Learning from Hong Kong: On Possibilities for a Contemporary Urban Vernacular

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• Prof. Thomas Chung, Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge
• Wednesday 04 May 2011, 13:15-14:15
• First-floor Classroom, Department of Architecture, 1-5 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge, CB2 1PX, www.arct.cam.ac.uk..

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Peter Armitage.

Abstract: This talk considers Hong Kongʼs contemporary vernacular through case studies, particularly on selected areas in Central and the historical fabric of adjacent precincts. The cityʼs urban image is often read as a seductive architecture of spectacle fuelled by a relentless neon- capitalism, an urbanscape of indeterminate anonymity proliferated via property speculation and infrastructural efficiency, or ones in which singular motifs such as verticality, density or ʻdisappearanceʼ dominate.In contrast, the talk focuses on how the cityʼs topography, urban settings and architectural types condition as well as evolve out of everyday living – the co- existence of disparate peoples and technologies within a culture of congestion and accelerated existence.

Biography: Thomas Chung currently teaches in the School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was educated at Cambridge and has practiced in London prior to joining CUHK in 2006. His research interests include urban transformation and heritage in Hong Kong as well as the problem of commemorative space in Japan. He was co-curator for the 2007 Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, and has exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010.

This talk is part of the Martin Centre Research Seminar Series - 41st Annual Series of Lunchtime Lectures series.

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• First-floor Classroom, Department of Architecture, 1-5 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge, CB2 1PX, www.arct.cam.ac.uk.

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