It is important to stay agile and be ready to adapt to new situations when there is a lot of uncertainty,” Kong says. 22 HONG KONG LIVING INFLUENCER 2020
Florence Kong Founder FAB-A-MATTER
