HONG KONG SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS
The second quarterly general meet- ing of the Hong Kong Society of Architects was held in the new Wing On Life Building on 11th February, 1957. Mr. G.D. Su, President, pre- sided.
Because of the large number of slides, signs. Russian immigrants came at the a same time and Russian designs are also Mr. Wurster's talk really consisted of tions of each illustration as it was thrown amples extant of the mining period in the number of brief extemporaneous explana- frequently met with. There are also ex-
on the screen, and therefore it is extreme- middle 1800's with false fronts and out- ly difficult to give any sort of formal side staircases leading down the centre of summary of his lecture.
the building.
The
the following, however, contains
Supporting Mr. Su were the Vice- President, Mr. A.M.J. Wright, and essence of his talk:- the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Stanley Kwok, who also acted as Hon. Secre- tary for the meeting in the absence
of Mr. D.P. Crease.
The report showed that member- ship stood at 81 (members 68, asso- ciates 3, graduates 8 and students 2).
It was estimated that the potential membership of the Society was 310 (members 80, associates 50, graduates 80 and students 100).
Then came stone houses of elaborate Italinate architecture, following which came a period of wooden house construc- The first few slides were maps of Califor- tion which illustrated the romantic spirit nia practical details of the nine counties which imbued the pioneers of the later around San Francisco Bay. In the State part of the 19th century. They could do of California, Mt. Whitney is the highest wonderful things with wood, which was spot, 14,578 feet, while Salton Sea is below of course very common and easily obtain- sea level, making them the highest and the able, and they incorporated fantastic jig- lowest places on the continent.
saw ornamentation to their facades.
There is no rain in California from May to November, but during the rainy season the amount of rainfall varies from 100 inches annually in some inches in others.
Bernard Maybeck was one of the in- novators of his time, about 1900, who used all sorts of eclectic forms and used
areas to 3 or 4 them with such freedom that he influenc- ed an entirely new style. Greenery and shrubs were incorporated into the plan- The Great Valley runs north and south
ning of the houses he designed. A church through the central part of California,
he built in 1910 shows his spacious con- Report on the work of five sub- between the Coastal Ranges and the Sierra
cept of linking indoors and outdoors that committees were submitted. They Nevadas.
It is very hot and dry there has seldom been seen or excelled. In the were the Practice Committee (Chair- in the summer (105 deg.) and the air rises
transepts he used crossbeams where he The rising air is replaced wanted them, in such a way that the man, Mr. W. G. Gregory); the Pro- very rapidly.
by the air rushing in through the San walls themselves were subsidiary to the gramme Committee (Chairman, Mr. Francisco Valley to such an extent that structure and there are actually no walls G.D. Su); the Membership Committee it gives San Francisco an extremely cool anywhere to speak of, merely open spaces (Chairman, Mr. A.M.J. Wright); the summer and you have a condition where and rough concrete. The interior panel- Building Regulations Committee people go out of the city in the summer ling was of pre-stained wood which has (Chairman, Mr. Faitfone Wong); and time to get warm.
not been touched in the years since it the Exhibitions Committee (Chairman,
was built,
Mr. T. S.C. Feltham).
It was stated that the Royal In- stitute of British Architects "Home and Surroundings" exhibition will be shown in April or May. The Society is represented on the Hong Kong Arts Festival Committee and will take part in the November Festival.
by
The city of San Francisco is hilly and very similar to Hong Kong in appearance. Two architectural features of the city are that the majority of the residences are designed with big bay windows so as to catch the sun from as many angles as possible, and the designs of the houses are based upon the fact that they do not care what they live in so much as what There are no trees in the they look at. streets because they don't want any shade as they need as much sun as they can pos- sibly get.
After the meeting concluded a talk on Californian Architecture, illustrated colour slides, was given by Mr. W. Wurs- The architecture of California was ter, senior partner of Wurster, Bernardi basically Spanish which was brought from and Emmons, a firm of architects whose Mexico by the Spanish priests and in- head office is in San Francisco.
corporated into church structures. The Missions buildings scattered throughout California coast were all built of
bricks, by the Indians,
Mr. Wurster who is Dean of Architec- the ture at the University of California ar- adobe, sun-dried rived here to discuss with U.S. Consulate and p'astered over and whitewashed
In spite of the desire to maintain the traditional form of construction, there were a number of architects way ahead of their time. There are many buildings built around 1910 for instance with which was an entirely new concept then, glassed fronts made up of steel sections when brick walls with small windows was
the standard form of construction.
1926 saw the start of the Ranch House motif outdoor living which is the main feature of the private residential design in California. Natural Redwood is extensive- ly used. Wood, in spite of the fire dan- ger, is the natural building material as it withstands earthquake shocks to which the country is subject. The modern trend is to build large numbers of small houses ranging in price from US$8,000 to US$18,- These consist 000, including a small lot. to
of one-storey buildings with basic rooms, for the
officials the new Consulate building, which keep them weatherproof. In the Monterey all in timber and all allowing his firm designed.
area many original structures still stand- ing dating back to early 1815/20, and Mr. Wurster's talk was entitled "Cali-
were for many years imitated by later set- fornian Architecture, Old & New", and1 tlers in chicken wire and stucco. The was illustrated by coloured slides. There Larkin House built in 1825 by a customs were about two hundred of these of which official still stands in good condition, and about half dealt with the geographical, is an excellent example of the period. meteorological and historical influence on
the style and design of buildings in Cali- The next period was influenced by fornia, and the rest illustrated buildings Yankees immigrating into California and with which he was familiar.
bringing with them the Ango-Saxon de-
use of outdoors as part of the living area.
The Managing Editor invites the cooperation of all Architects to improve the presentation of articles covering their projects.
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