Buildings in Hong Kong are being demolished and rebuilt relentlessly. Some significant architectures have dissolved under gentrification in Hong Kong. Documenting history, buildings have faded, as well as the cultural value they carried. One question arises: how do we preserve these witnesses of humanity?
Architecture has always been a crucial element in film to set the time and space of a story implicitly. Therefore, Abbas believes film could encourage the reappearance of architecture. For instance, the Repulse Bay Hotel reappeared in a film as itself could tell its story soundlessly, which reinforces with Hong Kong stories. Under rapid gentrification and globalization, buildings and streets are losing their charisma and aura. In contrast, art, including films, seeks uniqueness and expressiveness. Directors appreciate the cultural uniqueness and richness in some architectures, protecting the forgotten architectures, putting them onto the silver screen.
Art in general is a capsule of history and culture, which people can always resonate with. Under digital age, film is a irresistible culture, which everyone can enjoy. Films can not only preserve local culture as architectures reappear, but also spread cultures, resulting in a more diverse culture world and colorful city.
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More than preserving architecture as the, as you would put it, “witness of humanity”, Ackbar Abbas situates Hong Kong in a context of the (post-) colonialism history in Hong Kong (see p.65). He elaborates not only how the city has been built and rebuilt through time, but also on how this appearance/disappearance reflected the politics and power-play between the British empire, Hong Kong, and China. The Repulse Bay Hotel was explored as an example of the preservation endeavour from the private sector. However, Abbas is likely to be very critical about this particular example. Although this building received an architectural award for the old-and-new integration, Abbas argues how “… the old is very clearly a remake, something that comes out of a movie set. The replica is not even, strictly speaking, an example of preservation, which allows it to make more explicit … how preservation is posited on the disappearance of the historical site” (p.68-69).