《Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015》读后感摘抄

《Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015》是一本由Charlie Q. L. Xue著作，Springer出版的Hardcover图书，本书定价：USD 119.00，页数：337，特精心收集的读后感，希望对大家能有帮助。

《Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015》读后感(一)：Endorsement from authorities

"Well researched and refreshingly well structured, Charlie Xue's latest book comprehensively shows how Hong Kong's post-war urban architecture both tracks and symbolizes the former British colony's rise to success - a must read for architecture and culture buffs alike."

- Peter G. Rowe, Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor.

“Hong Kong sets an extreme example of hyper-density living. MTR’s Kowloon Station project offered my firm the unique opportunity to contribute to a new type of fully integrated three dimensional transport mega-structure, conceived as a well-connected place for people to live, work and play. Through Charlie Xue’s book, one can see how a compact city works and high density integrated development indicates a sustainable path for modern city making.”

-- Sir Terry Farrell, CBE, Principal, Farrells

“An essential addition to the growing literature on Chinese architecture, the title of the book belies the full scope of Xue’s extensive history. Covering Hong Kong’s postwar transition from defeated colony to Pacific Age power house, Xue expertly traces the evolution of the city’s ambitious and innovative programs of integrated high density urban design and infrastructure, as well as changing architectural fashions. In a time when many Western governments have all but abandoned public housing programs, Xue’s book is a timely reminder of what can be achieved.”

-- Professor Chris Abel, author of Architecture and Identity, Architecture, technology and process and The Extended Self.

《Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015》读后感(二)：转书评：Looking beneath the surface of Hong Kong’s architectural landscape

New book traces city’s transformation over the years from a tiny island to a modern urban metropolis

Book review from South China Morning Post, 8 November 2016.

Author: Peta Tomlinson

There are those who would knock Hong Kong for steamrolling through the past 50 years of urban development: Charlie Xue Qiuli will have none of it.

The trained architect, City University of Hong Kong professor and author of 12 books on Hong Kong architecture thinks our urban planners and architects have done a decent job of the fishing village-to-urban metropolis transformation, and his latest book, a retrospective of half a century of architecture in Hong Kong, explains why.

“I wanted to fill a gap,” the author says, about Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015: From Colonial to Global, his fourth book in English (the others are in Chinese). “There are very few English-language books on architecture in Hong Kong, and most of them are by foreign scholars who know the tangible buildings, but they don’t know the internal story.”

This story, as Xue tells it, begins as another chapter in Hong Kong’s history – the Japanese invasion of 1941–1945 – closed. Following liberation by the British, the city was flooded with refugees and a population devastated by war began to swell. People needed housing, and they needed jobs. Mass-construction was the answer to both. Thus began decades of rapid urbanisation, which Xue views as architecture’s equivalent to “crossing the river by touching the stones” (a reference to late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s famous saying, loosely interpreted as learning as you go.)

“Hong Kong architecture post-1946 was shaped by government policies, local, social and technical forces, and products created by local and expatriate planners, architects, and builders,” he says. “The tiny island took its own path apart from the UK and China. Hong Kong’s architecture is the result of a pragmatic economy and property speculation, and is free from political ideology. The independence and uniqueness of its built environment was – I felt – worth exploring.”

Immediately after the war, the priority placed on settling the refugees gave rise to large-scale public-housing developments, and community infrastructure such as hospitals and schools. Proceeding with such haste meant that many buildings would be demolished after only 30 years, and those that remained could hardly be regarded as among Hong Kong’s finest.

However, the book notes that “an obvious demarcation line can be drawn in 1971”, when Hong Kong’s own economic miracle was beginning. As private investments surged into this newbie territory of the free capitalist world, manufacturing moved to the mainland, and the space freed up by disused factories gave way to office towers.

Writes Xue: “To support these changes, skyscrapers designed by international architects were erected to soar over the central business district (CBD). Landmark buildings served as headquarters for multinational companies, and were glorified as physical landmarks.”

“Old school” architecture firms like Palmer & Turner and Leigh & Orange were already long established, but according to Xue, clients, led by HSBC, were demanding international design expertise. This led to the construction of some of the city’s most iconic buildings: the Hong Kong Club by Viennese-born Australian modernist architect Harry Seidler, completed in 1984; the prism-like Bank of China Tower by Chinese-American architect I M Pei (completed in 1990); and Norman Foster’s famous HSBC headquarters (completed in 1985).

With the quality of Hong Kong’s cityscape now defined, the late 1980s onwards began to shape “everything we see today,” Xue said, citing MTR mixed-use developments, satellite CBDs outside of Central, and the creation of new towns. In tandem, the core financial district further evolved, with construction of landmark buildings like the Lippo Centre, designed by American architect Paul Rudolph, and Exchange Square by local firm Palmer & Turner (P&T).

Xue also credits Hong Kong’s own “men of ambition and insight” for their architectural contribution: tycoon Li Ka Shing, who built the first curtain-wall building in Hong Kong (China Building, in Central, 1978, by Wong & Ouyang), and Kwok Tak Seng, founder of Sun Hung Kai Properties, which built one of Wan Chai’s early skyscrapers, the Sun Hung Kai Centre, in the early 1980s, and would go on to develop the IFC, by US architect Cesar Pelli and Rocco Design, and the ICC, by KPF.

Thirty years after its construction, the Foster-designed HSBC headquarters, Xue says, is still Hong Kong’s most significant and symbolic landmark, because it marked a turning point in the city’s architectural evolution. He rates the Kowloon Station complex, by British firm TFP Farrells (which also designed the Peak Tower), as the most remarkable construction of the recent era, viewing it as a model of high-efficiency land development.

One change Xue would like to see on the city’s architectural scene is more support for creative design among private developers, to shift the focus from maximising profit.

Hong Kong, he says, has proved to the world that high-density living can be both functional and enjoyable for urban populations, if it is skilfully designed. The city’s architectural firms are now so well-staffed with local talent that they are no longer so reliant on foreign expertise, but as cities globally reach out to touch their own stones, they could well look to Hong Kong for paving the way.

《Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015》读后感(三)：Viewing Hong Kong as both insider and outsider

Hong Kong, the third largest financial center blended of Chinese and Western culture in the world, presents a high density and busy development of architecture with unique characteristics. The city is crampy, chaotic but full of vitality. When walking down the streets of Hong Kong, you may experience completely different scenes across streets. In this city, people move with extreme proximity, so are the buildings, lanes, subways and overhead bridges. In many districts, every corner seems to be randomly or intentiously knitted. Various types of buildings built in different periods have their respective hybridity and contemporaneity. Even the imported designs have to adapt to the local pace and habits. This hybrid built environment nurtures people’s colorful daily life.

To appreciate this diversity, many books on Hong Kong architecture were published, but most of them only cover fragmented studies and are focused on special architectural types, while a systematic study of Hong Kong architecuture, especially in English language, is long overdue. Meanwhile, the construction and dismantle pace is fast. It is imperative to record this piece of Hong Kong architecture timely.

After having two Chinese books on Hong Kong architecture published (one version for Hong Kong and Taiwan, another for the Chinese mainland), Professor Charlie Qiuli Xue released an English edition in 2016: Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015: from colonial to global. The 337-page book expounds the developmental background, characteristics and causes of Hong Kong architecture at different stages, and sketches a picture of postwar recovery, economic takeoff and sustainable development after the sovereignty return.

The author has searched and read a lot of historical documents, collected case photos and drawings, which are presented through (a lengthy) Preface and 11 chapters. The “transition” is central to his understanding of Hong Kong architectural history, “During Hong Kong’s transition from last British colony to international Asian metropolis, buildings were produced, consumed, and quickly demolished or replaced. That is the meaning of Hong Kong architecture and also the departure point of this book.” (p. x)

The book is divided into three parts. Chapters are arranged in chronological order, and then a discussion is carried out on the key points in each chapter. The first part starts with post-war reconstruction (mainly refer to the time frame of 1946–1971) and discusses the two main types of building that were built under the governmental chanelling and leadership. The story of architects in the 1950s and landscape of design industry are unfolded. I am interested to read the careers of old generation architects and their links with Shanghai before 1949. “From Shanghai to Hong Kong” is not only the path of prominent architects in the 1950s, but also Xue’s own track. The implication of building regulation to design shows the author’s deep understanding of Hong Kong practice. Why do some buildings have balcony, and why some have bay windows？ The author reveals the strong influence of building regulations to the private building development.

The second part is brilliant, focused on the golden period during which Hong Kong developed from a dilapidated colony into a pearl-like international metropolis. Accompanied to this transition, many new types of building emerged in the city, like shopping mall, bank and corporate headquarters, airport and TOD porjects. When describing these glamorous buildings, the author repeatedly points out the intangible principles of capitalist machine. Xue is obviously influenced by several critical theorists, for example, Acbar Abbas, Manual Castells, Roger Bristow and David Fauer (see the reference list of the book and relevant chapters). As the author states in the Preface and Chapter 7, the 1980s saw Hong Kong’s ascending to the apex - “which created the Hong Kong townscape we know today”. (p.197) When reading this, I feel a bit sorrow the slowdown of the following decades after the 1980s.

To catch up the characteristics of the high-density city, the author particularly sets a chapter on “rail village and mega structure” – the two types well integrated along the railway of Hong Kong and providing convenient homes for millions of people. Also in the second part, the author introduces some key architects in this period, some are known outside Hong Kong, but the others are not. Looking at those architects’ designed buildings, you can feel distance with the works of the world masters. The author carefully examines how and in what conditions these buildings were produced. The contribution of these architects is presented calmly. At the end of Chapter 8, people can see the aurora of the next generation in twilight and also the fierce competition from the Chinese mainland.

The thrid part primarily introduces new trends of architectural development in the 21st century, such as frequent public participation, awareness of the sustainability and louder call for rational planning, heritage conservation and environmental protection. This part tries to discuss what development potential and challenges are faced in the new condition. All the new buildings and events are categoried to two trends: backward and forward looking.

When thinking of architecture, we should reflect more on the relationship between man and various context and background. Architecture is a carrier. For instance, it links itself to human demand in the essence of life in accordance with outside conditions, such as society, politics and economy. This arouses my reflection. For example, it is undoubtedly a progress of times that public housing type evolved and made housing design standardization a reality in Hong Kong. But I also worry about whether standardization will kill the neighborhood culture. Xue’s book praises the public housing and machine aesthetics, but does not comment its drawbacks.

In this book, relavant institutions, scholars and architects are interviewed. They bring out the precious stories and affective humanistic feelings behind architecture. This reflects the history and culture of contemporary Hong Kong. I am impressed by the depth of the materials and analysis. The chapters on building regulations and TOD rail village embody the author and his team’s research outcomes for years. The ending chapter “design made in Hong Kong” enthusiastically expresses the author’s wishes – that is, the Hong Kong design deserves a larger coverage in Asia and the world. Hong Kong is part of China. The book opens a new discourse for the research of modern Chinese architecture and Hong Kong study.

Xue has perched in Hong Kong for over 20 years, and should be a complete “insider”, as he says “my 25 years of observation, experience and contemplation in Hong Kong are reflected throughout this book”. (p.xix) However, “an author requires a platform to launch his inquiry” (p.xix), Xue’s platform is partly constructed from his status as teacher and architect in China and USA. At the end of each chapter, Xue describes his personal encounter with the particular Hong Kong environment – public housing, private housing, glamorous CBD and old architects. His excitement and feeling as “outsider” can be touched through these paragraphs of italized font. A book with many historic data and figures is vividly enriched with author’s personal reveal.

Professor Xue writes this book in a narrative way and makes summaries concisely rather than sloppily. The book is approachable not only for the teachers, students and architecture professionals, but also for the readers who have interests in architectural art, Hong Kong culture and history. Of course, it is difficult to fully display the development of Hong Kong architecture with only 100 thousand words. Someone may feel regret that architectural types are not comprehensively analyzed in this book, for example the lack of religious architecture, medical architecture, two-storied architecture and underground footpath system, etc. However, it is impossible for this book, which just summarizes the history of postwar architectural development in Hong Kong, to touch upon everything in limited pages. We expect more new written works of Hong Kong architecture emerging.