Winners
PolyU School of Design Young Design Talent Award 2026
Lee Ngai Man, Louise
Communication Design | Graduate of PolyU SD (Social Design)
Louise Lee is a graduate of the School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, majoring in Social Design. Her passion lies in transforming built environments into catalysts for social connection, driven by the belief that meaningful design solutions emerge directly from the lived experience and 'folk wisdom' of local communities.
During her studies, Louise immersed herself in participatory co-design, urban ethnography, and systemic design to address complex socio-spatial challenges. As a design lead, she spearheaded impactful local initiatives—such as the Pocket Spaces Playbook for public housing (winner of the Golden A' Design Award), the Starting@Tai Kok Tsui Community Itinerant Center, and the Painting Yau Ma Tei urban renewal scheme. Her practice also extends internationally to rural revitalization projects in Keihoku and Kyotamba, Japan.
Through extensive fieldwork and empathetic listening, Louise bridges grassroots insights with tangible design interventions, transforming underutilized spatial cracks into vibrant, community-governed social hubs. She is eager to continue advancing human-centric social design, leveraging participatory frameworks to rebuild social capital, nurture spatial autonomy, and foster resilient, inclusive urban neighbourhoods. Now, she has founded the social design studio '6174 studio,' striving to explore and push the boundaries of social design possibilities in Hong Kong.
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