Peter Hasdell

Peter Hasdell is Professor at the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he serves as Design Social Research Leader, Environment and Interior Year-4 and Capstone Coordinator, and previously held roles as Associate Dean (Academic Programmes) and Discipline Leader for Environment & Interior Design. An architect and urbanist with 30 years of professional practice and 17+ years of academic leadership, he has taught and practiced across Australia, Europe, North America, Japan and China.

Education

• B.Sc (Hons) Architecture – University of Sydney
• AA Dipl (M.Arch equivalent) – Architectural Association, London

Research Focus

Professor Hasdell’s research interrogates metabolic systems, adaptive and responsive architectures, and city-as-life-form paradigms. Through the In-situ Project he leads place-based, participatory design initiatives that merge sustainable rural development with circular material economies. Key themes include social design, urban ecology, cross-border territories, and game-boarding methodologies for regional planning across the Greater Bay Area, rural China, and the Middle East.

Awards & Recognition

• Grand Prize, 3rd Human City Design Award, Seoul / UNESCO (2023)
• UIA 2030 Award & UN-Habitat First Prize for SDG #11 (2022)
• Taipei International Design Award – Gold (2021)
• Design Educates Award – Architectural Design (2022 & 2023)
• Architecture MasterPrize (2021), Azure Award (2018), A+Awards 2023 finalist, Ammodo Architecture Award 2025, and more than 40 other distinctions

Advising & Grants

He supervises PhD candidates and MDES students in Environmental Design studios focused on the Greater Bay Area. His work has received grants from the European Union, Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, PCD, and other bodies supporting rural revitalisation and social design research.

Labs & Initiatives

He founded and directs the In-situ Project research-by-design platform, co-founded the Architecture & Urban Research Lab (A+URL) in Stockholm, and established the Pneuma Open Source Platform. He has also been a core member of Chora Institute (London) and C.A.S.T. (Manitoba), collaborating internationally on experimental architecture and urbanism.