Who cares? : establishing heritage-based repair and maintenance strategies for the village houses at Lai Chi Wo village, Hong Kong

Abstract

Traditional rural village houses represent the largest portion of the traditional Chinese rural architectures in Hong Kong. However, they are often not treated as heritage buildings in the context of repair and maintenance, and their cultural significances and values as well as their lives are being endangered. Lai Chi Wo, a cultural landscape that was recognized in UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2020, has an intact Hakka village setting and layout that contains more than hundred village houses, where majority of them are the oldest and the most traditional type single-storey village houses. This research is documenting the cultural significances and character-defining elements of these village houses in Lai Chi Wo Village as part of the cultural landscape. The current status, problems and issues in the repair and maintenance of these village houses are also studied and analysed. The aim of this research to retain the village houses’ heritage value and significance as well as their architectural character-defining elements, and to facilitate proper upkeep and maintenance of them to support present and future use and occupation. The methodology involved is by making reference to charters, standards etc., as well as repair and maintenance arrangement in village house restoration and revitalization project “Hakka Life Experience Village@Lai Chi Wo”, heritage-based repair and maintenance strategies are formulated for these village houses.