Architecture versus Building

(Tower of Crosses and Squares: This Bank of China Tower, a marvellous works by I.M. Pei, has intriguing geometric patterns which endear it to photographers. It is located in Central, near the HSBC Tower and Cheung Kong Building which is the headquarters building of Li Ka Shing. A tour in each of them, which will be best accompanied by a book on Hong Kong's buildings, will give you totally different feelings about how the architects treat the interiors)

Not long ago, one of the founders of MVRDV, Winy Maas, commented that the architecture in Hong Kong was boring. The world renowed architect, Frank Gehry, also said that Hong Kong had lots of buildings which could be called architecture.

I don't know on what grounds they arrived at such conclusions. Their opinions carry some truth in them for sure. But how much personal prejudice are there? So I approached the director of a renowed architecture firm, who is my mentor, for some insight. His answer was charged with bitterness, "Architects are by nature very egoistic. Few architects like what others designed." I can easily imagine how his business dealing with other architects has got him as frustrated as he sounded in his reply.

Winy and Frank could have been whisked in some fancy cars past the central business districts when they were in Hong Kong and caught sight of some buildings. Probably they have also got their impressions about Hong Kong from reading and discussions with their counterparts. For more ordinary people like me, I have found Hong Kong full of interesting buildings, whatever they call it in their professional jargons. These buildings are not necessarily in the CBDs.

When some overseas friends come visiting me in Hong Kong, I usually tour them around the buildings for a day. Central, Sheung Wan (literally, Upper Ring) and some old districts like Kowloon City and To Kwan Wan are must-sees.

The above is a residental building appearing like a pair of pants for a giant. It is fashioned after the Arch of Triumph. A wild imagination always sets off in my brain whenever I walk past it: how would it look if they even build the "shirt" part on top of it? Just curious.

(Click open the photos to see the pink colour)

I took photos of these old residential buildings in To Kwan Wan (literally, Earth Melon Bay). The old districts are so full of surprises for reasons of buildings and residents. One will see lots of things of unique characteristics, something which one cannot see just anywhere else. The buildings caught my attention for the painted external walls, especially the pink one which went so well with the cherry blossom.

The above is one of the old public estates which are vanishing in Hong Kong. These public estates are where you can meet the most ordinary people and taste a typical day in Hong Kong. Around 60-70% of the local population lives in such estates but the old ones like what you see in the photo are being pulled down for redevelopment. There is one typical old public estate that I certainly recommend to you: Lower Ngau Tau Kwok (literally, Bull's Head Horn) Estate. It is 40 years old with most time-honoured local shops still doing business. The estate is to be pulled down in mid-2009. The highlight is that you are allowed to go up the blocks there to get a glimpse of the living history.