In search of terrazzo craft at postwar architecture in Hong Kong
蘋果日報 2020/12/13 00:01
Ever impressed by the smooth touch of the handrails of stairs in old buildings? Many signboards and staircases in tenement buildings built before the ’60s were made of terrazzo – an inexpensive, durable and cleaning-friendly composite material. However, the traditional craftsmanship that incorporates terrazzo into architecture is gradually fading from the face of the city.
Known for its durability, cleanability, adaptability and seamlessness, terrazzo was widely used to decorate high-touch surfaces like staircases, lobbies and wet market tabletops back in the ’50s and ’60s. Architectural conservationist Wendy Ng notes that terrazzo can be identified by the black and white chips embedded in the material. Unlike the Western faux-marble craft known as “Italian plaster,” Hong Kong’s terrazzo is made up of cement and quartz chips.
Architectural conservationist Wendy Ng
Terrazzo signage used to be common in wet markets – thanks largely to its color fastness and easiness to clean, but now only a few are left in Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei. In Mong Kok Market, the terrazzo embossed signboard of Man Shun Meat Company is as old as its 60-year-old, third-generation owner Leung, who took over the shop 20 years ago. The nearby 50-year-old Hop Yik Meat Shop even has a signboard of terrazzo embossed on paper tiles.
However, shops in Hong Kong don’t usually survive as long as their terrazzo signboards. Some of them have fallen into the hands of the new owners after the original shops went out of business. The signboard of Yau Kee Hop BBQ in Sheung Wan, for instance, lives on and is still visible today after the shop closed in 1970. But the signboard of Do Bo Meat Company in Yau Ma Tei Market is not as fortunate. After the shop was shut, the space was divided into two smaller shops. The new owner was reluctant to pay for the removal of the sign, so it was split into two halves, with “Do” and “Bo” each belonging to a different shop. “Bo” was later removed.
Even though Yau Kee Hop BBQ in Sheung Wan was shut in 1970, its signboard remains until today.
The space of Do Bo Meat Company in Yau Ma Tei market was split into two smaller shops, thus dividing its signboard into two halves.
Ng’s research shows that the earliest use of terrazzo in Hong Kong was recorded in an official document in 1913 as a material for building schools and hospitals. “As terrazzo is easy to clean, it suits infrastructures that hold higher standards for hygiene.” Apart from pre-war architecture such as Woo Cheong Pawn Shop in Wan Chai and Lui Seng Chun shophouse in Mong Kok, the inexpensive material was widely used for decorations in upscale buildings such as banks, churches and even the prestigious Peninsula Hotel.
Terrazzo staircases are commonly found in old buildings built before the ‘60s, because the decorative material is inexpensive, durable and cleaning-friendly.
Terrazzo was so popular that even the government, according to an archive found in the 1920s, suggested replacing floor tiles with terrazzo to lower the cost of house construction. But times have changed and production of terrazzo has become very expensive due to a lack of skilled workers and complicated production process.
Every step of the production takes a lot of time and patience. First, the craftsman needs to blend the cement, black and white chips, and water into a thick mixture and pour it into a mold. Then, to avoid air bubbles from forming, he has to squeeze out the air by continuously patting the mold. It usually takes a whole day for the cement of one color to dry, before repeating the whole process for another color. And the surface of the terrazzo has to be polished in water to achieve its signature shine.
Ng worries that the craftsmanship, given its highly labour-intensive and time-consuming practice, will vanish in the city where every second counts. “Nowadays, we can just buy some ready-to-use tiles and finish tiling the floor in an afternoon. It will take a few days to do it with terrazzo, as you need time to dry and polish,” she says.
Interior designer Keith Chan adds, “Terrazzo came into popularity because even though Hong Kong people weren’t wealthy, they fancied western style interior designs. It showed how smart and adaptable Hong Kong people were, even back then.”
Interior designer Keith Chan
Both Ng and Chan consider the signboard of Ho To Tai Noodle Shop in Yuen Long to be the most beautiful and best-preserved terrazzo signboard in Hong Kong. Not only is the signboard colorful and well-polished, as Chan notes, it is embedded perfectly into a rounded column. In addition to a delicately painted peach logo, the menu on the signboard is a masterpiece by calligrapher Qu Jian Gong. According to the owner of Ho To Tai Noodle Shop, while the signboard was made in 1961, most dishes on the menu did not exist. “For example, the item ‘sai lo fun’ written here doesn’t actually exist. It sounds like ‘children’s rice noodles,’ because the noodles are cut short so that kids can easily swallow them,” the owner explains. “And you won’t find this information on Google.”
Both Ng and Chan consider the signboard of Ho To Tai Noodle Shop to be the most beautiful and best-preserved terrazzo signboard in Hong Kong.
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