Routledge Research in Architecture Series, Jun 2025 |

The book offers the first in-depth study of three major Hong Kong public cultural architecture works built in the late-colonial years – the Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Shatin Town Hall, and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. It traces the design and development of public cultural architecture in Hong Kong, drawing upon primary sources including architectural drawings, government documents, and key informant interviews. The research documents and analyses the dynamics of public work construction and cultural policy formation during the last decades of British Colonial rule. The book’s uniqueness lies in its interdisciplinary approach to studying cultural architecture, presented as a dialogue between urban development history and public architecture design.

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Table of Content:

• Introduction – A Spatial Reading of Cultural Landmarks
• Chapter 1 – The Cultural Centre: a Public Institution Typology
• Chapter 2 – Institutional Cultural Space in Late-colonial Hong Kong
• Chapter 3 – New Towns and the Municipal Cultural Centres
• Chapter 4 – The Making of a Cultural Landmark
• Chapter 5 – Cultural Space for Public Participation
• Chapter 6 – Characteristics of Late-Colonial Cultural Space
• Epilogue – The Next Turn in Hong Kong’s Cultural Development