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Architectural culture. 1|What kind of Hong Kong story does the historical buildings left by the British colony tell?

2022-08-01T23:11:08.505Z


"Historical architecture" is the product of civilization in which human life and the natural environment are constantly interacting, and different architectural styles often contain the spiritual wisdom, artistic pursuit, and rich imagination of predecessors, waiting for the exploration and development of future generations.


"Historical architecture" is the product of civilization in which human life and the natural environment are constantly interacting, and different architectural styles often contain the spiritual wisdom, artistic pursuit, and rich imagination of predecessors, waiting for future generations to explore and discover, inherit and carry forward.

However, in Hong Kong, "historic buildings" are often inseparable from "colonial background", and "colonial background" is accompanied by "national humiliation". These buildings will inevitably face disputes over conservation or demolition.

However, behind the controversy is actually Hong Kong's doubts about its own culture - what impact did the historical buildings left over from the British Hong Kong period have on the cultural structure of Hong Kong?

When "telling the Hong Kong story", how should we face colonial history and its cultural products?


During the British colonial period, Western systems, languages, characters, and ideological trends flowed into Hong Kong, colliding with a unique civilization that blended Chinese and Western cultures.

Twenty-five years after the handover, Hong Kong still retains many "tangible" and "intangible" cultural heritages, including many historical buildings.

But because of the "colonial history" accompanied by "national humiliation", some cultural heritages face disputes over conservation or demolition.

However, most of these controversies started from a political point of view, but they did not discuss in depth what "Hong Kong culture" actually means, nor did they calmly face the in-depth influence of British colonial history on Hong Kong's cultural structure in terms of material culture, institutional culture, and spiritual culture.

"Culture" itself is an extremely abstract term, and different cultural scholars, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, and archaeologists disagree on this.

Due to the vague definition of "Hong Kong architectural culture", some people even put Hong Kong's Chinese architecture and Western-style architecture on the opposite side, mistakenly thinking that the two styles are in a competitive relationship.

It was not until the 24th year of its return that the country's "14th Five-Year Plan" finally included Hong Kong's cultural status in the national plan, and explicitly supported Hong Kong's development as a center for cultural and artistic exchanges between China and foreign countries. At this moment, Hong Kong's various doubts about its own culture immediately surfaced on the table. - What is Hong Kong culture?

Can British colonial buildings represent Hong Kong culture?

For details, please read the 328th issue of "Hong Kong 01" e-Weekly Newsletter (August 1, 2022)

"What kind of Hong Kong story does the historical buildings left by the British colony tell?

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Architectural culture.

1|What kind of Hong Kong story does the historical buildings left by the British colony tell?

Last year's National Day, organizations such as "Love Hong Kong Alliance" and "One Heart Protecting Hong Kong" went to the SAR Government Headquarters to petition, demanding that "Victoria Park" be changed to "People's Park".

(Photo by Lu Yiming)

Many people have misunderstood colonial architecture, thinking that buildings rich in Western-style classicism such as Protocol House are representative.

(Photo by Liang Pengwei)

Xu Songwen, associate professor of Lingnan's Department of History, tends to believe that the British Hong Kong government is building a large number of Western-style buildings based on practical considerations, rather than deliberate political considerations.

(Photo by Yu Junliang)

Li Haoran, a former associate professor of the Department of Architectural Conservation at the University of Hong Kong, explained that from a cultural point of view, the preservation of pre-war Western-style buildings is used to demonstrate the historical coherence of Hong Kong, and to preserve a material heritage for this coherence.

(Photo by Lu Yiming)

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-08-01

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