Inside The Kowloon Walled City With Author and Architect Ian Lambot

Description

In this talk hosted by Royal Geographic Society Hong Kong, Lambot reveals how, for over 40 years between 1947 and 1992, the Kowloon Walled City was able to grow and prosper as a part of China but situated in Hong Kong.

Here on a site just measuring 220 x 110 metres, without the contribution of architects and engineers and with only minimal government intervention, the City became home to some 35,000 people, making it by far the most densely populated place on Earth.

The Kowloon Walled City was home to every aspect of human endeavour, a ‘den of iniquity’, a maze of striptease joints, brothels, dog-meat restaurants and opium dens, but also a thriving community of high-rise tenement buildings.  t included some of the most unusual dwellings on earth which having been built all around, had no windows, housing families some of whom had never left the City.  Richly illustrated, the talk explores the full breadth of this extraordinary community, the likes of which are unlikely to be ever seen again.

Ian Lambot arrived in Hong Kong in 1979, where he continued to live for the next 18 years. Lambot has published numerous books, including City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City with photographer Greg Girard, who has famously captured the Walled City.

Please note that registration is requested but walk-in is welcome. This event is free for student members of RGSHK.