the modernist x BDP present - The BDP Talk Series. 4.6 - Bob Pang - Hong Kong Brutalism 23/4/26
Thursday 23rd April 2026
6.15PM FOR A 6.30PM START BDP, 11 Ducie St, Manchester M1 2JB
‘I never expected Hong Kong's architecture to be so fascinating and meaningful, especially without the typical influence of capitalism,‘ says Bob Pang, a Hong Kong architect, who founded the Brutalism Hong Kong Research Group in 2021.
Over the past four years, the team of 20 researchers has uncovered and documented over 40 examples of brutalist architecture in the city, both standing and demolished. Beyond the neon signs and glass towers lies a 'concrete soul' that tells a different story of Hong Kong. His talk invites you to look past the skyline and discover how these raw, monolithic structures became a silent framework for community, identity, and a surprisingly human side of the city’s urban history between 1950s to 1980s.
Bob Pang is a registered architect in Hong Kong, a member of the Docomomo Hong Kong Chapter, and has lived in London, Vienna, and Shanghai.
From 2011 to 2012, he worked as a project architect at the studio of Japanese architect Irata Isozaki. In recent years, he has led research on Hong Kong’s Brutalist architectural history.
His 2021 exhibition BRUTAL! –Unknown Brutalism Architecture in Hong Kong drew wide public and media attention, earning accolades from the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, America Institute of Architects (Hong Kong Chapter), Taiwan’s Golden Pin Award, and the Dezeen Awards in the UK. His 2023 book Unknown Brutalism Architecture in
Hong Kong became a top ten bestseller at the Book Fair and stayed in Eslite’s Arts Bestseller List for 22 consecutive weeks.
Since 2015, he has actively promoted local architectural culture and is currently a columnist for City Magazine.
Currently Bob is writing a new book “Brutalist Asia”, scheduled to be published this summer with Blue Crow Media.
Thank you to BDP for supporting this event.
