Gao Wen'an
Kenneth Ko Man On (born December 5 1942),[1] [2]known as Kenneth, is a Hong Kong interior designer, widely regarded as the "Father of Hong Kong Interior Design" and Honorary President of the Hong Kong Interior Design Association.
Biography
Kenneth Ko was born in Shanghai into a family of seven children as the youngest son. His father, Ko Tong, was general manager of the Golden Gate Hotel in Shanghai, managing 28 restaurants nationwide before 1949; his mother was Ko Tong's third wife and a homemaker. At age six the family relocated to Hong Kong, where finances became modest. He attended Yau Ma Tei Catholic Primary School and graduated from Pui Kiu Middle School in 1961. He then studied architecture at the University of Melbourne, earning a bachelor's degree and receiving the Faculty Design Excellence Award and Picton Hopkins Prize in 1969.
In 1970 he joined Pan Yanshou Consulting Engineers as an architect, and from 1974 to 1976 served as Engineering Manager at Lian Engineering Company. In 1976 he founded Kenneth Ko Design Ltd, offering interior, soft furnishing, and landscape design services. By 1990 he had opened branches in Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, launched "Kenneth Kollection" retail stores at the Regal Riverside Hotel in Sha Tin in 1993, and in 1996 opened a specialty home decor and health foods shop in Hung Hom's Whampoa Garden.
A fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Ko blends Eastern and Western cultural elements with technology and comfort. His notable projects include the Corner Tower Restaurant at the Imperial Palace, Thames Riverside Apartments, the Chinese Art Pavilion at Crawfordton Castle, Emei Mountain Tea House, the St. Regis Villa in Lijiang, South Horizons, China Arts & Crafts Ltd, Canton Disco on Canton Road, K-Mall cinema, the Shanghai Tang flagship store, Peninsula House’s Jasper Lounge, Repulse Bay Hotel, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Sha Tin Clubhouse's Pavilion Hall—over 5,000 projects completed.
At age 50 he began fitness training, publishing a nude photo collection “At His Peak” at 55. In 2003 he shifted his business base to the OCT Creative Culture Park in Nanshan, Shenzhen, establishing Shenzhen Kenneth Ko Design Co. and choosing to reside there permanently, remaining unmarried.[3][4][5]
In 2006 he launched Kenneth Ko Enterprise Management Co., opening over 34 “My Coffee” cafés in Tokyo, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles, and Oakland; and expanded into nine “My Series” brands, including My Gym, My Noodle, My Hotel (Indonesia boutique hotels), My Hair, My Gelato, My Martini, My Pasta, and My Floral. He received lifetime achievement awards from the Hong Kong Interior Design Association and IFD (International Federation of Interior Architects & Designers) in 2013 and 2014.
In 2015 he sold 60% of his design firm to Shenzhen Baoying Construction Group for HK$230 million. In 2019 his renovation of the Crawfordton Castle Chinese Art Pavilion won the A' Design Award Silver in Cultural Heritage & Cultural Industries.
Publications
- 1997: Photo collection At His Peak
- [Year unspecified]: Autobiographical novel Turning into Spring Soil
References
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E6%96%87%E5%AE%89#cite_ref-4
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E6%96%87%E5%AE%89#cite_ref-5
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E6%96%87%E5%AE%89#cite_ref-13
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E6%96%87%E5%AE%89#cite_ref-14
- ↑ http://www.hs-lingxiu.com/detail.php?myid=521