Form Follows Fever: Malaria and the Construction of Hong Kong, 1841–1849

Speaker: Chris Cowell, London South Bank University

Introduction: John Carroll, Department of History, HKU

Respondents:
Jenny Chak, MPhil Candidate in Comparative Literature, HKU
Lory Wong, PhD Candidate in Comparative Literature, HKU

Moderator: Daniel Elam, Department of Comparative Literature, HKU

Date: Monday, April 15, 2024
Time: 5:00 pm Hong Kong Time (10:00 am London)
Venue: On Zoom

Form Follows Fever: Malaria and the Construction of Hong Kong, 1841–1849 is the first in-depth account of the turbulent years of initial urban settlement and growth of colonial Hong Kong across the 1840s. During this period, the island gained a terrible reputation as a diseased and deadly location. Malaria, then perceived as a mysterious vapor or miasma, intermittently carried off settlers by the hundreds. Various attempts to arrest its effects acted as a catalyst, reconfiguring both the city’s physical and political landscape, though not necessarily for the better. However, Hong Kong’s ‘construction’ was not just physical but also imagined. By drawing upon many unpublished textual sources, Form Follows Fever sheds new light on a period often considered the colonial Dark Ages in the territory’s history.

Christopher Cowell received a PhD in architecture (history and theory) from Columbia University. He teaches architectural history and theory at London South Bank University. His longstanding historical research focuses on both southern China and northern India, exploring the entanglement of modernity within European imperialism and its participation in architecture and urbanism.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press is offering a 20% discount for online orders of the book up to March 31, 2024. For details, visit https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/FormFollowsFever