|
|
ENQUIRE PROJECT DETAILS BY GENERAL PUBLIC |
| Project Details |
| Funding Scheme : | Early Career Scheme | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Number : | 28602715 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Title(English) : | Building a Modern City: First-generation Chinese Architects in colonial Hong Kong, 1920s - 1950s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Title(Chinese) : | 現代化城市的崛起：香港殖民地時期(1920-50)第一代華人建築師 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Principal Investigator(English) : | Dr Lau, Leung Kwok Prudence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Principal Investigator(Chinese) : | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Department : | Department of Cultural and Creative Arts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Institution : | The Education University of Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| E-mail Address : | plklau@eduhk.hk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tel : | 2948 7889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Co - Investigator(s) : |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Panel : | Humanities, Social Sciences | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subject Area : | Social and Behavioural Sciences | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exercise Year : | 2015 / 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fund Approved : | 542,034 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Status : | Completed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Completion Date : | 30-6-2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Objectives : |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract as per original application (English/Chinese): |
建築遺產保護與研究於香港特區政府2007-08年施政報告實施文物保護政策後逐漸發展成為一個獨特的專業和議題。 自那時開始，文物保育和教育一直在本地發展政策中備受關注。 這項研究將重新審視香港殖民地時期的建築設計，並探討二十世紀初的第一代華人建築師在現代建築和中國傳統文化之間的張力。 二十世紀初的二十、三十年代，一批華人建築師從海外或本地完成建筑或工程學業，紛紛想在香港大展拳腳。他們開始建立自己的設計公司，投入各方面的設計項目，並為一個正在現代化的香港做出巨大的貢獻。 然而，許多學者常視這個時期的香港建築設計較其他中國城市落後，經典的例子包括許多有關上海的研究。學術界近期的新研究及發現 (包括這項研究在內) 會將以前被低估及忽略的香港建築推進一個新的層面和研究角度。本研究將會記錄一些已拆卸的建築物，亦爭取保留一些香港先驅建築師的設計，加上實地考察及訪問，目的是從新審視及調整以往對本地建築歷史的認識及理解。 這項研究將植根於西方和中國學術研究框架，並明確界定二十世紀初期的建築設計如何在西方殖民地建築形式和中國傳統文化之間作出取捨。此研究將改善當前的文化遺產政策，並為香港現代建築的教育工作進一步奠定基礎。 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Realisation of objectives: | The six objectives have been archived within the 30 months project period through research, education and reinterpretation processes; and will be separately discussed respectively in the following. Regarding objective 1, documentation has been done on various local architectural firms from the period of the 1920s to 1950s for understanding the development history of local Hong Kong architecture and the relationships between these architects, social elites and the overall architectural atmosphere in the British colonies at the time including Hong Kong and Malaysia. The project targeted certain significant but relatively unknown and under-researched Chinese architects such as Mr. Kwan Wing Hong and Mr. Chau Iu Nin and comparing their architectures in Hong Kong and abroad. By comparing these architectures, we began to understand when and how modernist architecture was tested in colonies by these young architects creating their own “eclectic”, art deco and modernist styles which embedded their own professional knowledge, own identities, and needs from clients. In order to effectively promote the heritage values of modernist architecture which had been neglected for long in Hong Kong, published articles such as “Self-fashioned Identities: Art Deco Architecture in Hong Kong as Resistance and Empowerment” (Lau 2016) and “Building a modern city: Legacies of residential development and architectural adaptation in colonial Hong Kong” (Lau 2017); a mobile application has also been output to extend the impacts for other professionals, students or even laymen to appreciate these architectures. Regarding objective 2, current heritage policies have been studied alongside conservation cases of modernist architecture like the State Theatre in Hong Kong. This topic is still ongoing and the PI have just submitted another paper (under review) on how to apply sustainable theories into these modernist architectures for the sake of society and safeguarding heritage values. This case and other conservation cases like the Sham Shui Po Public Dispensary and apartments on Prince Edward Road are also examples for the PI’s students to understand heritage values like architectural merits through lectures and guided field trips. The PI also published the article mentioned above for the interpretation and promotion of modernist heritage. In spring 2019, an exhibition on Art Deco was held in the City University of Hong Kong for five months and resources gathered in the project has been transmitted to other universities and the crowd through this exhibition and other guest lectures invited by other professional institutes related to conservation like the Hong Kong Institute of Conservationist (HKICON) and Hong Kong Architecture Centre in 2018. The PI also shared her findings on modernist architecture on mass media like ViuTV in 2017/2019 and in a radio interview on Metro Radio conducted on 2018 commenting on Art Deco architecture. Apart from the output by the PI, students on a heritage-related course led by the PI were also self-motivated to hold a symposium on heritage conservation issues and sustainable development in Hong Kong. It is obvious that the achievements were fruitful and continuous during and after completion of the project. As for objective 3, DOCOMOMO, which the PI was in, actively engaged in the ‘saving’ or grading process of the State Theatre with other local concern groups like Walk-in-Hong-Kong. Until today in June 2019, although the PI is no longer in the association, she still actively commenting on the conservation issues with the State Theatre and reviewing heritage policies of Hong Kong with many other new approaches and theories from sociology, sustainability, and anthropology. With new publications, related conferences and lectures, and exposure on mass media are sharing the knowledge of modern architecture and conservation matters. The connection with professional institutions and heightens awareness to the public is paving the way for better conservation of modernist architecture in the near future. The database has also been formulated for further research and academic use. Although DOCOMOMO had now lost its active in documenting modernist architectures, the database is still useful for academic studies and promoting appreciation on local architectures. Objective 4 of this project aims at analysing the buildings while aligning with discourses on Chinese and Western modern architecture. As mentioned above, this project has conducted research on surviving or even demolished modernist buildings in Hong Kong. The project was able to identify the buildings which evolved from a classical or colonial style to a more simple and modern design, with local elements as well as influences from around the world. Together with the personal biographies of these architects, we are able to read and interpret their works with historic and social timeframes. They are also making sense of the place as extensions of colonial architectures in a very local manner. All those buildings that created new identities and typologies of architecture should all be carefully documented, discussed and mediated to the next generation to appreciate how the society was entangled with the cityscape to act as evidence for a complete Hong Kong historical study. Regarding objective 5, the research methodologies and theoretical frameworks are achieved and also continuous at the same time. As there are many ways to interpret architecture, apart from a traditional aesthetic interpretation, the PI is trying to incorporate other frameworks borrowed from sustainability, history, social science and anthropology into the scene for enriching the understanding for a single heritage. These frameworks are often neglected from the conservation sector that deals with the modernist architecture. The intention of PI is to extend the impact of the project to heritage conservation sector by all the outputs mentioned above for protecting these architectures with not only documentation but also improvements on heritage policies in Hong Kong to truly understand the heritage value. Objective 6 has also been achieved, as twentieth-century Hong Kong architecture in this project was largely reconstructed through public archives rather than interviews with architects’ descendants due to various practical reasons. Nevertheless, in terms of education, it is a huge success as the resources obtained in this project benefited many students from UGC-funded courses and professional institutes on enriching their knowledge on the modernist architectural history of Hong Kong. As mentioned in the research outcome and output section, a number of public lectures and seminars had been done from 2016-2019. A recent "Art Deco exhibition" in which the PI collaborated with City University also took place this year. More importantly, a mobile application named “ARchi HK” combining artificial reality technology and database obtained in this project has been created for the teaching and learning of local heritage. The targeted audience is not only university and local students but the general public, or even tourists. It is hoped that the database can be easily accessed and with a much-prolonged impact. Generally speaking, the objectives have been achieved, while some are continuous and ongoing in hopes of generating other opportunities on further promotion of local modernist architecture and heritage conservation through publications, social engagements, and public activities. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summary of objectives addressed: |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research Outcome | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major findings and research outcome: | The PI has published two articles related to this project: Lau, L.K.P. (2016). Self-fashioned Identities: Art Deco Architecture in Hong Kong as Resistance and Empowerment. Postcolonial Text, 11(3), 1-20, and Lau, L.K.P., Lai, L.W.C. & Ho, C.W. (2018). Quality of life in a “high-rise lawless slum”: a study of the “Kowloon Walled City". Land Use Policy, 76, 157-165. The first publication reveals how certain modern architectural styles, particularly Art Deco style, can be understood both as the imposition of power by the colonizer and the demonstration of resistance of the colonized in early-twentieth-century Hong Kong. The study also demonstrates that the historic buildings of this research are not passive objects but rather subjects that are able to consume the dominating culture to self-fashion and self-represent. Using postcolonial theory, the paper critiqued the dynamics between the dominated-subjugated in colonial Hong Kong with a focus on a local modern Chinese architectural firm Chau & Lee, and concluded that modes of resistance and empowerment can be identified in the colonial built environment in the 1930s-40s. As for the second article, the PI used reliable and publicly available information seldom used in historical or heritage study to identify the designs of flats and builders of the “Kowloon Walled City” and reliable oral testimonies to refute some myths about the quality of life within it. The research confirms the view that the City, although mystified as a horrifying, disorderly-built, and unplanned territory, was in fact a product of un-organised small local builders that are previously unspoken of in local research. The article adopts a ‘quality of life’ model, which has hitherto been limited to medical and social, rather than historical or anthropological, studies, to evaluate how design and housing satisfaction affected the Walled City residents’ quality of life. An Art Deco exhibition was also one of the major research outcome of this project. Collaborating with City University Exhibition Gallery, the exhibition “Art Deco: The France-China Connection” reveals the history of Art Deco in China, and of the reciprocal influences between French and Chinese artists and architects. The PI was able to contribute in the architectural section of Hong Kong and a catalogue was also published with the PI’s research in a chapter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Potential for further development of the research and the proposed course of action: |
The project has already led to a Teaching Development Grant funded from within her University to produce a digital and innovative mobile app and an online learning platform for heritage education, as well as an Art Deco exhibition “Art Deco: The France-China Connection”, collaborating with City University that just took place from March to July this year. There are many more future development prospects of this project, and for instance the PI has also already submitted a GRF application to study Art Deco and modern theatres/ cinema buildings and culture in Hong Kong. The PI is currently engaged in a book project together with colleagues from EdUHK on Architecture and early Hong Kong education in the Central & Western district. It is targeted to be published by next July for the HK Book Fair, by Chung Hwa Book Company, and will be a book for the general public to understand more about the early beginnings of Hong Kong education via the lens of architecture, politics, history and urban landscape. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Layman's Summary of Completion Report: | The project not only focuses on the research of modern architecture and Chinese architects in Hong Kong, but also has a special focus on heritage education. The project has resulted in journal publications to further understand about local modern architecture using e.g. a theoretical and postcolonial perspective, as well as public exhibitions, seminars, media and televised interviews and public talks to engage the general public further and spread the significance of modern architecture and its conservation. Currently the PI is also working on improving the local heritage policy on conserving these historic buildings and has completed writing another journal manuscript, as well as a book publication on historic buildings such as schools. From field trips to mobile apps and online learning platforms, both university students and the general public were and will continue to be able to benefit from this project, enabling and guiding them to learn about the historic buildings outside of the classroom environment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research Output | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peer-reviewed journal publication(s) arising directly from this research project : (* denotes the corresponding author) |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recognized international conference(s) in which paper(s) related to this research project was/were delivered : |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other impact (e.g. award of patents or prizes, collaboration with other research institutions, technology transfer, etc.): |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Realisation of the education plan: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SCREEN ID: SCRRM00542 |