An 1882 engraving depicts a banquet in a palace in India. Hong Kong borrowed heavily from Indian building designs to help keep cool in scorching summers before air conditioning was invented. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images
An 1882 engraving depicts a banquet in a palace in India. Hong Kong borrowed heavily from Indian building designs to help keep cool in scorching summers before air conditioning was invented. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Jason Wordie
Opinion

Opinion

Then & Now by Jason Wordie

How Hong Kong buildings kept cool before air conditioning by copying India – deep verandas, high ceilings, chick blinds and shutters

  • Lying on almost the same latitude and with similar climatic conditions, Calcutta, and other buildings in Bengal, inspired many building features in Hong Kong
  • Calcutta was also the major external trading partner for the Canton delta, and for a cosmopolitan array of merchants, constant travel there made for familiarity

An 1882 engraving depicts a banquet in a palace in India. Hong Kong borrowed heavily from Indian building designs to help keep cool in scorching summers before air conditioning was invented. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images
An 1882 engraving depicts a banquet in a palace in India. Hong Kong borrowed heavily from Indian building designs to help keep cool in scorching summers before air conditioning was invented. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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