Hong Kong’s public residential architecture – developed between the 1950s and 1980s when the colony was under British rule – embracing the modernist architectural approach, has redesigned the city, its urban life and redefined the lives of its inhabitants.
To accommodate almost three million inhabitants, massive structures have been built that have created one of the most futuristic and densely populated urban landscapes in the world.
Concrete Hong Kong – – the book published in 2023 by the Polish publishing house Zupagrafika – in the first part, it features texts and photographs by David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka (Zupagrafika) with compelling examples including the cruciform Shun On Estate, the vibrant Choi Hung Estate and the brutalist Po Lai Court .
In the second part, readers immerse themselves in a practical experience, assembling six pre-folded and pre-cut models which include: Ying Ming Court, Cho Yiu Chuen, Tsui Lam Estate, Shun On Estate, Po Lai Court and Choi Hung Estate. An innovative way for readers to discover the stories hidden behind the concrete jungles of Hong Kong.
In the preface, Charles Lai, an architect and architectural historian living in Hong Kong, explains the purpose of the publication:
“During the 1970s and 1980s, population growth and land shortages led to the development of new building types with higher occupancy densities. The examples presented in this book include the full range of these typologies; they are all unique in their respective contexts but still maintain a link with the modernist architectural canons from which they take reference.”
