Macau | Docomomo Hong Kong also supports the preservation of local modernist building

Macau (MNA) – Docomomo Hong Kong has submitted a letter to the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) in support of the preservation of Rainha Dona Leonor, a modernist building which has been recently threatened by demolition.

As the Macau Docomomo Chapter, the Hong Kong modernist committee is also part of Docomomo International – the International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement.

The information about the letter was provided to Macau News Agency (MNA) by the head of Docomomo Macau, Rui Leão, who claims the document was submitted to the local authorities on August 6, adding that no official reply has yet been produced by the Bureau.

The local Docomomo Chapter had previously submitted a plan to the Macau SAR Government to have the building listed. A discussion about the building’s destiny was also conducted this month during a meeting of the Urban Planning Committee (CPU), of which Mr. Leão is a member.

The architect has relentlessly defended the preservation of the building designed by the architect José Lei and developed in 1958 and 1959, after the owner of the building, the Holy House of Mercy, has expressed its intents in mid-July to demolish the edifice.

A letter signed by the Docomomo International Chair, Ana Tostões, was also sent to the Macau Chief Executive, Fernando Chui Sai On, on July 18.

‘It is urgent to raise the awareness of the qualities and significance of this building to the local authorities, as it stands as an exemplary testimony of the advent of Modernism and the XX century history and innovation, which should be preserved for future generations as a physical proof of Macau’s recent history, without which the city will be highly impoverished,’ the letter reads.

Other initiatives Mr. Leão has organised in defense of the building include a roundtable previously held with legislator Agnes Lam and heritage enthusiast Billy Au to inform the public about the heritage value of the building constructed nearly 60 years ago as the first high-rise in Macau equipped with an elevator.

According to information provided by the Macau Docomomo Chapter, the building should be protected as it represents ‘the principles and ideals born with the advent of Modernist architecture in the second half of the 20th Century’ and also ‘expresses the advancements of the period through its use of reinforced concrete.’

*With Yi Wei

**Image credit: Macau Antigo