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Design Forces and Their Strategies

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Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015

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Abstract

During the early period of colonization and plantation in Hong Kong, architects, engineers, surveyors and government officials who were predominantly from Britain and Europe undertook formal building design. Given the increasing infrastructural and new district development, qualified building designers and professionals did not always suffice. Demand for designers grew sharply after World War II.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The initiation and committee of the architects’ association is from a news “An architectural association for Hong Kong”, published in the Hongkong and Far East Builder, Vol. 11, No. 4, 1956, p. 21.

  2. 2.

    The number of members in 1964 and 1967 is from The Hong Kong Society of Architects Year Book 1964, 1965, 1967. The number of founding members is from the Charter of Hong Kong Society of Architects. The number of 1990 is from Cheng (1990).

  3. 3.

    From the website of HKIA, http://www.hkia.net/hk/AboutUs/AboutUs_02_01_new.htm. Accessed on 11 October 2014.

  4. 4.

    See Far East Architect & Builder: 1967 Hong Kong Directory. Hong Kong: Far East Trade Press.

  5. 5.

    Almost all buildings designed by Palmer & Turner before 1938 have been listed by Shanghai government as heritage building since 1994.

  6. 6.

    The description of Palmer & Turner was referenced from P & T Group (1998); Introduction of P & T Group in Hong Kong and Shenzhen Urban Architecture Biennale (2008), Hong Kong Institute of Architects (2006) and Kwan (2015).

  7. 7.

    From Kinoshita (2005), and also from the author’s interview of Mr. James Kinoshita, 2 March 2016.

  8. 8.

    For the description of PolyU, the author referred to the PolyU website, www.polyu.edu.hk, Wikipedia and Google Maps. The author has been investigating the others since 1989.

  9. 9.

    Description of Remo Riva’s work in P & T is partly from an interview of Mr. Riva, conducted on 22 August 2014.

  10. 10.

    About early discussion of TOD complex, see Tan and Xue (2014). Haffner and his peers got the early feeling and concept of TOD and the experiment of design in this aspect was green.

  11. 11.

    About the description of Wai Szeto, the author took reference of W.Szeto & Partners Architects and Engineers, Selected Works, 1975; and interview with Mr. Chung Wah-nan in many occasions during 2010–2015. Mr. Andrew Lee King-fun told the author about I.M. Pei’s giving ideas to the Chinese culture institute of CUHK, 26 February 2016.

  12. 12.

    For the Hong Kong pavilion in the 1970 World Expo of Osaka, see the technical notes written by Mr. Alan Fitch, 1969; “Hong Kong will ‘sail’ into Expo 70”, South China Morning Post, Feb 9, 1968; pictures provided by Victoria Fitch in 2014; and Hong Kong Annual Report 1970.

  13. 13.

    About the Chung Chi College, see Gu (2011). Most description in this chapter is from the author’s invesigation.

  14. 14.

    Quoted from Deed of Constitution, Hong Kong Society of Architects, September 3, 1956.

  15. 15.

    In 1946, the Shanghai government started to prepare the Greater Shanghai Plan, a signal of ambitious post-war construction. The Greater Shanghai Plan was prepared for three rounds and approved in the autumn of 1949. It can be compared with the Abercrombie’s Hong Kong plan described in Chap. 1. The mayor of Shanghai and the director of Public Works led the work. Master planning committee of the Greater Shanghai Plan consisted of eight people, Luke Him Sau, Richard Paulick (professor of St. John’s University), Eric Cumine, Zhang Jun Kuen, Huang Zuoxin (graduated from AA and Harvard, professor of St. John’s University), A.J. Brandt (professor of St. John’s University), Zhong Yaohua and Mei Guochao. See Greater Shanghai Plan, Shanghai: Tongji University Press, 2014.

  16. 16.

    About the facts of Luke Him Sau, the author took reference of Wang (2007), Dension and Guang (2014); and Luke Him Sau Archive, University of Hong Kong Library.

  17. 17.

    Chan Wing-Gee’s situation in Hong Kong was told by Mr. Chung Wah-nan, meeting on 16 January 2013.

  18. 18.

    About the first generation of Chinese architects, see Cody et al. (2011), Lai (2007), Zhang (1999).

  19. 19.

    “Professor Gordon Brown’s notes on the new department of architecture”, Hongkong and Far East Builder, October 1951, p. 13.

  20. 20.

    The career of Professor Gordon Brown is written based on the news at Hongkong and Far East Builder, October 1951, p.13; HKIA 2006, chapter about Donald Liao; and conversation with Mr. Andrew Lee King-fun, 26 February 2016.

  21. 21.

    Words of W.H. Gregory are concluded from Far East Architect & Builder (Editor: A.G. Barnett), 1963: 65.

  22. 22.

    About the education of HKU, see part of K C Lye from Hong Kong Institute of Architects (2006). The other materials are from the author’s investigation. The teaching of Aalva Aalto method and Richard Neutra was told by Mr. Andrew Lee King-fun, 26 February 2016.

  23. 23.

    See Taylor and Conner (2014). The book describes how the architectural design helped the development of Pacific Ocean nations from European colony to modern tourist paradise. Same as a colonized island, Hong Kong’s development path was completely different, education played a key role in Hong Kong’s transition and progress.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Charlie Q. L. Xue

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Correspondence to Charlie Q. L. Xue .

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Xue, C.Q.L. (2016). Design Forces and Their Strategies. In: Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1004-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1004-0_3

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