The text “Building on Disappearance: Hong Kong Architecture and Colonial Space” written by Ackbar Abbas explores the idea of Hong Kong’s disappearing identity as a result of the city’s every-changing architecture and expiring colonial space. Abbas seems to correlate the cities crumbling architectural and cultural identity to the growing vision of buildings as a commodity. As the economy and the population grows, the old architecture which alludes to Hong Kong’s colonial history is no longer able to satisfy societies demands. Therefore, the author raises the topic of preservation quite deliberately to illustrate his views on the idea of disappearance. One quote in the text that particularly struck me was “The preservation of old buildings gives us history in site, but it also means keeping history in sight.” It felt as though the author was saying that preservation gives the people a sense of identity as well as well as a sense of comfort.
A perceptive reflection, which reveals how you are thinking critically in this course – in your acknowledgment of the concluding quote.