你對唐樓的印象是甚麼? 🤔What is your impression of Tong Lau?
唐樓與洋樓/ 唐樓，唐樓我們就叫得多，你又知不知道唐樓為何叫做唐樓？其實香港的唐樓出現在1841年英國佔領香港之後。當時香港正值發展農業和漁業，並於太平山開始興建道路和樓房，這些作為華人聚居的建築被稱為唐樓；但又有另一個說法指出其實唐樓這個詞是在1880年代開始出現，唐樓作為在地契條款上與洋樓的區分。當時的洋樓只可以是單一住宅用途和單一住客或租客；而唐樓則可下鋪上居，亦可分拆出租。這也反映了當時兩種不同的社會階級水平，分拆作不同單位大小當然較受相對貧窮的人歡迎。而唐樓可分為四個階段的漸變。 鄰里之間/ 唐樓的出現與設計的改變都反映了當時香港社會的生活寫照，因空間的需求與西方文化的影響加入了「廣州式騎樓」和「藝術裝飾」的元素，唐樓成為香港其中一種最有代表性的建築風格。而因為唐樓容許隔格改動與沒有租客的上限，創造了居民們之間強烈的鄰里關係。各種生活模式微妙地相互重疊與交錯，當然日常生活多少也會嗌霎，但也創造了很多鄰里之間的交流與故事。
Tong Lau vs Yeung Lau/ You can find Tong Lau here and there in Hong Kong, but do you know the origin of the name “Tong Lau”? Tong Lau first existed in the period after the United Kingdom occupied Hong Kong in 1841, a time when fishery and agriculture were the primary industries, and people started to construct roads and houses on Victoria Peak. All the houses were built for the settlement of Chinese and thus named as “唐樓Tong Lau”, which is a direct translation from Cantonese as the meaning of Chinese occupied tenement house. However, there is another claim that the term Tong Lau was formed in the 1880s as the clear division between it and ‘’洋樓Yeung Lau‘’, the residential mansions that were usually occupied by Western. Yeung Lau was only allowed for one occupant in one unit and with a single function of residential use. While Tong Lau was allowed for more than one occupant in one unit, and with commercial use at the ground floor; residential use at the upper floor. It reflected the difference of two distinct social classes that the flexible partitioning of Tong Lau was more favourable to those who had financial difficulties to rent multiple shelters. There are a total of four generations of Tong Lau. Street Life/ The presence and evolution of Tong Lau is the reflection of stories of Hong Kong society at different periods.Influenced by the eastern culture of veranda and western culture of “Art Deco”, Tong Lau became one of the typical architectural styles in Hong Kong. Thanks to the flexibility of partitioning and the grant of unlimited tenants, it created the tenacious bonding between neighbours.
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