Development: Land Reclamation in Central by ARCH2058

Development:

Central

中環 ARCH2058 Modern Architecture ASSIGNMENT 3: GUIDEBOOK

| Fall 2021

Development: Land Reclamation in Central Chung Hei Matthew Wong (3035664817) Wei Alex Lin (3035767554) Yu Chung Yiu (3035581417)

1 Pottinger Street

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4 Central Pier

3 City Hall

2 Hong Kong Club

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Ping Shan, Sheung Wan, Choono Wan, Ha Wan, Wang Hai, Bowrington and Soo Kun Poo during the 1880s. Th shaded areas along the coast were planned for reclamation after the typhoon in 1874. Plan 2 ( 59 2004 )

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Plan 1 and Plan 2 showed the City of Victoria which was divided into 9 districts, Shek Tong Tusi, Sei Ying Poon, May 2008

Ping Shan, Sheung Wan, Choono Wan, Ha Wan, Wang Hai, Bowrington and Soo Kun Poo during the 1880s. T shaded areas along the coast were planned for reclamation after the typhoon in 1874.

Reclamation in Central The built environment along Hong Kong’s first CBD area is enriched with a long history of development and urbanisation. Amidst the change of various contextual focuses throughout time, the expansion of the coastline towards Victoria Harbour was a constant requirement instilled in every expansionary scheme. This process of reclamation, has therefore, accomadated many modern renewals during each contextual change through the period of 200 years. Hence, in this walking trail, past and present coastlines will be used as a temporal indicator and a guideline to highlight the development of modernisation in the Central region of Hong Kong.

1 Pottinger Street Pottinger Street, also know as the Stone Slab Street, is a traditional pedestrian street with a long history in Central. It was paved by stone slabs for people to climb up. In the 19th century, the street was a rough boundary between the residential areas for Chinese and Europeans. It is now listed as a Grade I historic building.

2 The Hong Kong Club

The Hong Kong Club was established in 1846, and it was referred to simply as “The Club”. Its members include government officials and merchant elites. There were three generations of Hong Kong Club Building. The first generation was at Wyndham Street, the second was a four-storey building built in 1897, while the current is a 22-storey building built in 1984.

3 Hong Kong City Hall Hong Kong City Hall is a building located at Edinburgh Place in Central. It is a complex providing citizens with multiple services such as leisure, dining, and libraries. The first City Hall was built in 1869 and was demolished in 1933, while the current City Hall was built in the 1950s

4 Central Ferry Piers The Central Ferry Piers are situated on the northeast part of Central. It has 10 ferries, each provides different services such as governmental ferry and public ferry. The current piers were built in the 1990s and early 2000s due to the Central Reclamation Project. The previous piers were demolished and relocated in order to make way for the reclaimed land.

Codification and Development Chung Hei, Wong Initially, Hong Kong’s topographical nature was a deterrent to extensive urbanisation. Its geographical features display “sharp and frequent spatial variations within a short distance.” (Ho, 2004, Pg.13) Its highland areas are dispersed in various localities and are not concentrated in any particular region on the island, conversely, limited lowland areas only frequented along coastlines on both northern and southern shores. The need for reclamation throughout Hong Kong’s history became an attractive policy for legislators to bring about modernisation within their respective times - with the core theme of modernisation expanding towards the sub-themes of colonisation, demarcation, development, expansion and preservation. The investigation into these themes is captured through highlighting codification and legislature in each context, prompted by the chronological expan-

sion of the coastline along the Central area. In the 1840s the rapid need for development was prompted by a population boom, according to the “1841 population census, 2000 and 1200 Chinese lived in Aberdeen and Shau Kei Wan respectively - equivalent to 43 per cent of the total population of 7,450” (Ho, 2004, Pg.17) at the time. To alleviate the lack of space, the grounds near Victoria Harbour presented as an opportune environment for development as the coastline not only accommodated for livable space but it also is a geographic location that served as an ideal geographical location for economic, political and military activities as a “natural typhoon shelter was formed by Victoria Peak in the south and the Kowloon Peninsula in the north” (Ho, 2004, Pg.17) during the typhoon season and the tread depth of waters off the shoreline fully met the mooring requirements of sea going vessels. In 1843, the Queen’s government had es-

tablished the post of Surveyor General to oversee the erection of both city and port (Ho, 2004, Pg.18). Land developed north of Queen’s Road West had been appointed solely for military, government and economic operations housing notably The Hong Kong Club and City Hall, whereas land in the south was to be built as a residential district for both expatriate and Chinese populations. As a method to speed up development the first government sanctioned land auctions went ahead in June 1841 with the intention of increasing foreign investments in the area. Auctioning was gazetted into four different lot types including: Marine, Town, Suburban and Bazaar, where three out of four lots were designated for expatriates and government entities whereas Bazaars were for Chinese settlement. This process of auctioning would be adopted as a method of land distribution of newly reclaimed areas in future development projects and laid the groundwork for the Sale of Land by Auction Ordinance 1867.

The colonial government’s deliberate segregation of the Chinese community was performed in all levels of legislature after the colonial foothold of the entrepot along Victoria Harbour was complete. Originally, the 1841 land development policy was formulated with the intention of using urban planning as a method of demarcating the Chinese community. Plots such as the Upper and Lower Bazaars were exclusively marked out for Chinese people and specific streets had acted as rough boundaries that separate Bazaars from other Town and Suburban plots. Pottinger Street was one of the first rough boundaries that hinted at early demarcation processes, as expatriates mainly resided on the east side of the street and Chinese residents resided along the west. As the success of the entrepot had flourished below the initial street boundary of Queen’s Road Central, land space in the Central area was in high demand and the “colonial government had decided to alter the original plans marked on the land development policy in 1841” (Ho, 2004,

Pg.44) and seized 1.5 acres of land in the Upper Bazaar which would then be turned into a European commercial zone. This action was coupled with an executive order: 1841 Relocation of the Chinese to Tai Ping Shan and Tacit Segregation by contract (W.C.Lai, 2011) as a means to force Chinese merchants with legal precedent and consent to vacate the premises effectively creating a business district that was strictly reserved for expatriates. Further measures were put in place in the next 40 years to prevent the indegineous Chinese population from intruding on occupied European territories “by inserting 7 certain exclusionary terms into the Crown lease that governed leasehold interests sold to individuals.” (W.C.Lai, 2011) Housing restrictions regarding the “rate and range” clause (Hong Kong SAR, 2021) or now known as the “design, deposition and height” clause (Lands Department HKSAR, 2021), were introduced as a method to conserve the characteristics of buildings that tend towards the liking of the European

class. (W.C.Lai, 2011) The addition of statutory zoning measures were implemented by 1864 as a method for excluding Chinese people from public spaces around European controlled areas that later culminated in restriction at private housing districts. (W.C.Lai, 2011) The early stages of Hong Kong’s colonialist development has both seen codification being influenced and was used as a medium of influence. Initial developmental schemes like auctioning plots has created precedence for legislature to oversee the distribution of plot area in a legal manner that has been implemented in fairly distributing newly reclaimed land to developers in Hong Kong today, conversely, codification has been used to influence early developmental and urbanisation schemes during the 19th century. Though regulations and orders have been created by urbanisation and development schemes, codification has also been incorporated impartially as a catalyst for discrimination against the Chinese population during the

19th century. In this perspective, the modernisation of Hong Kong through development and codification during the 19th century has led to ramifications felt by the colonised population of Hong Kong, where unfair treatment of Chinese merchants and residents has led to a disproportionate amount of economic opportunity for the expatriate community. Rapid urbanization and development in the 20th century had seen a profound expansion of reclaimed territory in the Central area. The Territory Wide Development Strategy was implemented to address the population boom and deficient land reserves with a goal of expanding and exploiting additional land and sea resources to spur continuing economic development with the aim of inducing urbanisation and industrial development in areas like Kowloon and the New Territories. Under the umbrella of the Territory Wide Development Strategy, two projects stood at the top priority in the mid-1980s, one being the West Kowloon reclamation

work and the second being the Central-Wan Chai reclamation works with the estimation of accommodating a 900,000 people capacity business district. (Ho, 2004, Pg.203) The Central-Wan Chai reclamation project was the main focus of the government during the 1990s, improvements regarding transportation and public spaces, most noticeably streamlining the connection between the Central business district with the airport, was at the heart of the project. Other developments such as the “reprovisioning of piers, cooling water pump houses, and other facilities” (S3 Central and Wan Chai Reclamation, 2021) were in need of replacement in the new area. A total of 25.3 hectares of land was reclaimed during the period between 1993 and 1998 to accommodate these facilities. (S3 Central and Wan Chai Reclamation, 2021) As this project continued, an ordinance regarding the conservation of Victoria Harbour was proposed by the Society for Protection of the Harbour in 1996. This propo-

sition was aimed to prevent the destruction of the Victoria Harbour shoreline from further reclamation with the intention of preventing loss of habitat and landscape destruction, air and water pollution and to promote harbour safety. By the end of 1998, the group had persuaded the government to enact the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance which states: “The harbour is to be protected and preserved as a special public asset and a natural heritage of Hong Kong people, and for that purpose there shall be a presumption against reclamation in the harbour” [section 3 (1)]. (Legislative Council HKSAR, 2004) The rapid infrastructural development and the modernisation of the coastal front has drawn parallels with the initial growth scheme predicated in Hong Kong’s development history, however, at this junction, economic growth and expansion was not well received by public opinion and had led to the paradigm shift from development to social and communal well-being along the wa-

terfront. In this context, modernism is not closely associated with development and expansion, but rather the understanding of modernism can be related to accommodating a culture’s identity through preservation, where the coastline and its amenities present greater social value than economic value. Codification through reclamation and development have aided the modernisation of the Central area throughout Hong Kong’s history. Legislations and ordinances have the ability to push forward rapid modernisation through breaking down barriers, however, consequences of such proactive legislation have led to instances where segregation and discrimination surfaced within society. Constrastingly, codification also has a profound positive effect on realising the contemporary values of the people through instances of preservation.

Notes

1. Ho, P., 2004. Challenges for an evolving city. Hong Kong: Commercial Press. 2. W.C.Lai, L., 2011. Discriminatory Zoning in Hong Kong: A review of the post-war literature and some further evidence for an economic theory of discrimination. 3. Hong Kong SAR, 2021. Part 4: Introduction to the Land Registration System, Land Search and Property-related Information Systems. Hong Kong. 4. Lands Department HKSAR, 2021. Design, Disposition and Height Clause under Lease (Site Coverage). Hong Kong. 5. Cedd.gov.hk. 2021. S3 Central and Wan Chai Reclamation. [online] Available at: <https://www.cedd.gov. hk/eng/about-us/achievements/land/regional-development/s3-central-and-wan-chai-reclamation/index.html> [Accessed 22 December 2021]. 6. Legislative Council HKSAR, 2004. Protection of the Harbour Ordinance. P.2.

A Glimpse of Modern Development From The Reclamation in Central Wei, Lin The reclamation of land from the ocean was always a way to expand land supply in Hong Kong for history. Some major land reclamation projects can be traced back to the mid19th century [1]. Among all the reclamation projects, the reclamation in Central gradually expanded the land of Central to Victoria Harbour. Further project called The Central Reclamation Project also started since 1993 with three phases [2]. During this process, various influences and changes occurred: Some buildings were demolished or moved from its original site, some facilities were renewed, while some buildings and infrastructure were constructed. In this essay, I will talk about some modern developments in Central that happened along with its reclamation through analysis of four sites (Pottinger Street, The Hong Kong Club, Hong Kong City Hall, and Central Ferry Piers).

The first site that I would analyze is the Pottinger Street. The Pottinger Street was once a pedestrian street going up alongside the hills from Queen’s Road Central to Hollywood Road. There were slopes and steps on the street, while the steps were made of huge stone slab. This leads to the other name of Pottinger Street: Stone Slab Street. However, the reclamation projects expanded the land to the north of the street, ended up in extending the original Pottinger Street. This made the Pottinger Street now starts from Connaught Road Central to Hollywood Road. As the street goes from south to north, many changes and modern developments can be revealed. Firstly, the original part of the street (from Queen’s Road Central to Hollywood Road) is only a pedestrian street, while the part extended after the reclamation (from Connaught Road Central to Queen’s Road Central) is a roadway. This shows both the development

of transportation and the demand of a better traffic system. To be more specific, as motor vehicles are invented, the construction of new roadways would bring higher efficiency and convenience to both citizens and society. In this case, it is the new technology (vehicles) that stimulates the demand and development of modern infrastructure construction. Secondly, as the Pottinger Street goes from the south to the north, from the old part to the new part, differences are also shown from the roads crossing by. Hollywood Road, Wellington Street, and Stanley Street are a bit too narrow as roads for two vehicles and are always crowded, while Queen’s Road Central is a standard road for two vehicles. Going further north, both Des Voeux Road Central and Connaught Road Central can allow six vehicles to go through in parallel. This means that as the reclamation goes on and time goes by, the number of vehicles increased. Therefore, the demand of wider roads occurred and further constructions were carried out.

Thirdly, the differences of the stores along the street reveals the history of development. In the south of the Pottinger Street, there are many hawker stalls on both sides of the stone slabs. Hawker stalls were there since mid19th century, while the only changes were their outlook. The hawker stalls were initially wooden structures, and throughout history they were gradually changed to steel boxes. With the electricity, hawker stall owners can have sufficient light and various devices. This shows the development of both materials and technology. In addition, as the street goes from the south to the north, more skyscrapers and fashion stores occur, while the amount of hawker stalls gradually decreases. This actually reflects the changes of individuals’ taste and pursuit of goods. Since more and more people prefer going to new stores, hawker stalls are gradually vanishing and becoming a symbol of traditional elements [3]. The second site that I would analyze is the

Hong Kong Club. The Hong Kong club was a club for the rich, which was set up by British merchants. After its relocation in 1897, it is now located in Jackson Road [4]. Before the reclamation projects, the Hong Kong Club was next to the sea and had a clear view of the surroundings since there were no tall buildings around. However, after the land reclamation, the original sea was reclaimed and constructed as a wide road way which is Connaught Road Central. It allows three cars going in parallel in each side. An underground pedestrian tunnel was also built for passengers to cross through the roads. As the development of technology makes it possible to build an underground tunnel for passengers, the traffic would no longer slow down or be influenced by passengers. This reflects the demand of high-speed and large-volume traffic system. In addition, skyscrapers and tall buildings such as CCB Tower and AIA Central gradually arose after the reclamation projects. Several public gardens were also constructed around these buildings. This also shows the

public demand of both working space and urban green space. As time goes by, people were no longer satisfied with the previous facilities and new demands then gradually arose. The third site that I would analyze is the Hong Kong City Hall. The original City Hall was built next to Queen’s Road Central in 1896 and was relocated at Edinburgh Place in 1962. It is a complex providing different services such as dining, performance area, and libraries. Near the City Hall is a car park called Star Ferry Multi-storey Car Park. Being the first multi-storey car park in Hong Kong, it can provide 370 car parking area [5]. This reflects the fact that more and more people were owning cars and the demand of car parking was increasing. However, although the Star Ferry Multi-Storey Car Park still remains, the Star Ferry Pier no longer exists due to the reclamation. The Star Ferry Pier was initially at the cross over between Ice House Street and the Connaught Road Central, and moved to Ed-

inburgh Place due to the Central Reclamation Project in 1950s. Influenced by the Central Reclamation Project Phase III, the Star Ferry Pier was demolished in 2006. This also shows both the advantages and disadvantages that reclamation might bring. Although more land can be achieved, the changes of the topography would result in relocation or even demolition of some buildings and facilities. The fourth site that I would analyze is the Central Ferry piers. Serving different parties such as the government, different companies, and the public, it is located on the northeast part of Central. There are 10 piers which were all built in the 1990s and early 2000s due to the reclamation project. As an example, the Star Ferry Pier mentioned about was relocated in the Central Piers as Pier 7 and 8 in 2006. Among the 10 piers, many are piers relocated from other places. However, as the development and construction of infrastructure goes on, more tunnels, MTR stations and roads were built, the importance and need for

public ferry service gradually decreases. This leads to the close down of some services and the reconsideration of the usage of the Central Piers. As a result, stores and other facilities were added into the Central Piers, while the Central and Western District Promenade was constructed as a public venue connecting the Central Piers with the Tamar Park [6]. This shows the fact that as technology and society develop, some facilities or buildings might gradually become out-of-date because they no longer satisfy people’s need. To avoid being demolished, one solution is to reconsider its function and reshape itself by fitting people’s demand. In conclusion, throughout the history of land reclamation in Central, construction and demolition were always the key components. Generations of different buildings were made within the construction and demolition, witnessing the history and development not only in Central, but also in Hong Kong. However, if we take a closer look, we can find that all

these developments of buildings and infrastructures were based on people’s changing demands. From a pedestrian street to a road way, from a ferry pier to a plaza, from hawker stalls to fashion shops…… All buildings follow one rule: serving its function according to the current need. In this sense, modern development is the architectural respond to both individuals’ demand and the resources that the society can provide. It is difficult and unrealistic for a building to be unchanged. This is because people’s and society’s demand would change due to the development of all aspects such as technology and policies. As a reflection from the analysis, I think no matter a building is kept, renewed, relocate, or demolished, it has already witnessed the history and development of a region.

Notes

1. Abstracted from Tab 2: The changes in the areas of Victoria Port and the lands built by filling seas. Luo, Zhangren. “An Analysis of Hong Kong Reclamation and Its Effect.” Acta Geographica Sinica 52, no. 3 (1997): 220-27. 2. Lands and Planning, The Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. “Development Bureau Central, Wan Chai and South East Kowloon Development Projects.” https://www.reclamation.gov.hk/en/basic/ plans_and_maps/project/ 3. “The government is trying to only conserve the Stone Slab Street while the hawker stalls on both sides might be demolished.” Huang, Weijun. “164 年石板街保育或拆攤檔.” https://web.archive.org/ web/20171003175037/http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/ news/art/20090504/12714238 4. Cavaliero, Eric. “Hong Kong Club Members succumbed to redevelopment offer.” The Standard, 13 February 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/20150527061132/http:// www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_ id=26618&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19970213&sear_ year=1997 5. Transport Department. “Government car parks managed by Transport Department.”https://web.archive.org/ web/20181025044830/https://www.td.gov.hk/en/ transport_in_hong_kong/parking/carparks/gov_car_ parks_managed_by_td/index.html

6. Leisure and Cultural Services Department. “Introduction of Central and Western District Promenade (Central Section).”https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/parks/cwdpc/index. html

The Hong Kong Club: A Monument of Power and Prestige Chung Yiu, Yu The focus of the following essay is an investigation into how isolative and invasive colonial architecture can be, when its sole purpose was to display power and prestige, while also elaborating on the obsolescence of such establishments in the post-colonial age of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Club is chosen to be the enquiry subject matter, which the evolution of its generations is to be discussed along with its relevancy to modernism itself. The origin of the club dates back to as early as 1841, when British traders initiated the Hong Kong Club by modelling after the gentlemen clubs [1] that were growing more prevalent in Britain and other colonial continents. The urge to ‘import’ an important aspect of British culture into a colony at the time implies a clear need to impose hierarchy and class between the colonizer and the colonized. The

first generation of the club, located around the corner of Wyndham Street and Queen’s Road, was often known as the apex of social and prestigious life for British expatriates. At the peak of the club, it was once known as ‘the principal club of China’ at the late 1890s, as it grew to become the centre of colonial lifestyles on the China coast. The club consisted of 891 members around the time of 1891, which majority of its members are composed of British colonizer at the time. Due to limited spatial qualities in the first generation of the Club, which was a 3-storey classically built European architecture, the second generation was built in a new location that is closer to the shoreline at Jefferson Road over the first reclamed land on Hong Kong Island. Despite of being a 5-story tall building that were symmetrical, it was placed right in front of the Statue of Queen Victoria, right next to the coastline which glorified the Victorian reign over the colony. The building was clearly an imitation of the late Victorian Style [2],

which was then the most relevant architectural phenomenon in Britain from 1837-1901. Therefore, it was made clear that the building was an foreign design that was meant to be a monument, which excludes any possible initiatives to blend into the actual social state at the time, where the existence of the Club was only built for the prestigious and aloof to the common. Although there were changes and minor alterations towards the classic Victorian style of roofs, wooden shutters and verandahs in order to conduct ventilation more efficiently in the tropical context of Hong Kong, the distinction between classes, race and sex was only intensified through the means of architecture. Substantially, ever since population started booming in the early 1900s, the Club faced an insurmountable number of pushbacks throughout the years. One of the most notable protest, had to be the time when Governor Sir Cecil Clementi, who reigned from 1925-1930, bashed the club for being overly

exclusive, which he suggested “to abolish the Hong Kong Club, that holy of colonial holies, and replacing it with a club open to membership of all races” [3]. Furthermore, the organization was heavily criticized due to its sexually discriminative nature of memberships selections. The level of modernity was lacking ironically, in terms of equality of rights between sexes, which women was only allowed to become a member until 1996, while the decision was clearly influenced by the Sexual Discrimination Ordinance that came to force the same year. It can be put into judgement that throughout the years, the committees of the Club stood on a rather conservative stance towards modernity itself, not only in terms of architectural reinvention, but also in the means of social constructs. Towards the end of the sixties, the Modernist Movement started to strike Hong Kong. Functionalism and pragmatism became the fore frontal considerations when it came to providing architectural solutions. In the

meantime, in spite of rising land prices and the lack of maintenance within the building, which a spokesman from Palmer and Turner architectural firm [4] claimed that it would crumble like cards if leaned on heavily, took around a decade for the Club to be sold and bought by Messrs AS Watson and Company. Finally, under numerous meetings and motions between the board, heritage experts and the Hong Kong Land Department, the outdated Victorian-Style building was to be demolished in 1981. The demolition of the Hong Kong club was often known as the fall of the last Victorian building that also glorified the triumph of the modernist era, by giving a closure to the transactional period from the British-oriented styles to the globally applied modernistic style. The third generation, which is currently built on top of the original site, holds a completely different view and design. Designed by Australian Austrian-born architect Harry Seidler [5], the building is a 21-storey building which

features standardized horizontal glass-panelled windows, where a curved façade and entrance cantilever can be seen from the outside. The building is definitely a derivative of a modernist architecture, due to its nature of free plans and column-free structure. The material that became a driver in the design of the building is masonry, which became a prominent material selection in modernist or post-modernist era of architecture. Within the newly composited club, four podium floors were to be used as dining spaces and leisure places for members, where the 17 floors above them are to be kept for normal office use. Despite the unchanged location of the Club’s third generation, it no longer stands next to the shoreline, due to extensive reclamation which stopped at 1978. Although the Club is no longer having the advantage of a full-scale harbour view, as it is surrounded by the Post World War Memorial and parks, the geographical settings still rids the building of being blocked by skyrocketing skyscrapers, in which selected members can still enjoy parts

of the harbour if they are high enough inside the building. However, despite the demolition of the old building, the membership selection system remained mostly status quo, except for the part which females are allowed to become a member. “Its members includes government officials and the heads of major trading firms, and it was referred to simply as ‘The Club’” [6] remains the reputation that the Club gives off to the public, which the building only serves as a monumental gathering space for the rich and powerful, which the organisation does not represent even the crème of society, since it is too dissociated with the general public. Even until 2007, the club contains 1,400 members, of which expatriates occupies around 70% of the membership quotas. The ever-standing Club never fell short on controversies. Recently, during a legislative council meeting regarding the continuation of the land’s rental lease, Councillor Tse Wai-

chun raised a question on whether or not the establishment is anyway relevant to the society in modern times. He argued that after the handover of Hong Kong to China, the colonial establishment has lost its value and position in this post-colonial times, and that a British imposed facility shall no loner be reflective of the current societal situation. He furthermore stated that the facilities inside the club should be open to the public and to different races, thereby raising the doubts on whether such establishment and what it stands for is out of fashion. As ironic as it might be, this statement is reminiscent of the critique Governor Sir Cecil Clementi had nearly a century ago. The Hong Kong Club is such a fascinating case study as it holds so much contradictions in one establishment through a societal lens. On one hand, it witnesses the metamorphosis of Hong Kong tracing back to as early as the beginning of colonization, whereas on the other hand, the building is a tool to exhibit authority and power. Despite the con-

stant argument of whether the demolition of the Victorian building was a loss of cultural heritage, the old and the new building is seen to be strongly dissociative and isolated of the surrounding society, in which the building often acts only a monument for the rich to flex and boast their power. I would argue that the Hong Kong Club is a stubborn resistor against modernism, since modernism was meant to provide a better living for the society as a whole, instead of a mere niche, not to mention the loss of the building’s integral meaning and representation in Hong Kong ever since the Handover. The investigation into the invasive nature of the Hong Kong Club is perhaps a revelation towards architectural designs in the future, that its primary objective is to serve the society, instead of merely being a monument of power.

Footnotes

1. A gentlemen’s club is a private social club of a type originally set up by men from Britain’s upper classes in the 18th and succeeding centuries. 2. Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century 3. Quote taken from Hong Kong: Epilogue to an Empire, written by Jan Morris 4. Palmer and Turner is an architectural firm in Hong Kong. It is one of the oldest architectural and engineering firms in the world 5. Harry Seidler is a leading Australian architect who was a key advocate of Modernism and Bauhaus design. 6. Quote taken from the official website of the Hong Kong Club

Endnotes 1. Cunich, Peter, and Vaudine England. Journal of the Royal 2. 3. 4. 5.

Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch 57 (2017): 247–50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/90013959 England, Vaudine. Kindred Spirits: A History of the Hong Kong Club. Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Club, 2016. Cavaliero, Eric. “Hong Kong Club Members Succumbed to Redevelpment Offer.” Olympic News, February 13, 1997. Vines, Stephen. “The Other Handover.” TIME. September 30, 2007. 周禮希.“去殖化？謝偉俊質疑香港會不合時宜倡換地政府：業權人不會放棄.” 香港01. 香港01, September 29, 2021. https://www.hk01. com/%E6%94%BF%E6%83%85/682701/%E5%8E%BB%E6%A E%96%E5%8C%96-%E8%AC%9D%E5%81%89%E4%BF%8A%E8 %B3%AA%E7%96%91%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E6%9C%83%E 4%B8%8D%E5%90%88%E6%99%82%E5%AE%9C%E5%80%A1% E6%8F%9B%E5%9C%B0-%E6%94%BF%E5%BA%9C-%E6%A5% AD%E6%AC%8A%E4%BA%BA%E4%B8%8D%E6%9C%83%E6%94 %BE%E6%A3%84.

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The Modern Architecture Guidebook Hong Kong’s built environment represents a unique site of inquiry in the global history of the Modern Movement. The Modern Architecture guidebook series draw from an inter-disciplinary toolkit of knowledge, references, and field studies to understand the processes at work in the built environment. Each walking tour in the series begins with one of the 98 MTR stations in Hong Kong as the meeting point. First opened in 1979, this modernist infrastructure has produced a city rationalized around transportoriented development. Organized around key themes (industrialization, colonization, environment, internationalization, migration, decolonization, counterculture, and globalization), the guidebooks present a critical yet open perspective towards the implications of large-scale modernist schemes on the environment and community.