The decade-long making of Cultural Centre

In February 1974, a Cultural Complex sub-committee under the Standing Committee of the Whole Council of Urban Council was setup to coordinate the overall project that was originally under three separate Select Committee (Museum and Art Gallery Selection Committee, Recreation and Amenity Select Committee, City Hall Select Committee). As the master plan was drafted by…

Key players on cultural infrastructure

Cultural architecture is often celebrated for its distinction in design to the credit of the architect. However, as we unpack the idea of architectural landmark as a public institution, we would find many more factors in its making beyond the architect's drawing board. This brief review of public offices involved in cultural infrastructure development serves…

The inception of a Cultural Centre

Inaugurated with a full month of celebratory festival in November 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre marks its significances as the cultural and architectural landmark of the city's most prosperous development period at the end of the 20th century. The project span over two decades in its making, from early proposals of a new museum…

Why study HKCC?

Since the time of its opening in November 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC) has been a subject of debate as the new cultural landmark of the city. Situated along the Victoria harbour front, it was criticised by the public for its windowless facade, while initial acoustic quality of the concert hall was also…

The Cultural Centre typology

The Cultural Centre is a new building and institution typology developed during the post-war European welfare state governance, where culture was regarded as a social instrument with same standing as sanitation or education. Public building is an embodiment of the policy, and the physical space often reflect the institutional intention. With the intention to provide…

Museum, Theatre and the Cultural Centre

Since the time of Enlightenment, cultural activities and its institution has played an important role in the formation of modern democratic society. Museums, theatres and cultural centres were perceived to be the public space that engage people in civil society, although nowadays they are in competition with market forces that produce other urban public spaces…

3 stages of HK Cultural Development

The state-support cultural development in Hong Kong can be understood to begin from the post-war period in the late 20th century. With an influx of immigrants from mainland China since the 1950s, the population of Hong Kong has reached two million, for which increasing effort was placed on social provision by the colonial government, mainly…

Reading public space through plan drawings

Cultural architecture is usually discussed in terms of its formal aesthetic or symbolic meaning, and the actual experienced space receive less attention than the exterior imagery. Urban experience is often studied in social science, although only with marginal connection to the design and programming of architectural space. Therefore, a renewed perspective to look at the…

Cultural institutions and their public space

The “Parthenon of Books” is a full-size replica of the Athenian temple built with thousands of forbidden books to symbolise free speech, created by conceptual artist Marta Minujin for the documenta 14, in Kassel, Germany [1]. Visitors not only view the installation but also experience it as a public space. The artwork’s dual capacity in…

Double Commodification of Cultural Public Space

The K11 is a real estate brand promoting a vision that says “Lifestyle through Art”, created by Hong Kong developer New World Ltd[1]. Their latest flagship project, K11 Musea, is a hybrid of mall + museum, filled with contemporary artwork and staffed with curators for the art collection and public programme. It was their intention…