In Episode 161 of the A is for Architecture Podcast, Dr Géraldine Borio - Swiss architect and assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong - discusses her exquisite, enigmatic and hugely inspiring book, Looking for the Voids: Learning from Asia’s Liminal Urban Spaces as a Foundation to Expand an Architectural Practice, published by Park Books in 2023.

Géraldine’s book explores architectural and urban interventions in residual and liminal spaces across Bangkok, Hong Kong and Seoul, emphasizing what she reads and presents as a philosophy of frugality and spatial economy that is productive, hybrid and amorphous, but definable too. We discuss parts of the five key principles presented —Defining the Void, Interlocking Gaps, Expanding Boundaries, Overlapping Functions, and Being Frugal—consider their meaning and speculate a bit on their wider application in other places.

Geraldine can be found at work here. She is on LinkedIn and Instagram. The book is linked above and is well worth a look: an artefact in its own right.

Happy listening, then happy reading.

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Music credits: ⁠Bruno Gillick