HONG KONG MODERN Architecture of the 1950s-1970s
Photo courtesy of Walter Koditek.
Photo courtesy of Walter Koditek.
544-548 Fuk Wa Street1, 1959, Steven S.L. Yue. Photo courtesy of Walter Koditek.
Kowloon Flour Mills, 161 Hoi Bun Road, Kwun Tong, 1966. Photo courtesy of Walter Koditek.
The book publication ‘HONG KONG MODERN Architecture of the 1950s-1970s’ by Walter Koditek will give a comprehensive overview on the modernist architecture in combining photography, detailed background information and academic essays. In the post-war decades, Hong Kong architects, many of them emigrated from Mainland China, embraced the modernist principles when forced to face the problems of housing shortage, mass construction and limited budgets. Although economic efficiencies often prevailed over design, their buildings were rooted in time and place, reflecting the local climate, social values, materials, technique and use in an often unique and pragmatic fashion. With more than 300 buildings and ensembles documented, this book aims to serve as a reference and enhance knowledge on modernist architecture of the post-war era in Hong Kong, and will contribute to the discussion of its architectural merit, historic and cultural values.
The book publication ‘HONG KONG MODERN Architecture of the 1950s-1970s’ by Walter Koditek will give a comprehensive overview on the modernist architecture in combining photography, detailed background information and academic essays. In the post-war decades, Hong Kong architects, many of them emigrated from Mainland China, embraced the modernist principles when forced to face the problems of housing shortage, mass construction and limited budgets. Although economic efficiencies often prevailed over design, their buildings were rooted in time and place, reflecting the local climate, social values, materials, technique and use in an often unique and pragmatic fashion. With more than 300 buildings and ensembles documented, this book aims to serve as a reference and enhance knowledge on modernist architecture of the post-war era in Hong Kong, and will contribute to the discussion of its architectural merit, historic and cultural values.
- 2021
- Grantee: Walter Koditek
Walter Koditek is a German urban planner, author and photographer based in Hong Kong. After graduating at Technical University Berlin, Walter’s first professional life had him practicing for almost two decades at various planning/design consultancies and teaching at university. In 2006, seconded by German development cooperation, he relocated to Asia, where he worked as an urban planning expert, advising on municipal and national levels in Cambodia and Vietnam. He moved on to Hong Kong in 2014, using the city as a base for his consultant work, and documenting its unique architectural landscape with his camera whenever possible. Walter has always been a strong advocate of cultural heritage conservation. In his second professional life as an author and photographer, he published the photobook Battambang Heritage (2018, Apsara Books, Hong Kong) and co-authored the Architectural Guide Phnom Penh (2020, DOM Publishers, Berlin), before focusing on the modernist architectural legacy of Hong Kong.