Glendinning, Miles

On-line Article: Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month, July 2011: Wah Fu Estate, Hong Kong. Link: http://www.c20society.org.uk/botm/wah-fu-estate-hong-kong

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     Edinburgh Research Explorer                                      On-line Article: Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month,July 2011: Wah Fu Estate, Hong Kong.Citation for published version:Glendinning, M, On-line Article: Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month, July 2011: Wah Fu Estate,Hong Kong., 2011, Digital or Visual Products.Link:Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research ExplorerDocument Version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPublisher Rights Statement:© Glendinning, M. (Author). (2011). On-line Article: Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month, July 2011:Wah Fu Estate, Hong Kong.General rightsCopyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s)and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise andabide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policyThe University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorercontent complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright pleasecontact openaccess@ed.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately andinvestigate your claim.Download date: 05. Apr. 2019(/)(http://www.c20society.org.uk/100-buildings/)News(http://www.c20society.org.uk/news/)Building of themonth(http://w w w .c20society.org.uk/botm/)Press releases(http://w w w .c20society.org.uk/press-releases/)About us(http://www.c20society.org.uk/about-us/)Blog(http://www.c20society.org.uk/blog/)Casework &Campaigns(http://www.c20society.org.uk/casework-campaigns/)Regionalgroups(http://www.c20society.org.uk/regional-groups/)Publications(http://www.c20society.org.uk/publications/)Events(http://c20.datawareonline.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=63)Members(http://c20.datawareonline.co.uk/)Links(http://www.c20society.org.uk/links/)Sign in(http://c20.dataw areonline.co.uk/default.aspx?tabid=65)Renew(http://c20.dataw areonline.co.uk/default.aspx?tabid=69)MembersSubscribe(http://w w w .c20society.org.uk/new sletter/)NewsletterJoin the society(http://c20.dataw ar online.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=64)Donate(http://w w w .c20society.org.uk/donate/)Support us Campaigning forTwentieth centuryarchitectureBuilding of the monthJuly 2011Wah Fu Estate, Hong KongHong Kong Housing Department architecture division (project architect, Donald P H Liao) 1965-70, by MilesGlendinningTo modern architecture heritage enthusiasts in the UK, Europe or America, public housing is an aspect of the ModernMovement that belongs f irmly, and often uncomfortably, in the past – unlike other modernist building programmes that arenow  firmly established as ‘heritage’ and stylistically revived in the ‘neo-modernism’ of the 1990s and 2000s. Exceptingisolated iconic set pieces such as Robin Hood Gardens, mass housing is largely ‘invisible’ in heritage terms, relegated bythe w estern heritage ‘family’ to the status of an embarrassing, debilitated elderly relative. Not so in Hong Kong, w heremodernist mass housing is still very much in the prime of life, w ith a f if ty-year-old programme that show s no sign oflosing its ferocious energy or its passionate public support.This month’s Building (or Estate) of the Month, the Wah Fu Estate (comprising 9,100 f lats and built in 1965-70), occupiesa pivotal point in the history of that programme, both in organisational and architectural terms. Although its blocks of only21 storeys maximum have been far outstripped by the 41-storey tow ers of contemporary Hong Kong public housing,Wah Fu, rather like the Alton Estate in London f if teen years before, marked a crucial shift aw ay from utilitarianengineering-led patterns tow ards more sophisticated architectural and planning solutions, prominently featuring talltow er blocks.Large-scale public housing in Hong Kong had begun in 1954 w ith the so-called ‘Resettlement’ programme, an emergencyresponse to the f lood of refugees from communist China and the consequent mushrooming of insanitary, combustibleshanty-tow ns. The vast output of rudimentary 7-storey balcony-access slab blocks, directed by military engineers anddesignated (like tanks or bombers) as ‘Mk 1’, ‘Mk 2’ (etc.), contained basic shelter only, in the form of unserviced singlerooms and communal sanitary facilities. Although far preferable to sleeping rough or in crow ded tenement cubicles, thedensity of the blocks w as fantastic by Western standards, their architecture barrack-like and housing management non-existent. In reaction, a new  ‘Hong Kong Housing Authority’ w as formed, dedicated to building architect-designedprojects of self-contained f lats.In a succession of projects (notably North Point, 1955-7, So Uk, completed 1960, and Choi Hung, opened 1962), theHKHA’s executive arm, the Housing Department (HD), applied the open-planning principles of modernism to the unique,ultra-dense conditions of Hong Kong. These w ere all designed by local private architects and dominated by slab blocksof up to 20 storeys, but by the early 60s the HD, under Housing Commissioner J M Fraser, had begun building up anarchitects division of its ow n, led by Taiw an-born designer Donald P H Liao. Like Robert Matthew  in the LCC, w hoseprojects he toured in the early 60s, Liao set out to establish architectural control of housing design through a newformula of contemporary Modernist housing that could also match the engineers’ high output levels.At Wah Fu, he applied and modif ied a number of key European (especially English) design principles for Hong Kongconditions. The f irst of these w as the use of variegated block heights and site design. Where Mk 1 Resettlement slabsw ere simply planted in rigid row s, Wah Fu, sited on a dramatic headland on the w est coast of Hong Kong Island, w asplanned to exploit rather than overw helm its site contours: in a high-density version of the Alton Estate, the building mixcombined slab blocks w ith a new  type of tall (21-storey) tow er of Liao’s ow n design, the ‘Tw in Tow er Block’: likeScottish ‘Z-plan’ castles, these each comprised tw o juxtaposed tow ers of a hollow , internally galleried plan. The seconddesign innovation w as an adaptation of the comprehensive land-use planning of the English New  Tow ns. Here, denseHong Kong scored over spraw ling Britain, as, w ith each estate compressing the population of Stevenage or Harlow  intoa few  acres, a comprehensive, multi-level ‘tow n centre’ could immediately be provided, domesticating and routinising theBrutalist megastructure ideal.These tw o key principles really came into their ow n in the mid-1970s, w hen a new , forceful Governor, MurrayMcLehose, set out to stabilise Hong Kong’s fragile immigrant society through a vastly expanded public housing drive,including city-scale New  Tow ns, massed redevelopment of the Resettlement estates, and building for subsidised saleas w ell as rent. With Liao heading a new , unitary HD, architects w ere f irmly in control of this expanded programme,upholding the primacy of design and landscaping even as block heights soared: although early New  Tow ns such asSha Tin and Tsuen Wan began w ith Wah Fu-style blocks, by the late 1980s the standard blocks w ere slim, 41-storeytow ers (the ‘Harmony’ and ‘Concord’ series), and every single estate incorporated a community/commercialmegastructure centre.Over the forty years since the completion of Wah Fu, Hong Kong’s public-housing landscape has been transformedseemingly beyond recognition, w ith the last resettlement estates f inally giving w ay to dramatic tow er outcrops – but thedesign principles established by Liao’s team are still very much alive and kicking. Although some early HKHA estates ofthe 50s are also now  targeted for redevelopment, Wah Fu and several others have been reprieved for 15 years ormore. Maybe this breathing-space w ill allow  Hong Kong’s burgeoning modernist heritage movement to catch up andsecure their long-term future – but w hat is arguably more important is the continuing vitality of the housing drive itself. Itis one of the great paradoxes of Modern Movement history that ‘hyper-capitalist’ Hong Kong should now  be carryingforw ard the legacy of w elfare-state modernism into the 21st century – not as some Park Hill-style ‘heritage icon’, but asa living modern ‘vernacular’, directly and straightforw ardly continuing the modernist ethos of social provision for all.Casework(http://www.c20society.org.uk/casework/liverpool-hero-herbert-rowse/)April 2014Liverpool hero: Herbert Rowse(http://www.c20society.org.uk/casework/liverpool-hero-herbert-rowse/)  One of the Society’s triumphs in 2013 w as oursuccessful application to upgrade Herbert Row se’s IndiaBuildings in Liverpool (1924-32) to Grade II*. But thissuperb building,… More…(http://w w w .c20society.org.uk/casew ork/liverpool-hero-herbert-row se/)Events(http://c20.datawareonline.co.uk/default.aspx?tabid=63)(http://c20.datawareonline.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=62&EventId=331)16/05/14Sculpture In The Home. Talk and Private View(http://c20.datawareonline.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=62&EventId=331)16 May. 18.30 - 20.00 Sculpture In The Home at PangolinGallery London is a revival and celebration of the greatpost-w ar Arts Council series of exhibitions of the samename. Revisiting th... Events listing...(http://c20.dataw areonline.co.uk/default.aspx?tabid=63)Books(http://www.c20society.org.uk/books/wells-coates/)Wells Coates(http://www.c20society.org.uk/books/wells-coates/)By Elizabeth Darling Buy now  from English Heritage WellsCoates w as one of the most signif icant f igures in BritishArchitectural Modernism and designer of the landmarkLaw n Road… More…(http://w w w .c20society.org.uk/books/w ells-coates/)Search0 2Like Tweet 0Miles Glendinning is Professor of Architectural Conservation and Director of the Scottish Centre for ConservationStudies at Edinburgh College of Art.« Back to Building of the month archive (../)ShareAbout us(http://www.c20society.org.uk/about-us/)Press(ht p://www.c20society.org.uk/press/)Site map(ht p://www.c20 ociety.org.uk/site-map/)Contact us(http://www.c20society.org.uk/contact-us/)Jobs(ht p://www. 20so iety.org.uk/jobs/)Follow us(ht p://www.c20 ociety.org.uk/follow-us/) (https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/thetwentiethcenturysociety)  (//www.facebook.com/pages/The-Twentieth-Century-Society/288552537860726) (//twitter.com/20thCenturySoc)  (//www.flickr.com/groups/c20society/)  (/feed)

On-line Article: Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month, July 2011: Wah Fu Estate, Hong Kong.

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On-line Article: Twentieth Century Society Building of the Month, July 2011: Wah Fu Estate, Hong Kong.

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