2025 Theses Master's

The Hong Kong Corner House: An Everyday Architecture

Grimmer, Conrad Elliot

This thesis focuses on the Hong Kong “corner house” typology, a form of privately-built mixed-use apartment building which proliferated across a rapidly growing postwar Hong Kong from 1950 to 1965. A common sight across the city (particularly in Kowloon’s working class urban neighborhoods), these buildings are recognizable by their location on corner lots, cantilevered balconies with a distinct curve, and ribbon windows from illegal enclosures to maximize usable area. These buildings tell a story of a growing city, and an architecture that was amended, or developed a vernacular, to suit its residents' needs.

This thesis builds upon the existing literature to contextualize and study the emergence of corner houses within Hong Kong’s postwar reconstruction, population growth, evolution in building regulations, vernacular infill by residents, and relation to the Modern movement. This thesis adds to the existing literature by recognizing the urgency in advocating for the preservation of corner houses due to the threat of demolition and redevelopment posed by current large-scale urban renewal efforts that target neighborhoods where corner houses are located. This urgency is compounded by a growing popular interest in the urban vernacular typology, which is overlooked within official narratives on Hong Kong’s architectural heritage and government sponsored revitalization projects that emphasize monumentality. This thesis ultimately argues that the corner house typology is worthy of recognition and preservation, given its historical importance and due to the current urgency of threats to its continued existence.

Keywords: China–Hong Kong, Historic Preservation, Modern movement (Architecture), Vernacular Architecture, Apartments