by Rosman C.C. Wai
Recipient of the 2020 DAM Architectural Book Award and the Publishing Award (Art & Design) at the 2021 Hong Kong Publishing Biennial Awards
It wouldn’t be possible to understand post-war Hong Kong without recognising the profound impact of the city’s public housing programme. Mark I, Hong Kong’s public housing prototype, did more than just provide basic shelter for those in need of housing in 1954. It was also a design deserving of architectural merit.
But Mark I raieses many questions: What was the housing situation like in Hong Kong before the 1950s? Was the Shek Kip Mei fire on Christmas Day 1953 the sole instigator of the colonial government’s public housing programme? If the decision was purely to meet resettlement needs, why did the public housing programme continue? In terms of design, why did the Mark I Block bear no resemblance to the tong lau or composite buildings popular in Hong Kong at the time? Where did Mark I’s design originate from?
This book is the result of Rosman C.C. Wai’s ten years of investigation into the history, professional accounts, and design development of Hong Kong’s public housing prototype, and is dedicated to all who have contributed to public housing in Hong Kong.
衛翠芷
如果不認識到香港公共住房計劃的深遠影響,就不可能了解戰後的香港。作者以十年研究之旅,以專業角度深入解構一型徙廈的歷史、設計基因及其發展。
若要了解戰後的香港房屋發展,不能不認識第一型徙置大廈----香港公屋的原型----不只是遮風擋雨的資助房屋,香港的公共房屋原型在 1954 年不僅為有住房需要的人提供了基本的住所,它也是一個有建築價值的設計。
176 pages. Full colour. Hardcase. Spiral bound.
260mm (H) x 200mm (W)
Bilingual (Chinese & English)
ISBN 978-988-77238-1-3
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