Through Ackbar Abbas’ article, I have had a glimpse on the general context of nowadays Hong Kong architecture and how to understand them systematically. In Abbas’ view, the anxiety that the “Hong Kong culture”, formed in the 1980s due to economic success, will disappear after the 1997 handover. And this makes the city trying to build its own postcolonial identity and still pervaded in a space of disappearance. Apart from cultural and political factors, Abbas also finds a way to interpret such space, which I find rather accurate – representations. Abbas considers both the positive and negative representations of Hong Kong, like the well-blended east and west cultures, hard-working people, and a dependent colony. As for how to view the architecture in Hong Kong, Abbas refined the classification by Isozaki and Asada, and introduces three new kinds: the Merely Local, the Placeless, and the Anonymous. These new points lets me rethink of how to view the everyday spaces around me.
Yu Qi
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A well-thought-out reflection based on Abbas’ text. It is especially encouraging to hear that this reading has provoked you to think more critically about the constructed spaces around you.