Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Catholic church buildings in Hong Kong built since the 19th century till 2022 had been defined largely by Church and State relations of the time. From the 19th century till the early 1980s, during which Hong Kong had been a British colony, Church and the Government maintained a inter-dependent relation. When Britain and China signed the Join Declaration in 1984 to return the entire territory of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Churches of Hong Kong decided to operate independently from the Govrenment as much as possible. Depending on Church-State relation of the time, the Church selected a use to be integrated with the church (e.g. school, welfare, commercial), owner of the building (Church, government, private), permanency of the church space (temporary, transitional, permanent). The combinations defined architectural plan and form of the churches. Catholic churches of Hong Kong used adaptation and hybridization to secure the space of worship in the rapidly changing Church-State relations.
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