Architecture of Hong Kong

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The architecture of Hong Kong is extremely varied and diverse. Due to the lack of available space, few historical buildings remain in the urban areas of Hong Kong. However, Hong Kong has become a centre for modern architecture as older buildings are cleared away to make space for newer, larger buildings.

Historically, the demand for high-end buildings has been in and around Central. After decades of development, Central has become a district with plenty of tall business buildings. These buildings comprise the skyline along the coast of the Victoria Harbour, which is a famous tourist attraction in Hong Kong. But until Kai Tak Airport closed in 1998, strict height restrictions were in force in Kowloon so that aeroplanes could come in to land. These restrictions have now been lifted, and several new buildings in Kowloon are being planned, including a massive tower at the West Kowloon reclamation.

Many commercial and residential towers built in the past two decades are among the tallest in the world, including Highcliff, The Arch, and The Harbourside. Still, more tower are under construction, like One Island East. With a skyline larger than New York City (see this), many would argue that Hong Kong holds the title for the most beautiful skyline in the world.

Hong Kong's best-known building is probably Ieoh Ming Pei's Bank of China Tower. The building attracted heated controversy from the moment its design was released to the public, which continued for years after the building's completion in 1990. The building was said to cast negative feng shui energy into the heart of Hong Kong due to the building's sharp angles. One rumour even went so far as to say that the negative energy was concentrated on the Government House as a Chinese plot to foil any decisions taken there. The two white aerials on top on the building were deemed inauspicious as two sticks of incense are burned for the dead.

Predating the Bank of China Tower, the HSBC Headquarters Building was finished in 1985 as the third incarnation of the HSBC headquarters on the site. This building is featured on many of Hong Kong's banknotes. It was built on the site of Hong Kong's first skyscraper, which was finished in 1935, and was the first building in Hong Kong to have centralised air conditioning. The Hong Kong Club was built atop a smaller structure that was built in an Italian Renaissance style in 1897. The building was the subject of a bitter heritage conservation struggle in the late 1970s, which ultimately failed to save the building.

One of the largest construction projects in Hong Kong has been the new Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok near Lantau, which was the most extensive single civil engineering project ever undertaken. Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the huge land reclamation project is linked to the centre of Hong Kong by the Lantau Link, which features three new major bridges: the world's sixth largest suspension bridge, Tsing Ma, which was built in 1997, connecting the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan; the world's longest cable-stayed bridge carrying both road and railway traffic, Kap Shui Mun, which links Ma Wan and Lantau; and the world's first major 4-span cable-stayed bridge, Ting Kau, which connects Tsing Yi and the mainland New Territories.

[edit] See also

• List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong