Ho Tao (; 17 July 1936 – 29 March 2019) was a Hong Kong architect born in Shanghai. He was the designer of the Bauhinia emblem, and also of the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Background Born in Shanghai in 1936 to Ping Yin Ho & Chin Hwa, Ho grew up with elder brother Chien and younger sister Diana. He graduated from Pui Ching Middle School and went on to receive a BA in art history with a minor in music and theology at Williams College in Massachusetts. Then, he studied for his MArch at Harvard's Graduate School of Design under the tutelage of Josep Lluís Sert, Sigfried Giedion, and Walter Gropius, the latter of whom hired Ho upon graduation as his personal assistant at The Architects Collaborative. In 1968, four years after Ho returned to Hong Kong, he founded TaoHo Design Architects. Early projects include the Hong Kong International School and the Hong Kong Arts Centre, whose designs heralded the arrival of the Bauhaus to Hong Kong. Within his broad portfolio of works are the Hong Kong Pavilion at the 1986 World Expo in Vancouver, the renovation of Hong Kong's Governor House for Lord Chris Patten, the award-winning Wing Kwong Pentecostal Church, the first panda pavilion at Ocean Park and the revitalization of the Western Market in Sheung Wan. Tao also designed Hong Kong SAR's Bauhinia emblem, its flag and the ceremonial pen used at the handover signing ceremony in 1997. An advocate of heritage conservation and cultural development, Ho conceived of an arts district for the city that is now the West Kowloon Cultural District. He enjoyed sharing his views on “TaoHo on Music” (樂論滔滔在何弢) for RTHK in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he was one of the four regular hosts of “Free As The Wind” (講東講西), discussing his views on cultural and social issues. He served as president of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects from 1994 to 1998. As president, he criticised the proposed controversial design for the new Hong Kong Central Library. This was controversial because the HKIA code of conduct stated that members should not criticise other members' work unless they inform that party in advance. Ho responded that absent criticism, architects may suffer from "narcissism". Designs He designed the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1977. A hanging piece created by Ho, entitled "Synergy of Dynamic Energy," is installed in the