From ‘Modern’ to ‘Moderne’: 20th-Century Architecture Heritage in Hong Kong

Abstract

When people talk about architectural heritage, they often ask, “What is the style of this building?” Such attention to style has its basis in Classical architecture, which was revived during the Renaissance and developed into different aesthetic expressions (“styles”) based on the principles established in ancient Greek and Roman times. However, with the emergence of Modernism in the 20th century, architecture became an internationally standardized design response based on the principle of “form follows function”; stylistic labels were no longer relevant. Given this, how do we understand the architectural heritage of the 20th century? The speakers, both architectural conservationists, will answer this question in this lecture.