Architect Robert Fan Wenzhao and the design of Chung Chi campus

In about 1949, there was a large-scale migration of architects from the mainland to Hong Kong, China. Among them were those important figures in the modern Chinese architectural history such as Robert Fan, Su Gin-Djih, and Chu Pin. Their arrival at this colony had changed its architectural practice substantially from professional organization to actually built environment. Their unique contributions to Hong Kong’s modern architecture have been a new research interest in recent years. This paper tells a story about Robert Fan and his design of the Chung Chi College campus in the 1950s with an intention to reveal the multiaspects of the so called “migrant architects” through a single architectural event. The author tries to capture the intertwining relationship between the migrant architects and educators through the reconstruction of the recruitment process for a campus architect by Chung Chi College and to identify Mr. Robert Fan’s concept of campus planning with reference to his early design experience in the mainland of China.