Development: Tong Lau in Mong Kok by ARCH2058

DEVELOPMENT:

Mong Kok

旺角唐楼 ARCH2058 Modern Architecture ASSIGNMENT 3: GUIDEBOOK

| Fall 2021

Development: Tong Lau in Mong Kok LIN Mengfei 3035799155 WANG Qianhui 3035770719 ZHANG Yifan 3035772810

Lui Seng Chun

1 Sports Field Street

Nathan Rd

618 Shanghai Street

Langham Place

Mongkok Station

A Tour of Veranda Tong Lau

Starting from Mong Kok station exit C2, we first went to Shanghai Street. 14 conected veranda, from 600 to 626 Shanghai Street, formed a beautiful street view. The facade is well remained while the back of the buildings are new. Then we came to 1 Sports Field Street, currently a seafood store. It has step-back facade due to government regulation. Walking across Lai Chi Kok Road, we finally met Lui Seng Chun. This triangular building is located at the corner of Lai Chi Kok Road and Tong Mei Road. Veranda is a type of Chinese tenement house (Tong Lau) appeared in the modern movement in Hong Kong. These sites were built in different times. They guided us to the whole development process of Tong Lau.

618 Shanghai Street 618 Shanghai Street Tong Lau group is located on 600-626 Shanghai Street. Most of these buildings were built in the 1920s while some were built in the 1960s. They are listed as Grade 2 historic buildings in Hong Kong. The Tong Lau group started to be revitalized in 2008 and finished in 2019. The long facade facing Shanghai Street is well preserved and refurbished, reviving the signboards and the doors. The interior of the building group is now connected and became a shopping center with fancy stores.

1 Sports Ground Road This building locates on 1 Sports Ground Road, Mongkok. It was Listed as a thirdclass historical building on January 22, 2010. Besides the pillars on ground floor as the symbol of Arcades, higher floors move back with a huge volume of first floor made the building representative as a modern architecture. This Arcade is well protected and regarded as one of the closest to the original appearance. The building had been rent to guests for many years. The owner had once promised never to increase the rent. Therefore, the rent is still low until today.

Lui Seng Chun Lui Seng Chun is located at the junction of Lai Chi Kok Road and Tong Mei Road, and the curved facade of the building was specially designed to accommodate the narrow corner at the junction of the road. It was built in 1931 with four storey. The ground floor is used as clinic and medicine shop and the upper floors are used as residential space, which shows the characteristic of “living above a store”. Typical veranda is also used to block rains and sunlight and expand the residential space at the same time. The facade of the building is exquisitely designed in classical Italian style.

A O M EI R G N TO

COURTYARD

SHARED WALL WITH ANOTHER BUILDING

LAI CHI KOK ROAD

VERANDA

Local Forces behind the Development of the Tong Lau Yifan, ZHANG

Tong Lau, or “Chinese Building”, a common mixed-used housing type similar to the shophouse in many colonial cities in Southeast Asia.1 Before the mass construction of public estates, almost all Hong Kong residents, were residents of Tong Lau,2 so it is a nonnegligible part of modern architecture. This essay will focus on the local force behind the forming and development of Tong Lau, which include the history of population, building technology and materials, economy, law and so on. Increasing population is one of the local

forces behind the development of Tong Lau. After the opening of Hong Kong’s port in about 1840, the population of Hong Kong soared as a large number of people came to seek opportunities, which exacerbated the shortage of housing. So Tong Lau, which is narrow and long with about two or three stories, appeared.3During the second civil war between 1946 to 1949, because Hong Kong was less turbulent, people from mainland China escaped to Hong Kong, and the population of Hong Kong soared again.4 According to the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance in 1903, Tong Lau is any domestic building constructed, used, or adapted to be used for human habitation by more than one tenant.5 As a result, many tenement houses are used as sublets, usually at least into the headroom with veranda (which is more extensive and well-lit), middle room, and rear room. In many cases, attics will be set up on every floor and even on the shared kitchen or toilet for rental. And sometimes they subdivide rooms into beds or even put beds

in corridors for people to sleep.6According to the official estimate, 25 adults and ten children can live in one Tong Lau, but Ms. Ng estimates the actual number can reach 40.7While Western houses are separated into rooms for different functions like living room, dining room, and bedroom when it was built, it is hard to re-separate the house for rent.8 Also, with the increasing population and the development of build technology, the storey of Tong Lau grows from 2 in the 1840s to 6 in the 1950s. Building technology and building material are another reason for Tong Lau’s development. At first, most of the beams and floors of the Tong Houses are made of Chinese fir.9 As the longest fir is 4 to 5 meters in length, most early tang houses were only 4 to 5 meters in width. The depth of the early tang houses was about 9 to 18 meters, so they look narrow and long. And because of the use of bricks for the wall, the house always has only two or three stories.10 This is the

first generation of Tong Lau in Hong Kong. The second generation of Tong Lau still used traditional materials and techniques, but the storey reached 4. Also, western cement and reinforced concrete construction techniques have been introduced to construct terraces. Later in the 1930s, building houses with reinforced concrete became a mature and economical construction technology, so the third generation was built with concrete wholly. The fourth generation reached sixstory.11 However, they are the last generation of Tong Lau in Hong Kong because high-rise buildings completely replaced them in the early 1960s. The development of Tong House shows a close connection to the local economy. Compared with western houses, Tong Lau can also be used for business activities on the first floor, so it is called “shophouse” somewhere, implying the proportion of Hong Kong residents engaged in business. Until now, we can still see many composite

buildings following this idea of “living above a store,” in addition to residential usage. These buildings’ general commercial uses include hotels, hospitals, beauty salons, massage parlors, fitness centers, etc.12 The first generation of Tong Lau followed the typical design of the house in the coastal cities of South China, which were simple and pragmatic, with no apparent aesthetic style, reflecting the economic situation of the Hong Kong society at that time. With the development of the local economy, the third generation of Tong Lau started to be designed by architects to show the architectural aesthetic style clearly. Lui Seng Chun is an example of the third generation of tenement houses built of reinforced concrete, with a mix of Classical Revivalism and Art Decoration styles.13 After the Second World War, Hong Kong’s economy recovered in the early 1950s, and the fourth generation of Tong Lau began to develop. This generation adopted practical and functional modernist design or the Bauhaus style in response to

Hong Kong’s post-war economic constraints.14 The local environment is also a fundamental reason for Tong Lau’s development. For example, the material used in the first generation of Tong Lau includes wood and bricks instead of stones. This response to the fact that ancient Chinese architecture uses more wood and bricks while ancient western architecture uses more stones. This is because there are many forests in China, and wood can be used to build or make a fire to bake bricks.15 Another example is that in response to the outbreak of the Great Plague in 1894, the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance in 1903 sets out that two Tong Laus should not be built back-to-back, but there should be a back alley not less than 6 feet wide between them, and the interior space is required to have enough windows toward outside space to meet the requirements of natural lighting and air circulation.16 Icon of Tong Lau, terrace and arcade, are also designed for the subtropical area for ventilation and rain or

sunlight protection. There was another policy do something on higher Tong Laus, that is the law about street shadowing17 introduced by the British government in the Buildings (Planning) Regulations of Hong Kong in 1969 to ensure daylight and ventilation in the streets. To avoid breaking the law, some Tong Laus like 1 Sport Field Street have step-back facade. Local icons like air-conditioners, clothes hangers, and shop signs on the house facade are also shown on the Tong Laus. It seems that every residential building in Hong Kong will get these “medals” on them because of the limited residential area.18 The original facade is also full of local characteristics. There are mainly four kinds of facades used on Tong Lau in Hong Kong: flat, sunken terrace, cantilevered terrace, and arcade.19 Arcade is supported by columns, while the terrace is without columns. Both

of them are referred to as Ki Lau in Hong Kong. Footpaths belong to the government. However, to gain more space, some people came up with adding an extension structure in front of the building and supporting it with two columns underneath. And 1930 became the heyday of arcades because of the development of reinforced concrete. When the house is located at the corner, the arcade area becomes larger, and Lei Shengchun even has the magic effect that the arcade area is larger than the original part. At that time, the view of the government was that arcades were a public service that provided shelter from rain and shade for pedestrians, and there was also a need for housing due to the post-war population explosion. Therefore, the government adopted a tolerant attitude and allowed owners to build arcades without paying a premium for land. According to the current legislation, an existing arcade that requires structural modification (such as houses used for revitalization) should not be sealed by windows, and Lui Seng Chun is the

only one who is exempt.20 Nowadays, when we walk on the street in Hong Kong, we can always see some architecture with structures extending from the sidewalk. However, because of the laws and the improvement of build technology, most of them have this structure from the fourth floor or higher and with no feet anymore, which means the function of protecting people from sunlight and rainwater has disappeared, while the idea of saving space is still valuable. We can also see scaffolds and dust-proof nets set on the street, which looks like Qi Lau to some extend because it allows passengers to walk through. Ki Lau is one of the characteristics of Hong Kong Tong Lau, but it is often classified as Guangzhou Ki Lau. Some architectural historians concluded Ki Lau is a local production of Hong Kong. Manli Lam and Xinyuan Wong argue that the Guangzhou Ki Lau were generally thought to have emerged

in the 1920s, but they found photographs that show that these structures were already common in Hong Kong by the end of the 19th century.21 Li Haoran believes that during the great strike between 1925 and 1926 in Hong Kong, a large number of workers from Hong Kong went to Guangzhou to work. They brought the design and construction technology of Ki Lau from Hong Kong to Guangzhou at that time.22 No matter where the Ki Lau was firstly invented, what we know for sure is that Tong Laus, which had been developing for more than one hundred years in Hong Kong, mark the history of Hong Kong, is also influenced by the history of Hong Kong, has become a kind of valuable historical architecture. Architecture and city influence each other and grow together, making the world we see today.

Notes

1. Lee, Ho Yin. “The Singapore shophouse: an AngloChinese urban vernacular.” Asia’s Old Dwellings: Tradition, Resilience and Change (2003). 2. Lau, Chi Pang. “01 _ From Architecture to History of Hong Kong.” (2016). 3. Hk01. “Can not distinguish Tong Lau and foreign buildings? The heritage experts teach you to distinguish the type of old buildings.” Last modified September 14, 2017. https://www.hk01.com 4. Carroll, John M. A concise history of Hong Kong. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007. 5. Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online. “PUBLIC HEALTH AND BUILDINGS ORDINANCE, 1903”Last modified 1923.https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/items/show/1209 6. Lau. “01 _ From Architecture to History of Hong Kong.”. 7. Hk01. “Can not distinguish Tong Lau and foreign buildings? The heritage experts teach you to distinguish the type of old buildings.” 8. Hk01. “Can not distinguish Tong Lau and foreign buildings? The heritage experts teach you to distinguish the type of old buildings.” 9. Chan, Cui Yee., Cai, Hong Xing. and AIA. Space Journey: A Century of Hong Kong Architecture. Chengdu: Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2007 10. Ye, Xiuwen.Pre-war Tenement House (with history of Tenement House) https://www.mpweekly.com 11. Wikipedia contributors, https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Tong Lau 12. Wikipedia contributors, “Composite

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

19. 20.

21. 22.

building,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https:// en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Composite_ building&oldid=1061098316 (accessed December 22, 2021). Qi Yizhen. Living Landmarks: Revitalizing industrial buildings. (Hong Kong: The Commercial Press (Hong Kong) Limited, 2019), 131 Droste, Magdalena. Bauhaus, 1919-1933. Taschen, 2002. Wang Shouzhi. History of modern architecture in the world. China Architecture and Architecture Press, 2012. Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online. “PUBLIC HEALTH AND BUILDINGS ORDINANCE, 1903”Last modified 1923.https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/items/show/1209 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law of street shadows in Hong Kong Wang, Wanrong.” reconstructing and reconstructing a sense of place in old people’s memories theatre: examples from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.” drama Journal 17 (2013): 33-63. Hk01. “Can not distinguish Tong Lau and foreign buildings? The heritage experts teach you to distinguish the type of old buildings.” Hk01. “Hong Kong shophouses are in danger, survival scholars estimate that there are fewer than 100 existing shophouses.” Last modified November 08, 2017. https://www.hk01.com Lin, Manli.,Wang, Xinyuan.,Ki Lau in Hong Kong. 2017. Qiao Shi, Zhou Yao-en, Pan Zhan-qiang, and Li Haoran.” Micro macro Guangzhou Shophouse.” Fashion tomorrow 7 (2007): 62-67.

Localization of Arcade in Hong Kong--

The performance of western and eastern art design in Kowloon Arcades Mengfei, LIN Introduction Arcade is a form of colonial architecture which has been widely spread across the world, especially in Asia. There are several opinions on the origin of this form of architecture1, one of the arguments claimed that it could be traced back to the Greek “Parthenon” in 2500 years ago2, where the temple was built with 46 marble pillars. Arcade was later inspired by combining both the “porch house” by

British colonials and traditional street shops in south China. During the localization of Arcade, there was not only the transformation of structure due to weather concerns but also other building elements, for example, some exotic patterns were changed into patterns with traditional Chinese taste. Arcade as a colonial architecture shows both Eastern and Western aesthetics not only in structure but also in building details. This essay focuses on the performance of eastern and western art applied in building detail design in Arcade (Hong Kong). Building Elements and Identity of Hong Kong Arcade Every Architecture has its own identity, and its own story relates to the historical background, culture, and spirit. The identity of an architecture could be contributed by a tiny decoration as well as its architectural form. It was believed that ornaments and motifs on an architecture could play an important role to grant an identity to the building and

therefore, to grant an identity to the city3. The Arcade in Hong Kong, known as a “mixed race” of the East and the West architecture, was a consequence and continuation of social changes in Hong Kong in the early 20s. It was a time when the industries got rapid development, population increased rapidly with high housing demands, it was also a time when the modern movements took place in Hong Kong, bringing in new technologies and new materials. This provides more possibilities on architectural design and gives inspirations, for example, the presence of concrete as a new building material created more possibilities on the building structure. Even an iron window grille could become a clue to see the history behind. Mixed building material Traditional tenement houses were built with brick and fir, while concrete was introduced as a new building material and applied to build Arcades from the West in the early 20s. Pillars were made of huge marbles. Bricks

and woods were no longer used to construct huge partitions but used in smaller building elements, like exquisite parapets and window frames. Decorations on the façade including reliefs, window frames, plaques were built with stones, woods, or metals according to personal preference and economic situation. In this way, several kinds of building materials were organized together, both “new” and “old”, east and west materials served as building elements. Lui Seng Chun, a historical site of Arcade located in Kowloon, is an example of a building with various materials. Lui Seng Chun was mainly built with concrete. According to the remaining part of its original wooden doors, the copper components show evidence of the traditional metal smelting process. The mixed use of building materials and industrial production methodologies showed an architectural aesthetics of the combination of Chinese and Western. Eastern art in Mongkok Arcade calligraphy

As Arcades usually face the street, pilers sat on pedestrian paths were used for promotion. Shop owner wrote a calligraphy couplet on the pillar. Some people even wrote huge calligraphy on the building façade directly. Calligraphy plaque was also hung on the door as if it were ancient. In Lui Seng Chun, there are two plaques hung on the front with calligraphy, says Lui Seng Chun in Traditional Chinese. The stone plaques were made by traditional Chinese handicrafts. Manchurian window In Lui Seng Chun, a Manchurian window on Ground floor with wooden window frame inlaid with stained glass adopts Chinese traditional architectural design in the Qing Dynasty. According to the description written in a magazine named LIFE IN GUANGZHOU4, the extremely expensive colored glass had been imported into Guangzhou from European countries since the Qing Dynasty. The luxury class used this glass as a decoration to be inlaid in a wooden window frame with tinted glass etchings. This kind of window

frame became famous from then. Chinese relief crafts Stone plaque relief on the building façade usually shows the symbol of the shop. Traditional Chinese relief crafts are applied as the decoration of the façade, for example, flower, bird, fish, dragons…etc. These traditional reliefs stand for auspicious or wishes to a bright future life. Curved gable Traditionally, there was a kind of house in South China that was built with Wok gables. In Chaozhou and Guangzhou, it resembles the ears of the ancient cooking utensils “wok”. It is said that this kind of house is common in the Matsu area5. The two “ears” were also said to be regarded as the ears of the official hat, which means “outstanding” and therefore, it could only be used by the gentry with fame. In folklore, this kind of wall is also a symbol of a wealthy family. The Wok gables also appear on the roof of Lui Seng Chun, but its shape was transformed to be slightly different from the traditional one.

Western art in Mongkok Arcade Neo-classicism in Arcades In the early 20s, Neo-classic style became part of the mainstream architectural style in Hong Kong, which brought influence on the design of Arcades in the same period. In some Arcades, for example, the one located in 1 Sports Field Street in Mong Kok, the architect applied heavy volumes on the first floor and gradually alleviated moldings. Sculpture’s relief are shown on the façade of the upper floors. In this way, it allows more sunlight to shine on the lower level as well as showing the architecture on the façade. Friezes on facade Friezes, originating from Greco-Roman Classical architecture, was defined as the middle of the three main divisions of an entablature. In Johnna’s article6, the friezes could be a band that serve for decorative purpose above the columns in ancient Greek architecture. This kind of building element is also presented in Arcades in Hong Kong,

for example, raising the one in 1 Sports Field Street as an example, the resending floor design drew people’s attention to the higher floor to see the frieze on the second-floor façade. Arch window Arch window designs decorated with plant motifs were common in Arcades in Hong Kong as a kind of façade-decoration. The origin of this kind of western art design originates from Europe and could be found in the paper written by Tetyana Kazantseva in 2014 CLASSIFICATION OF FACADE DECORATION OF SECESSION BUILDINGS BUILT BY I. LEVYNSKY COMPANY IN LVIV7. Decorative iron flowers for windows According to historical document8, the development and transformation of iron art in Europe could be found from the beginning of the 12th to 13th centuries, when iron art was dominated by European Gothic art. In the 17th to 18th century, plant patterns were used in large quantities. Until the 19th century, as the rise of modern art and the discovery of

ancient Egyptian culture and Mayan culture, the geometry of the pyramid influenced iron art design. This kind of art was brought to Hong Kong during the colonial period of the British and was applied in Arcades, for example, the decorative iron flowers for windows and friezes. This kind of decoration could be found on the ground floor of Lui Seng Chun in Mong Kok. Pillars on façade Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis once said that “One of the most difficult things in design is to secure the necessary connection between the horizontal and vertical subdivisions of a facade so that the whole composition may appear unified.” In the paper Horizontality9 written by Thomas. L., it examined a common directive in the theory of the Modern Movement concerning the vertical surface of buildings. It was regarded that the composition of wall surface is dependent firstly upon the constriction. In Arcades, Pillars are supporting the first floor and above on the ground. It is common to see some cases like Arcades in

618 Shanghai Street, where the pillar supports the whole building instead of stopping on the first floor. This kind of structure was shown directly on the façade, where the pillars became part of the decoration. It suggested the vertical composition of the wall surface and presented a balanced division between horizontal and vertical. Conclusion Arcades in Hong Kong, under the background of colonization and wars, had become a symbol of modernization in the 20th century. By looking at the building details, it shows the mainstream aesthetics at that time, and therefore, it becomes the clue to see the history. When traditional architecture from different cultures were mixed, a new housing typology was borned, which was to show the new identity of the colonial city and pushed forward the story of the city, and this became part of the modern movement of Hong Kong.

Notes

1. Delanty, Gerard, and Paul R. Jones. “European identity and architecture.” European journal of social theory 5, no. 4 (2002): 453-466. 2. Kazantseva, Tetyana, and Solomiya Ponkalo. “Classification of facade decoration of secession buildings built by I. Levynsky company in Lviv.” Przestrzen i Forma 21 (2014): 171-182. 3. Beaumont, C., and Z. Karim. “Iron metabolism: State of the art.” La Revue de medecine interne 34, no. 1 (2012): 17-25. 4. Schumacher, Thomas L. “Horizontality: The Modernist Line.” Journal of Architectural Education 59, no. 1 (2005): 17-26.

Appendix

Photo 1: 1 Sports Ground Road

Photo 3: Lui Seng Chun

Photo 2: 1 Sports Ground Road

Photo 4: Lui Seng Chun

The Reviving Tong Lau Qianhui, WANG

Modern architecture is a by-product of modern history. The modern movement of architecture is a movement that pushes architecture to cater to modern needs. Hong Kong experienced a large transformation in that era, bringing diverse types of buildings to adapt to the social and natural conditions. Tong Lau, or called Chinese shophouse, was born during the colonial era. It is a multi-storey building with the ground floor being a shop and upper floors residential area. Although Tong Lau exists in other colonial places such as Singapore and Malaysia as well, it has its own characteristic in Hong Kong because of the historical context1. This essay will discuss the development of Tong Lau in the modern movement and take Lui Seng Chun, 618 Shanghai Street, and 729 Nathan Road as examples to discuss how they could be

revived in the contemporary world. History Tong Lau was created to adapt to modern Hong Kong. After being occupied by the British government, Hong Kong became a free economic zone, which required and attracted plenty of labor force in a short time, many of which were immigrants from Mainland China2. Thus, to meet the urgent need for population growth, Tong Lau was built to accommodate a large number of people. Since it was built in a short time, it applied local architecture resources and technology3. In the beginning, Tong Laus were mostly located on Hong Kong Island. Early Tong Laus, which were created in the mid-1800s by Chinese people mostly from rural areas, predominantly used bricks from Guangdong for load-bearing walls and wood for the beams. The overall appearance is similar to Bamboo Houses in Guangdong. In addition to its Chinese name and material, the structure of load-bearing walls referred to Portuguese architecture in Macau, implying

its mixture of Chinese and western elements. Because of the length limit of wood beams, those Tong Laus were long and narrow. Their length is approximately three times their width. In this case, they receive little sunlight and ventilation4. There was no washroom in Tong Laus as well, aggravating the hygiene problem. As a result, an outbreak of plague occurred in 1894. 1903 is a turning point in the development of Tong Lau. A regulation about residential houses was conducted in order to alleviate hygiene problems5. According to the regulation, patio, partition, staircase, and programme were further developed and transformed. In the early 1900s, following the modern global movement, people started to use reinforced concrete in Tong Lau. The construction material transformed gradually from using reinforced concrete on parts of the building to building the whole building with reinforced concrete in the 1930s6. The last peak period of Tong Lau was the post-

war era, during which, with the population explosion, buildings were required to be built taller so that they could accommodate more people. Thanks to the development of technology, lifts were applied in Tong Laus7. Tong Laus in this period is monotonous but mature, fully meeting people’s needs at that time8. Developmeny in the contemporary period Tong Lau is a remarkable city view in Hong Kong, having appeared in a lot of artworks and films. Historical buildings in Hong Kong have brought much attention since the decolonization era. Many Tong Laus are listed as historical buildings, which raised awareness to protect them among people. However, a lot of historical buildings, including some Tong Laus, have been demolished despite the fact that they are listed, according to List of the 1,444 historic buildings with assessment results. The list not only listed the historical buildings, but also graded them with four levels, which are Declared Monument, Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3. Although only 4%

of listed buildings are Tong Lau, there are several good conservation examples, such as Lui Seng Chun9. Several aspects need to be considered in the process of revitalizing historical buildings, which are commemorative values and presentday values. The commemorative value could include the significance for us to learn a particular period, the monumental meaning of the architecture, and its age10. People usually appreciate the age value while they prefer to carry out daily activities in new and sturdy buildings. There are four principles for conserving historical buildings appropriately. The first is the compatibility of use, which means the current use of the building is suitable and does not betray the original function. The second is minimal intervention, indicating that it would be better to do less change and respect the initial architecture. The third is distinguishability, which means that the appearance should not be amended too much to be recognized. The last one is

reversibility. This implies that the conservation practice should be careful enough, and it could be recovered11. In conclusion, although it is significant to let historical buildings adapt to contemporary use, revitalizing historical buildings expects minimal intervention and maximum prototype. In order to conduct an appropriate intervention, several strategies could be applied. First, understanding the most significant characteristic of the building is a crucial step. It is a guide for us to decide on the following strategies. Combining the old part with new elements is another strategy. Three approaches could be utilized for the combination, including integration, complementary, and association. Integration focuses on a seamless fusion of old and new elements, remaining the original building to a large extent. The complementary method shows a relationship between the old and the new through new materials and new forms. Projects using the method of association

usually form a bold contrast between old and new12. Lui Seng Chun is one of the most successful conservation projects in Hong Kong. It was built in 1931 and graded as Grade 1 historic building in 2000. The four-storey neoclassical building sits on the street corner, having beautiful deep verandas and stone pillars. It was originally a Chinese clinic established by the Lui family that served the low-income group in Mong Kok, making a great contribution to the community and the society. Based on the history of Lui Seng Chun, the architects intended to maintain both the aesthetic value and the social value. There are many challenges in the revitalization practice, such as new regulations and the tight site context. Additionally, the architects needed to follow the principles, remaining the initial value but adapting to the contemporary world. Hence, they mainly used the strategy of integration that helps remain as many original elements as possible. Because of heavy traffic and

pollution, the original open veranda was installed with glaze screens to avoid pollution inside but maintained transparency. They tried to minimize the difference of appearance between old and new through testing diverse materials on a small scale13. In addition, Lui Seng Chun is now revitalized into the Chinese Medicine and Healthcare Center of Hong Kong Baptist University, which inherited the social responsibility. Therefore, the revitalization of Lui Seng Chun is a remarkable project regarding its respect for the original building and its adaptation to contemporary society. 618 Shanghai Street is a new revitalization project started in 2008. Unlike Lui Seng Chun’s feature of Chinese Clinic, the Tong Laus on Shanghai Street were more common as shophouses in the nineteen to twentieth century. These buildings are reflections of the normal social life of common people. Thus, the aim of this project is to revitalize the community other than conserving

the building itself, according to the URA’s General Manager of Planning and Design14. The architects regarded the façade and the veranda facing Shanghai Street as the most representative. Thus, they retained and refurbished the pillars, the advertisements on the pillars, and the wooden doors15. In order to meet the commercial need nowadays, the interior space of a few buildings on the street was connected. The designers visited the neighborhood to collect historical memories from different generations so that the aim of revitalizing the community could be better achieved16. In addition to these strategies, the architects utilized new technology such as building information modeling to alleviate the intervention in the original building during the design process. Augmented reality was added as well to help visualize the historic memory17. With these efforts, 618 Shanghai Street became a multi-function space including commerce, public service, and education.

Compared to the two projects above, Grade 3 historic building 729 Nathan Road seems to be in silence. It sits between two tall blocks, with old façade and dirty pillars. The shop on the ground floor is tightly locked, with plenty of advertisement posters sticking on the gate. Going up from a small entrance, the old wooden door and a wooden locker remain. According to the List of the 1,444 historic buildings with assessment results, this building is a private property, which might be the main reason for it to remain old. Although it is not open to the public, it remains the original building to the greatest extent among the three. The ground floor is abandoned, but a shoe shop is hidden on the upper floor. It is not completely utilized, but it has its own function. Conclusion Tong Lau witnessed the modern movement of Hong Kong, from colonization to decolonization to the contemporary commodity and education era. It transforms to meet the new needs of people. With

people’s awareness of preserving and revitalizing historic buildings growing, more studies and practices on Tong Lau have been conducted. Various strategies were used in different projects according to their aims and the site characteristics. No matter what strategies are applied, it is vital to respect the original building and fully use them to benefit more people. These are all valuable experiences for future revitalization practice.

Notes

1. Cecilia Chu, Between Typologies and Representation: The Tong Lau and the Discourse of the “Chinese House” in Colonial Hong Kong, (Rajagopalan, M, Desai, M, 2012), 257 2. Cecilia Chu, Between Typologies and Representation: The Tong Lau and the Discourse of the “Chinese House” in Colonial Hong Kong, 257 3. 陳翠兒., 蔡宏興., 陳翠兒, 蔡宏興, and 香港建築師學會. 空間之旅 : 香港建築百年. (成都: 四川美術出版社, 2007) 4. 陳, 蔡, 陳, 蔡, and HKIA, 空間之旅 : 香港建築百年 5. 陳, 蔡, 陳, 蔡, and HKIA, 空間之旅 : 香港建築百年 6. Lee Ho Yin and Lynne DiStefano, Tong Lau / 唐樓, the Hong Kong Shophouse, (Gwulo, 2016) 7. 陳, 蔡, 陳, 蔡, and HKIA, 空間之旅 : 香港建築百年 8. Lee Ho Yin and Lynne DiStefano, Tong Lau / 唐樓, the Hong Kong Shophouse, (Gwulo, 2016) 9. 祈宜臻. 活現築跡 : 工廈•活化•新生. (香港: 商務印書館 (香港) 有限公司, 2019), 134 10. 祈, 活現築跡 : 工廈•活化•新生, 131 11. 祈, 活現築跡 : 工廈•活化•新生, 131 12. 祈, 活現築跡 : 工廈•活化•新生, 131 13. 祈, 活現築跡 : 工廈•活化•新生, 134 14. Urban Renewal Authority, Legacy of Shanghai Street-Continued Through Old Shophouses Revitalisation, (URA News Letter, 2020), 5 15. URA, Legacy of Shanghai Street-Continued Through Old Shophouses Revitalisation, , 5 16. URA, Legacy of Shanghai Street-Continued Through Old Shophouses Revitalisation, 6

17. URA, Legacy of Shanghai Street-Continued Through Old Shophouses Revitalisation, 9

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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.