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C. Haffner
private erchitect
A. Fitch president, HKSA
E. Wong senior Govt. architect
Four Hong Kong architects discuss...
Fawcett: Hong Kong has come to be known as a society of lost oppor- tunities architecturally speaking. Has full use been made of the facilities that are available in Hong Kong at the moment?
Haffner: I think that it is fair to say that full use has not been made of the facilities that are available, but the question needs to be looked at against the history and rapid post-war growth of Hong Kong. These lost opportunities are not, for instance, comparable to those given to London in the 17th Century when the Great Fire made possible the rebuilding of London on a grand scale and plans were produced for this which were then completely ignored. Neverthe- less, Hong Kong has had its oppor- tunity in the last 20 years, when we have been through the equivalent to the industrial revolution in England. We ought to have learned by what happened to towns like Liverpool, Glasgow and Manchester. In fact we have not learned and we have produc- ed, by and large, a 20th Century equivalent to the slums which blight parts of England now.
Fawcett: What could have been done though?
can
Haffner: Well in particular cases I answer that. It is difficult to answer it in general. One thing that I would like to have seen done was to have taken the opportunity in the
Far East Architect & Builder January, 1968
J. Kinoshita hon, secretary, HKSA
ARCHITECTURE IN HONG KONG
A panel of four leading architects in Hong Kong appeared recently on the RTV television programme, Today-Tonight in Hong Kong, to discuss 'Architecture in Hong Kong'. The interviewer, Mr. John Fawcett, led them over a range of topics, from pedestrian circulation in the Central District to the psychological effects of living 50-storeys above ground. The editor is grateful to the Controller of Programmes for permission to publish this transcript of the discussion.
Central District of Hong Kong to plan it, in connection with the Star Ferry concourse. for multi-level circulation so that the pedestrian could walk from shopping arcade to shopping arcade without having to nip through busy streets. Pedestrian circulation would then have been at a higher level than the traffic. This would have made Central a pleasanter place to walk around in, a pleasanter place to shop and to go to work.
Fawcett: Hasn't this in fact been envisaged in certain buildings? Wasn't it at one time designed that Alexandra House should have a walkway, and the Hilton Hotel as well?
in
Haffner: This was intended many cases. In fact Hong Kong has a wonderful opportunity for this sort of development because there already multi-storey shopping arcades which only need connecting across the streets.
are
Another case of a lost opportunity which relates very closely to this is the scheme for the Naval Dockyard site, where multi-level circulation was en- visaged. The reason why this site became a lost opportunity was that it happened too late. We had already been through our industrial revolution. I hope the building tempo will revive but at the moment it is not doing so and that scheme was lost because of timing, not because it was а bad scheme.
Fawcett: Hong Kong has got a tremendous population in a very small area. This high density is a very big problem. Can we build taller build- ings to put people in? Do you think this would help to put up 50-storey buildings instead of the 20-storey that are being built at the moment?
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Kinoshita: Density is a relative thing. Let us take a certain area of Hong Kong say the Mongkok area of Kowloon where basically there are four-storey buildings spread over a large area. Consider these four-storey buildings as books spread out flat on a table. If you take each of the books and stand it on its side you immediate- ly create a great deal more open space on the table. . . and so with buildings, If you have a certain density and you take these four-storey buildings and build them higher say to 16 or 20 storeys you immediately get more open spaces. These open spaces have to be used properly. They should not be used just as car parks. They should be used for social amenities such as schools and playgrounds. It is impor- tant too that the site should not be used in such a way that all these tall buildings are then piled together in this one area,
thereby increasing the density.
Fawcett: This is a point which I am sure you all agree upon. Couldn't more open planning be brought to the old Naval Dockyard site or the Whit-
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