N
2.
3
para.2 (The Heritage Society's counter -
With ref. to
2 (ii).
Diagram att'd for ref.
(two lines added
here by Prescott later).
(1) cont.
be an independent assessment. Surely the U.K. Government could ask for such an opinion from one of the many bodies interested in histórical buildings and of known professional standing.
Additionally this Building is now one of very few left in Hong Kong. It has historical/emotional/ psychological significance to this community, even if it is not an important architechtural monument on world wide assessment.
It was admitted that the bulk of people in Hong Kong were here to make a fast buck and that few regarded it as home. It is, however, HOME for a considerable number.
Whilst this was the situation and whilst Hong Kong held inevitably a large number of people whose education was limited, IS IT NOT IMPORTANT THAT GOVERNMENT ACT AS CUSTODIAN FOR the people of Hong Kong as regards their HERITAGE.
Such custodianship should have a longer view than it would appear a majority of present citizens can be expected to have with their known attitudes of self first
(ii).
It was pointed out that the Tower by itself is not architecturally viable. It has no facings on 3 of its sides for half its height, being 'built into' the main mass of the structure of the Terminal building.
THE WHOLE BUILDING SHOULD BE CONSERVED AND MUST BE SEEN AS A SINGLE ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION. The Tower is in fact the least consistent element grammatically.
(Although the F & C.O. representative was extremely scathing about the ability of architects, one wonders why the professional opinion of the building as a whole cannot be admitted as of more validity than those who have NO training whatsoever and "know what they like".)
THE CASE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF K.C.R. TERMINAL BUILDING IS CONSTANTLY BEING PRESENTED BY GOVERNMENT IN TERMS OF EITHER/OR.
HERITAGE MAKE IT ABSOLUTELT CLEAR THAT THIS IS NOT SO we are NOT AGAINST THE CULTURAL COMPLEX, we wish to have the K.C.R. BUILDING AND THE COMPLEX
Our disgram of Relationships/of Parameters relative to the OVERALL layout of Tsim Sha Tsui was tabled to illustrate this.
NO ONE IN GOVERNMENT IS TAKING AN OVERALL AND COMPRE- HENSIVE VIEW OF THE TOWN PLANNING PROBLEM AS CIVIC DESIGN (certainly the Town Planning Board and Dept. of Government are not that is not their present duty under the antiquated Planning laws we use and there is no formal mechanism to study this sort of problem. )
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