From the day when our primitive forebears first assembled twigs and branches to shelter themselves from rain and cold, to the staggering edifices of stone, steel and concrete that have fashioned our great cities - architecture has proved man's most monumental achievement.

When we look for evidence of those generations that passed this way before us, we look for their enduring traces. From the Pyramids of the Nile to the Parthenon of Athens, from the spires of Angkor Wat to the Dunhuang Cave of China, history has assembled for us, over thousands of years, a lasting testament to our life on this planet.

Because architecture is the very framework of our existence, it stands to reason that we invest in it our finest handiwork and derive from it our greatest pride. But it also stands to reason that the best of our achievements should be preserved and cherished, as lasting contributions to the record of who we are and what we have accomplished.

Hong Kong's own architectural achievements are considerable. We have reshaped our environmental milieu in a most spectacular way, building vertically to achieve high concentrations of humanity while also establishing a multi-layered matrix that maximises convenience, accessibility and comfort.

Modern living requires quality space. In this new age, we must not lose sight of the fact that architecture is an art form that blends real space and virtual space. We fill the real space with life, imagination, and spiritual freshness, and extract from its virtual space a modern outlook and a cultural legacy.

In some respects, Hong Kong has become a laboratory for future global trends in urban living, as a result of which we have attracted not only international attention but also the highest calibre of international architects eager to contribute their own skills to the refinement of our ever-evolving skyline, ridgeline, and shoreline.

Venice Architectural Biennale

Thanks to this attention, we have been invited to present, this September, Hong Kong's first exhibit at the 10th Venice Architectural Biennale, the world's most prominent architectural exposition.

The Hong Kong Institute of Architects and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council will be jointly involved in this presentation, which is certain to attract considerable interest, for the Venice Architectural Biennale is attended by over 100,000 people, including 3,000 international media. 

Hong Kong's debut participation at this prestigious international architectural event is fully supported by the Home Affairs Bureau and, in addition, we have received generous sponsorship from the business sector, including the Bank of China (Hong Kong).

The focus of the Venice Architectural Biennale 2006 is on the architecture and design of cities and their accompanying urban infrastructure and social dynamics.  The Hong Kong exhibition, entitled "Vice Versa - Displacing Acts, Lives & Thresholds of a Hyper City", will examine the various architectural displacements in Hong Kong's urban history.

This event offers a tremendous opportunity to exhibit to the world the richness and diversity of urban life in Hong Kong, affording a unique and valuable perspective of our personal living space.

Participation in such a major international gathering also provides an excellent opportunity for our members to engage in meaningful cultural exchanges with their counterparts overseas. Furthermore the exhibition coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, and will become one of the highlights of these celebrations.

Preservation

Since Hong Kong was first established, more than 160 years ago, as an international entrepot for the China trade, our city has undergone a virtually total transformation. In our haste to grow and expand, in our impatience to become rich and famous, we were in the habit of building and rebuilding, tearing down and replacing. Preservation has not been at the high end of our priorities.

Happily this is no longer the case, for now, through our maturity as a community, has come a dawning realisation of what we have already sacrificed in the course of our relatively brief and meteoric, but nonetheless astonishingly crowded and impetuous progress. We look around us and we see that we have built a great metropolis - one of the greatest and most distinctive in the world - but sadly one that lacks adequate anchorage in history.

Where other, older cities have added new layers of foundation over centuries, to become virtual living museums to their enduring psyche, ours has retained much less of its origins. We have to search hard for the scattered survivors of our earlier times, and where we find them we have to consider, very carefully, what we are to do with them.

Fortunately growing concern for our environment has led to growing concern for our heritage, so that we are now more than ever conscious of the principles of preservation. And we also see more clearly how important it is to preserve the continuity of our community and our culture. This continuity will enable us to retain both knowledge and memory, which contributes to our sense of belonging.

This growing public awareness of the importance of heritage preservation has led to joint action by the Government and the public to preserving our built heritage.

In 2003 the Lui family donated the 70-year-old private residence, Lui Seng Chun, to the Government for preservation, and in 2004 the Government entered into an agreement with the then proprietor of Kom Tong Hall, an historic mansion built in 1914. We acquired the latter and converted it into the Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum.

Recently, the owner of Dragon Garden has also committed to donating this private historic garden to the Government for public visitation. The significance of such donations does not lie in the economic value of the properties concerned, but in public acceptance of heritage preservation as a universal value.

The rapid development of Hong Kong's economy has given rise to increasing public expectations for improved living standard, as well as better town planning and living environment. But along with this have come growing concerns for the impact of the urban renewal process on the historical and cultural ambience of older districts in Hong Kong, together with the social network of their residents.

We must seek to suitably preserve built heritage with historical value during the town planning and urban renewal process, through a series of legal and administrative procedures.

Ownership

The main characteristic of our culture lies in our successful blend of East and West, so that our newfound resolve to safeguard our heritage must give proper balance and priority to what we select to preserve. We have to give due regard to the following four fundamental principles:

Firstly, to preserve but not to take over ownership;

Secondly, to ensure preservation is based on heritage value, and not simply on the age of a building;

Thirdly, to strike a proper balance between preservation needs and economic cost; and,

Fourthly, to give due regard to private property rights.

In considering development plans that involve historical building, our prime concern must always be how to properly preserve the cultural characteristics of the relevant structures. We also have to consider their adaptive re-use, taking account of whether the overall development is compatible with the uniqueness of the building.

Integral to this consideration are such questions as whether revitalisation will safeguard the buildings' cultural and historical value, facilitate public appreciation, achieve cost-effectiveness, encourage private sector and community involvement and help to promote cultural tourism.  Only through a multi-pronged approach and with support of various parties, can we preserve such valuable built heritage for the community without hindering urban development.

Love and care for old relics and buildings does not arise merely from personal interest in nostalgia. It also testifies to the efforts of Hong Kong people in tracing their own roots through their history and memories, and in building up their cultural identity.

Memory project

To engage the community in one collective effort to explore our common root, the Government is now pioneering a "Hong Kong Memory" project.  This project will comprise a comprehensive collection of historical information, recording of oral history, stories, multi-media testaments of our past, and documents, together with the establishment of a large-scale electronic database.  Contributions will involve our citizens, from academics, scholars, researchers to students, retired elderly and housewives. 

This initiative can enhance our appreciation and understanding of Hong Kong's historical past, heighten our awareness of our collective memory, and better articulate this city's cultural contents and legacy.

Hong Kong has taken city architecture to new summits and ever-greater prospects, but we must never forget that architecture has much in common with a living organism. It has to draw upon its roots for nourishment of new ideas and fresh vision. And our roots lie in our history and our cultural identity.

(Secretary for Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho gave this address on Letter to Hong Kong broadcast on Radio Television Hong Kong on September 17.)