Hi, I am a first year architecture student, and for one of our modules called ”Historical and Cultural Developments of Cities and their Architecture”, we have to write an essay on a topic of our choice. I have attached the official instructions, so please read these carefully as it is very important in order for me to gain marks.
I have already decided on an essay subject and title: ””Colonial Architecture and the Assertion of Dominance: Exploring Symbolism Through Housing in Hong Kong”. With my specific item of study being the ”Tong Lau” houses.
As for the specific title, you can deviate from it a little, but the basis of my essay is to communicate this underlying system of how: architecture, urban design and planning, was used as a tool for colonials to reinforce their dominance and show power. I also think it’s interesting because architecture and housing becomes a material consequence, and symbolic reminder of these dynamics throughout the colonial era. Additionally, you can explore the link between historical housing policies and the contemporary housing crisis in Hong Kong (colonial legacy etc) – highlighting continuities and changes over time.
The file ”Speculative Modern Urban Forms and the Politics of Property.pdf” is a great resource for this essay. It is someone else’s research paper but is quite expansive. There are some parts where i have underlined/highlighted parts that i thought were important or relevant (I did not get to read paper fully though).
The rest of the files are other sources which i thought may be useful/relevant.
The book ”Housing in Hong Kong”, provides a decent overview and historical review of the housing situaiton in Hong Kong, specifically at the beginning period of the colonial rule. And so it is also a great resource specifically for Tong Laus, as it also has several juseufl diagrams and drawings that could be included.
Below is a drop box link to a folder with a bunch of images of pages of the book (apologies if they’re out of order)
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/d4cbydq6gntneuvxlyekz/ADsPNbeg7HnvOwsxIhXMoZQ?rlkey=uer90y3d2uklxbjqixj705wr0&dl=0
Hong Kong has a very nuanced rrelationship with its colonial past; because while architecture/urban policies for example, were used in exploitative manners, they also stand as a foundation for the city’s modern identity. Britain’s colonial personel had a huge impact on its development, such as Osbert Chadwick who reported the sanitary conditions of Hong Kong which were significant in Hong Kong’s urban development story. Thus i think it is important to maybe recognise this, so i included his primary reports in the link below. The 2nd link directky below it, is an article which discusses these essentisal colonial personel and their impacts on the city.
Link to Chadwick’s reports on the sanitary condition of Hong Kong:
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mpnmmdbz/items
https://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2012.705124
For more context on where my ideas came from:
The instructions say we need some reference or relation to our lectures. One of our lectures was by Tania Sengupta – in which she talked about post colonialism, power dynamics etc. I included a screenshot of information about her lecture so you can get a better idea.
