It is not possible to adequately understand post-war Hong Kong without recognising the profound impact that its public housing programme has had on the city’s development. Mark I, Hong Kong’s public housing prototype provided more than basic shelter for society’s less privileged, its design also deserves architectural merit. The inception of the Mark I Block in 1954 indeed aroused questions: what was the housing situation like in Hong Kong before the 1950s? Was the Shek Kip Mei fire on Christmas Day 1953 the sole instigator of the colonial government’s interventions in Hong Kong’s public housing programme? If the decision was purely to meet resettlement needs, why did the public housing programme continue? In terms of design, why did the Mark I Block bear no resemblance to the Tong Lau or composite buildings which were popular at the time in Hong Kong? Where did the design originate from? Was it local wisdom or was it inspired by overseas examples? If the latter, how did it relate to the British socio-cultural concept of low-income housing? And if so, how was it adapted to meet the cultural needs of local communities? This book is the result of ten years of investigation into the history, professional accounts, and design development of Hong Kong’s public housing prototype, and is dedicated to all who have contributed to public housing in Hong Kong.

要充分了解戰後的香港，不能不認識公營房屋計劃對城市發展的深遠影響。第一型徙置大廈（一型徙廈）——香港公屋的原型——不只是遮風擋雨的補貼居所，更具有建築價值。首批一型徙廈於1954年落成，那麼二十世紀五十年代之前，香港的住房情況又是怎樣？1953年聖誕的石硤尾大火，是殖民政府開展公營房屋計劃的主因？如果一型徙廈只為安置大火後無家可歸的災民，為何公屋計劃持續進行？一型徙廈的建築設計跟當時普羅大眾居住的唐樓和綜合用途樓宇大相逕庭，為甚麼？設計來自何方神聖？是本地智慧還是來自外國的靈感？它跟英國興建低收入住屋背後的社會文化理念有甚麼關係？又如何本土打造？十年研究之旅，以專業角度深入解構一型徙廈的歷史、設計基因及其發展。謹以本書獻給所有曾為香港公營房屋付出努力的同行者。