A research and design practice operating within the fields of architecture and urban landscape

Reflection on liminal space in architecture and the city lies at the core of Géraldine Borio’s work. With their ambiguous status, these so-called residual areas open up multiple ways of interpreting the physical and metaphorical boundaries between solid and void.
Through research, design, teaching, publications and exhibitions, her practice contributes to expanding ways of reading, understanding, and engaging with urban space and architecture.
«This exploration has shaped my approach to analysing the city and translating these insights into architectural propositions. Rather than reinforcing boundaries, I engage with notions of constraint and limit, imagining strategies to recreate meaningful relationships between architecture and its surroundings.»
Dr. Géraldine Borio is a Swiss-registered architect, researcher, and author. She has taught and conducted research at various institutions, including the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Architecture (2015–2025), Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2012–2018), and she is currently Visiting Professor at the American University of Sharjah. She has previously co-founded Parallel Lab in Hong Kong (2010–2015) and Wut Tung Sat (2017–2019), and has collaborated with architecture firms in Tokyo, Beijing, and Hong Kong.
Since 2007, Dr. Borio has explored the spatial ambiguity of urban environments through extensive research in Asia’s megacities, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Seoul. Her approach—grounded in field observation and creative practice—examines in-between spaces, buffer zones, and thresholds, challenging traditional architectural boundaries.
She is the author of «Seoul Mini-Mountains: Reading the City from Its Topographical Gaps» (Ahn Graphics, 2025); «Looking for the Voids: Learning from Asia’s Liminal Urban Spaces as a Foundation to Expand an Architectural Practice» (Park Books, 2023); and co-author of «Hong Kong In-Between» (Park Books and MCCM Creations, 2015). Her work has been showcased at venues such as the Vitra Design Museum (Germany), M+ Museum (Hong Kong), and the Seoul Museum of History, as well as at biennales and exhibitions in Rotterdam, Beijing, Seoul, Zürich, and New York.
Dr. Borio holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from RMIT University, Australia, and a Bachelor and Master of Architecture from EPFL, Switzerland.
Highlights
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Inverted Hong Kong - Publication
Seoul
Publications
Inverted Hong Kong - Exhibition
Seoul Biennale
Exhibitions
Inhabitable Territories - Publications
HKU, Hong Kong
Publications
Seoul Mini-Mountains - Research
Seoul
Research
Inverted Hong Kong - Design
Seoul
Design
Inverted Hong Kong - Research
Hong Kong, Seoul
Research