Form Follows Fever / by Christopher Cowell

**How was Hong Kong formed?** This book offers an in-depth analysis of the turbulent years of the 1840s, during the early period of British rule in Hong Kong. Malaria, then considered a mysterious miasma, intermittently claimed the lives of hundreds of settlers. Various attempts to curb the impact of the epidemic catalyzed the transformation of Hong Kong's urban landscape, albeit through a challenging process. **Who was involved in each post-epidemic reconstruction?** From military surveyors, naval doctors, Indian sergeants, and officials, to opium merchants, contractors, expatriate architects, and artists, their actions intersected and influenced one another. The 'construction' of early Hong Kong was both tangible and imaginative. Drawing on his expertise in architectural history, cartography, and epidemiology, architectural historian Christopher Cowell meticulously examines a wealth of previously unpublished documents, including medical reports, personal diaries and letters, government records, and journal and newspaper advertisements. He also gathers visual evidence such as watercolor illustrations, maps, and architectural plans of the city, which were once scattered. Through this, he reconstructs this history that unfolded before photography was introduced to Hong Kong. In doing so, he explores the evolution of public health and space, race and place-making, commerce and political ideology, shedding new light on this 'dark age' experienced by Hong Kong in the 19th century. Full Title: Form Follows Fever: Malaria and the Construction of Hong Kong (1841–1849) Author: Christopher Cowell. Translated by CHU Yik-lei ISBN: 978-988-237-372-3 Binding: Paperback Language: Traditional Chinese Pages: 392 Dimensions: 235 x 159 mm **About the Author** **Christopher Cowell** Ph.D. in Architecture (History and Theory) from Columbia University. He currently lectures on architectural history and theory at London South Bank University. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Architectural History at Trinity College Dublin and taught in Hong Kong and New York. His research focuses on southern China and northern India, exploring the interaction between modernity, European imperialism, urbanism, and architecture. **CHU Yik-lei** Master of Journalism from the University of Hong Kong. Research Director at Tao Chu Architects, and a freelance translator. Her work focuses on the history of urban and spatial development in China. **CHU Tao** Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Architecture, Co-Director of the China Architecture and Urbanism Centre, and Principal of Tao Chu Architects. **Endorsements** The English edition of this book, Form Follows Fever, was selected as a finalist for the 2025 PROSE Awards in 'World History' by the Association of American Publishers, one of the highest honors in international professional and academic publishing. This book, rich in illustrations and text, is fluently written and captivating. It skillfully blends urban history, military engineering, and medical history, making it a highly original and insightful study. — **John M. Carroll**, Department of History, University of Hong Kong Through a meticulous analysis of extensive historical materials, Cowell offers a novel perspective, demonstrating the decisive role malaria played in shaping the form of Hong Kong's built environment and the future direction of the city's development. — **CHU Wai-Shing**, School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong