GLOBALIAZTION:
Financial Headquarters in Central
ARCH2058 Modern Architecture
ASSIGNMENT 3: GUIDEBOOK
| Fall 2021
Globalization:
Financial headquarters in Central LONG Xiao (3035824431) PU Yiting (3035824510) WEI Gongqi (3035329900)
Central Roam
Coming out of the Central MTR Station and walking northward across the flyover, you can reach Hong Kong’s first skyscraper, Jardine House, which was completed in 1973. The circle windows in elevations are its feature. Then walk southward you will meet the HSBC Tower, which was put into use in 1986, and its structural facade is full of engineering beauty. On the east of HSBC Tower is another famous building, BOC Tower, designed by I.M. Pei, which was completed in 1989. The triangle facade is simple and powerful, less is more. Continuing to climb the mountain, the elegant building is appeared. Murray building is finished in 1969, though it was built a long time ago, it was renewed by Foster + Partners Architects in 2017 and got a new life.
1 Jardine House Jardine House is located at No. 1 Connaught Plaza, Central, Hong Kong. It is 52 floors (178.5 meters) high and developed by Hongkong Land Limited. The building was completed in 1973. It is the first skyscraper in Hong Kong and, in the 1970s, it was once the tallest building in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. It took only 16 months for the building to reach the flat roof with a record construction speed at that time. The round window design is the feature of Jardine House, whose high floors are offices and the low floors incorporating shopping malls and restaurants. It is adjacent to Hong Kong Exchange Square, Hong Kong Post Office and MTR Stations, connected by footbridge. Jardine House owns a prime location with convenient transportation and unparalleled view to the harbor. As the former global headquarters of Jardines, now many large international and local institutions are long-term tenants of it.
Jardine House, the Living Proof of Global Capitalism Xiao, LONG
Jardine House, as we see today, seems just to be a high-rise office building with windows of special shape. However, from the perspective of history, Jardine House is not just a building. Under the skin of its modern style facade, there is a history, a history of global capitalism. There are not only crime, monopoly and cunning, but also prosperity, success and legend in this history. As we know, the beginning of modernism was Bauhaus in the 1920s. However, due to World War II, modernist theory really flourished in the United States and swept the world after the war ended when the need of construction surged. The vigorous development of modernist architecture is inseparable from the breakthrough of industrial
technology and the promotion of worldwide development under the background of capital globalization as construction relies on investment. After several generations of iteration, in 1973, Jardine House was completed rapidly under this circumstance and became a regional landmark building during the climax of the development of modernist architecture. It can be said that Jardine House marks the climax of modernism and heralds the advent of the post-modernism era.1 First of all, to talk about the relationship between Jardine House and globalization, its owner Jardines (Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited) and the history of the huge financial and industrial empire behind it must be mentioned inevitably. The birth and development of Jardines is almost a portrayal of China’s modern history.2 Its two British founders came to Guangzhou as early as 1832 to carry out lucrative trade in tea, silk and spices. What makes Jardines really complete the original accumulation of capital at a high speed is the
Opium War during which it actively participated in helping, planning the war and, most importantly, trading opium to China.3 There is nothing more lucrative than drug trafficking. After the Opium War, with the deepening of British colonization of Qing China, Jardines moved its headquarters to Hong Kong and began to enter the real estate industry in Hong Kong. Together with other British companies, Jardines monopolized all aspects of commercial life in Hong Kong.4 After a century of development and accumulation, Jardines owns a large number of high-quality land and real estate in Central, Hong Kong Island through its subsidiary, Hongkong Land Limited. As the headquarters building of Jardines at that time, Jardine House ubiquitously demonstrated the powerful strength and ambition of the capital group behind it during the process from land acquisition, design to construction, and was a symbolic product of capital globalization. On June 1, 1970, the Hong Kong government auctioned the land
where Jardine House in the central reclamation area was located. The land area was 53,000 square feet and the reserve price was HK$53 million. The auction attracted 18 consortia to bid. In the end, Hongkong Land’s bid was HK$2.15 billion (41 times the reserve price), which became the record for the highest land price per foot in Hong Kong at that time. Also, it aimed at becoming the highest building in Hong Kong in design. Besides, it took only 16 months for the building to go from foundation to flat roof, and the construction speed was also a record at that time. After its completion in 1973, Jardine House became the first skyscraper in Hong Kong. It was the tallest building in Hong Kong at that time, until it was exceeded by Hopewell Center in the early 1980s. As we all know, capital has two significant characteristics, namely profit-seeking and risk-aversion, and unregulated global capital gives full play to these two points. On the one hand, the completion of Jardine House summarizes the past success of the capital behind it on col-
onization and trade. On the other hand, its ambitious design also shows the Jardines’ desire for more interests. So, to create a towering and modern external image of the headquarters is conducive to capital to give its investors and people confidence in its development, which in turn continues to boost its development of new and profitable areas. The ideology of high efficiency, minimalism, functionalization, non-territoriality, and decolonization held by modernist architecture coincide with the neoliberal economic concepts of the 1970s, allowing the global flow of capital and becoming a representative and symbolic way of demonstration for capital. From London to Hong Kong, from New York to Tokyo, these modern city skylines composed of skyscrapers represent the prosperity and development. To put it bluntly, the representative works are free from sovereignty, representing general power and money globally. It can be said that even if Jardine House is placed in New York, London or Tokyo, peo-
ple will not find it any strange. The globalization of capital has brought about the free flow of capital, ideology, commerce, trade, and art around the world, but it has also obliterated the possibility of each region taking its own unique development path. Flattening the whole world, the crisis behind this model is enormous. Take Jardine House as an example. In order to avoid the possible risks of the return of Hong Kong, Jardines moved its global headquarters to Bermuda in 1984 before the handover.5 Jardine House in Hong Kong lost its symbolic meaning overnight and became an ordinary office building with the facade of “modernism” because capital will always continue to seek the best place with the lowest risk6, and look for new architectural language that can better serve its interest. When it comes to architectural design, the design of Jardine House itself is also inseparable from globalization. The building shape of Jardine House is a simple rectangle and the windows are round, without any shape superflu-
ous. The architectural language is extremely rational and typical modernist style. Although the original geometric shapes are used, the contrast of geometric language proportions and quantity makes it unique, and it has become an iconic urban landscape on the street that makes people hard to overlook. From the first tallest building at the beginning to being surpassed by many taller buildings around, the iconic facade of Jardine House can still stand out with a playful feeling, which shows that its architectural design is extremely successful in shaping its identity, whether it’s good or bad. In terms of plan design, Jardine House is in the same as today’s office buildings. The core tube is placed in the center, leaving enough space and freedom for the surrounding open office. The lead architect is a Canadian Japanese architect, which fully reflects the tolerance and openness of Hong Kong society to creative design in the historical context of the time when Japanese were not welcome. On the other hand, this is also why Hong Kong’s design power, especially
commercial design, is leading the world, thus the globalization of human resources attracts talented people from all over the world.7 Cultural integration is a major issue of globalization, which has been controversial throughout the design of Jardine House and after it was built. The square represents the earth in the context of Chinese culture, while the circle represents the sky, and the square and the circle together represent the world. The round window is also an interesting window type in traditional Chinese architecture, and it is often used as a frame for landscape in gardens. In addition, in the eyes of Chinese people, the facade of this dense round window is quite similar to Chinese Go. It can be said that Jardine House consciously or unconsciously has hints of Chinese cultural elements, especially when it is on Chinese soil, these interpretations are even more reasonable. This shows an interesting fact that although modern architecture has flowed to all parts of the world through globalization, it is still inevitable that
there will be active or passive dialogue with the local culture.8 In the eyes of foreigners, Jardine House has a different kind of beauty. Its repetitive round windows and the opaque skin are in sharp contrast, and it has received the love of many pop art lovers.9 Many foreign artists use Jardine House to created collages and photographic works, so that the cultural value of it is fully explored. In fact, the design of round windows also has practical considerations. Due to the steel structure frame, the circular window avoids the dense beam and column joints from being exposed in the window.10 Of course, if someone loves it, others hate it. Some people think that its dense round windows make people feel obscene. WG Gregory, who was the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong, once said that Jardine House is like a huge obelisk and meaningless. In addition, it was removed from the skyline in the design of Hong Kong’s new police badge.11 Almost 50 years have passed, and the life span of Jardine House has long surpassed the average
life span of Hong Kong buildings. Although the Hong Kong Post Office next to Jardine House was completed later than it, it has been decided to be demolished. All of the above are proof that Jardine House has aroused controversy and discussion in both Chinese and Western cultures.12 This kind of contradiction and debate is something that will always go on in the process of globalization. In conclusion, Jardine House is the representative product during the thriving period of capitalist economic development in the 1970s. Its modernist style came with the rapid globalization economy after World War II and was also abandoned with the process of globalization later. The design of Jardine benefitted form the global flow of talents, and the controversy evoked by it has pushed it to the forefront of public opinion on the issue of cultural integration for a continuing long time.
Notes
1. DiBlase, Donna. “Jardine House.” Business Insurance 23, no. 26 (1989): 111. 2. Vines, Stephen. “Secrets of Survival in the Noble House. (Jardine Matheson and Company.” The Spectator (London. 1828), 2007, The Spectator (London. 1828), 2007-01-27. 3. Kay, William. “The China House; JARDINE MATHESON SURVIVED THE OPIUM WARS, THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION AND HONG KONG’S HANDOVER. NOW THE VENERABLE FAMILY FIRM HAS HIRED A TOUGH INVESTMENT BANKER TO HELP IT RIDE THE DRAGON OF CHINA’S NEW ECONOMY. WILLIAM KAY REPORTS.” Independent (London, England : 1986), 2001. 4. Grace, Richard J. Opium and Empire. Montréal, CA: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014. 5. Don Weinland, and George Hammond. “Jardine Matheson: Hong Kong Conglomerate under Pressure.” FT.com, 2019, FT.com, 2019-11-15. 6. Connell, Carol Matheson. “Jardine Matheson & Company: The Role of External Organization in a Nineteenth-Century Trading Firm.” Enterprise & Society 4, no. 1 (2003): 99-138. 7. Lai, Lawrence W.C, K.W Chau, and Polycarp Alvin C.W Cheung. “Urban Renewal and Redevelopment: Social Justice and Property Rights with Reference to Hong Kong’s Constitutional Capitalism.” Cities 74 (2018): 240-48. 8. Acuto, Michele. “Paradigm City: Space, Culture, and Capitalism in Hong Kong. Janet Ng.” The China Journal (Canberra, A.C.T.) 63 (2010): 178-80. 9. Ferrari, Rossella. “Architecture And/in Theatre from
the Bauhaus to Hong Kong: Mathias Woo’s Looking for Mies.” New Theatre Quarterly 28, no. 1 (2012): 3-19. 10. 1Xue, Charlie Q. L. Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015. Singapore: Springer Singapore Pte. Limited, 2016. 11. Mansbridge, Joanna. “Architecture, Infrastructure, and Urban Performance in Hong Kong.” Theatre Journal (Washington, D.C.) 72, no. 2 (2020): 197-218. 12. Bennett, Mia M. “Hong Kong as Special Cultural Zone: Confucian Geopolitics in Practice.” Dialogues in Human Geography 11, no. 2 (2021): 236-43.
2 Bank of China Tower The Bank of China is located in a complex environment condition. After accepting the commission, I.M. Pei had to design a typhoon-proof high-rise building as a unique headquarter in this area, representing wishes of the Chinese people and their goodwill to the British colonies. The scheme is analogous in both architectural and engineering aspects, with an asymmetric tower affecting the skyline and streets. The building is 70 stories high and reaches the height of 1209 feet. When it opened in May 1990, it was the tallest building in Asia. The building retreats toward the street to create a friendly, accessible pedestrian area. It is surrounded by wide sidewalks and flanked by water gardens, reducing the surrounding activity and traffic noise.
The Development of Hong Kong as the International Financial Center Yiting, PU HISTORY After the Opium War, Hong Kong was under British colonial rule. However, during its reigned, Britain did not regard Hong Kong as an important political center, but only as a focal point for international trade. Therefore, during the colonial period, Hong Kong gradually became the free port for international trade. The principle of free economic governance in Hong Kong was prominently reflected in the more than 100 years of colonial rule, and most of the non-institutionalized market rules were gradually solidified in the long-term economic exchanges and trade, and by industry associations and other non-governmental organizations to promote and maintain. These informal systems made the Hong Kong market to be one of the freest international trading markets and made the principle of free economy deeply rooted in the hearts.
Before World War I, Hong Kong became the headquarter of major western capitalist countries in the far East and the free port for international trade. After World War II, a number of major historic events brought the once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity to Hong Kong. First of all, the Liberation War led to the influx of a large number of residents from the southern coastal areas, mainly Guangdong, into Hong Kong, accompanied by social problems such as employment. On the other hand, the economic blockade imposed by western capitalist countries on China caused Hong Kong to lose the important Asian market. However, the government soon turned the population burden into the demographic dividend and actively promoted the development of the processing trade industry. Secondly, the Korean War and the Vietnam War provided historic opportunities for the development of Hong Kong’s processing trade. The Hong Kong government encouraged local banks to provide financing convenience because it found that entrepreneurs from the mainland have brought capital and technology. The war created the huge
demand for military and civilian resource, which provided the sufficient market for Hong Kong’s processing trade, and the vigorous development of processing trade laid the solid foundation for its transformation to the manufacturing industry. Thirdly, during the Korean War, Hong Kong completed the transformation from processing trade industry to manufacturing industry. In the process of transformation, its processing trade industry gradually extended from simple production, processing and selling to design, research and development. And the industrial orientation aimed at the light industry with relatively low technological content such as clothing, watches, toys and so on. So, these industries flourished. By the 1960s, manufacturing became the pillar industry in Hong Kong. Finally, the reform and opening up provided strong support for the transfer of Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry and the transformation and upgrading of the service industry. In mainland, various local governments introduced various preferential policies, attracting a large number of Hong Kong-funded enterprises to set up
factories, promoting the large-scale transfer of Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry to the mainland. At the same time, most Hong Kong-funded enterprises took advantage of Hong Kong’s location advantages in information flow, capital flow and resource flow to retain design, finance, decision-making and other steps in Hong Kong. It provided more professional and efficient market services for Hong Kong-funded manufacturing industries in the mainland, so that Hong Kong’s service industry can be separated from the manufacturing industry and flourish more independently. To put it simply, it is to transfer lower labor-intensive industries to the mainland and leave higher brain-intensive industries in Hong Kong. It is the common operation for advanced cities. By the end of 1980s, Hong Kong’s service industry accounted for about 80% of the region’s GDP. Moreover, with the northward relocation of the Hong Kong-funded manufacturing industry and the deepening of the social labor division in Hong Kong’s service industry, the capital operation capacity of some Hong Kong-funded enterprises greatly enhanced, and Chinese banks derived from Hong Kong-funded enterprises are able to
develop and grow. Therefore, the financial service industry in Hong Kong made great progress. Hong Kong gradually became the international financial center for Chinese and foreign financial institutions. With the northward relocation of the manufacturing industry, Hong Kong’s service industry made considerable progress. Among them, the financial service industry was in the pillar position, while the banking industry dominated it. Looking at the banking industry in Hong Kong, under the principle of free economic governance, it provided a broad market for the operation and development of foreign and Chinese banks. Thus, it objectively promoted the diversification and internationalization of Hong Kong’s banking industry. Hong Kong laid the solid foundation for its status as the international financial center. After the rectification and legislative supervision from 1960s to 1970s, the market regulatory characteristics and market operation order of positive non-intervention were formed, which provided the healthy financial environment for Hong Kong’s transformation to the international financial center.
With the successful transformation of the manufacturing industry to the service industry, the banking industry established its pillar position in the financial services industry, coupled with the increasingly frequent financing needs of enterprises, Hong Kong’s capital market has been booming in the 1970s. Closely related to the capital market is the securities industry, whose development benefited from the prosperity of the capital market. The surge of Hong Kong’s population in the last century brought plenty of capital, coupled with the vigorous development of the processing trade industry, which led to the first surge in asset prices. Then the turnover in the Hong Kong stock market increased sharply. The subsequent banking crisis dealt the severe blow to Hong Kong’s stock market. The first public release of the Hang Seng Index represented the stock market frenzy and the subsequent crash in 1970s. With the announcement of a series of regulatory measures, the stock market returned to stability and development. After the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong officially became a member of the International Federation of Stock Exchanges in 1986, the internationalization of Hong Kong’s capital market greatly increased. Although the international fi-
nancial crisis had the great impact on the Hong Kong stock market, on the one hand, the regulatory measures of the stock market after the crisis became more and more perfect, on the other hand, it reflected the increasing degree of international linkage of the Hong Kong stock market. It showed Hong Kong’s important position as the international financial center. Through combing the historic evolution of Hong Kong’s main pillar industries in the last century, it is not difficult to find that the establishment of its status as the international financial center is not only the result of economic development, but also the necessity of historic development. Firstly, Hong Kong implements the principle of minimum intervention for the market. From the early principle of free economic governance in the colonies to the principle of positive non-intervention in the period of economic take-off, the government always insist the dominant position of the market. Secondly, the transformation and upgrading of Hong Kong’s industrial structure and the process
of industrial evolution lay the substantial economic and financial foundation for the international financial center. From the free port in the colonial period, entrepot trade is the pillar of the economy. In the period of population expansion, it is transformed to processing trade, from processing trade industry to manufacturing industry with design, research and development as the core of the industrial chain. Then to the manufacturing industry northward, the local focus on the development of the financial industry, and finally become the international financial center. Both the geopolitical and external economic environment provide Hong Kong with the market demand necessary for its transformation. To be more exactly, Hong Kong grasps the favorable external economic and political environment to realize the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure, thus laying the real economic foundation of Hong Kong and realizing capital accumulation steadily and gradually. Thirdly, the construction of the legal system and the improvement of supervision lay the solid institutional foundation for consolidating Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center.
From the early colonial government implements the principle of laissez-faire governance, Hong Kong is in the policy vacuum for a long time, relying on industry self-discipline to maintain the fragile market order. Until the market chaos caused by the population surge, and then the subsequent banking crisis and stock market crash, the government realize the importance of maintaining market order by the law. Through a series of legislative measures and efficient supervision by management departments in law enforcement, the market order is reconstructed and the loopholes in the financial system is repaired. It ensures the financial system to be more stable. BUILDING As Hong Kong’s well-deserved CBD, Central is dotted with skyscrapers and financial headquarters. Murray Building, completed in 1969, was the tallest government building at that time. Central was the political center of Hong Kong, which is possibly the reason why so many buildings were
built here. Jardine House, built in 1973, was the first skyscraper in Hong Kong. It was the period of vigorous development of the financial services industry in Hong Kong. The bank headquarters buildings such as BOC Tower and HSBC Tower in the 1980s were proof of the great increase in the internationalization of Hong Kong’s capital market. The IFC in the 1990s marked that Hong Kong’s status as the international financial center was worthy of the name. Every building is the embodiment of the architect’s personal style, but the essence of its existence is the product of reflecting the social circumstance.
Notes
1. Catherine R. Schenk. Hong Kong as an International Financial Centre-Emergence and development 194565[M]. Routledge, 2001. 2. Larry Allen. The Global Financial System 1750-2000[M]. Reaktion Books Ltd, 2001. 3. S. R. Choi, A. E. Tschoegl, C. M. Yu. Banks and the World’s Major Financial Centers, 1970-1980[J]. Weltwirhschaftliches Archiv, 1986,122(1): 48-64. 4. 冯邦彦. 香港金融业百年[M]. 香港: 香港三联书店,2002. 5. 干杏娣. 试论当代国际金融中心发展的基本动因与政府介 入[J]. 世界经济研究, 1997(1): 47-50. 6. 罗美娟. 证券市场与产业成长[M]. 北京:商务印书馆, 2001. 7. 毛立坤. 晚清时期香港对中国的转口贸易（1869—1911） [D]. 复旦大学,2006. 8. 饶余庆. 香港国际金融中心[M]. 香港:商务印书馆(香港)有 限公司,2007. 9. 阎丽鸿. 论香港国际金融中心地位的形成与发展[D]. 湖南 大学, 2001. 10. 曾国平,王燕飞. 中国金融发展与产业结构变迁[J]. 财贸经 济,2007,(8): 12-19.
3 HSBC Building The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation has not only become one of Hong Kong’s leading banking institutions, but also one of the world’s leading banks. The bank’s headquarters, completed in 1935, was the tallest building between Cairo and San Francisco. Its roof was designed to accommodate an autogyro and wiring was installed before the arrival of the elecaster. The building was completed in in 1985. It was a masterpiece at the time and was considered an amazing achievement as it did not exist equivalent building of scale or technical sophistication outside Europe or the United States. The image of the building decorates the currency of the colony as if to emphasize its symbolic importance.
Constructing Power Differentials: HSBC Building as a Site of Social Hierarchy in the Global City Gongqi, Wei
“life inside the skyscraper is involved in a hostile relationship with the life outside”as is touched by Koolhaas in his essay “The Double Life of Utopia: The Skyscraper”, the skyscrapers are the announcement of dominance of a group of power in the society1, “the lobby competes with the street, presenting a linear display of the building’s pretensions and seductions, marked by those frequent points of ascent - the elevators - that will transport the visitor even further into the building’s subjectivity.”In the eyes of foreign tycoons, the skyscrapers of financial headquarters represent capital and endless income; in the eyes of the governors, they represent development and economy; in the eyes of “de-nationalized elites”2, they represent opportunities and mobility. However, in the eyes of residents in the Kowloon Walled City, migrants in the Chungking Mansions, and domestic helpers, they means
something else pessimistic. The essay interprets HSBC building as a site of social hierarchy, illustrating how the building ties together social groups involved in a constant struggle of power differentials throughout the historical transformation of Hong Kong from a “barren rock3” to a global city. Hong Kong was formulated as a “barren rock” earliest by Captain Charles Elliot in 1841 who was the key founder in the establishment of Hong Kong as a British Colony. By iterating it as a barren rock, an uncivilized landscape, it becomes an instrument for the colonist to erase the cultural and social foundation of Hong Kong occupied by the local residents. The Victoria Harbour, where sits the HSBC Building nowadays, was the original area of the colonial city. The tension and struggling between the subordinated locals and the colonists can be traced by the establishment of the colonial city. It pushed the local residents to the western district through decades of development and urban transformation triggered by struggles concerning land policy, sanitation, and infrastructure, such as the establishment of land tenure system4, the plague
in 18945, the construction of fresh water supply infrastructure. Each time the locals were excluded with uneven treatment by the colonists or even by those landlords and compradors assimilated by the colonial power. The history of power differentials has been traced by the land of the colonial city before HSBC was built over it. The mass construction of skyscrapers in Hong Kong started around 1970s and HSBC Building was built in 1985. The steels, glass, and concrete landing to the rugged landscape of Hong Kong just like how the foreign capitals coming back again declaring their sovereignty of the city. It brought an influx of international elites searching for opportunities and social mobilities their collective efforts contributed to the economic boom of Hong Kong between 1961 and 19976. This massive growth of economy further consolidated the social stratification of Hong Kong, when new power differentials emerged between the middle classes elites working in Central and the general labours who are waiting for public housing for decades. The elites, who masters the technology of building concrete and steel skyscrapers, replaced the older HSBC building with
a multi-mast suspension high rise whose ground floor is highly opened and elevated seemingly welcoming passer-bys. While, as is condescending as its lush cladding of shiny glazes, its upper level are never a world accepting those beside the elites and investors. It’s like a fortress, a new social-economical framework constructed along with the erection of skyscrapers like HSBC integrating the metropolitan blasés7 and the general labour where they serve and rely on each other but the mobility between them is killed forever upon the arrival of capital. The contemporary cityscape in Central is never that time when HSBC Building was almost the most high-tech and advanced building in the Central overlooking the surrounding classical or neoclassical architectures. It is now absorbed into the concrete jungle of overpasses, underground tunnels, viaducts, and more soaring skyscrapers with “more” modern building technologies. The new modernity of this building is embedded within the crowded landscape of domestic helpers who always spend their weekends in Central. HSBC is one of the major spot of the weekend gather of domestic helpers. Its
slowly elevated ground floor is a ramp connecting different levels down from Des Voeux Road to Queen’s Road Central. The slope provides cosy angle for domestic helpers to create their own leisure space with card boards and umbrellas. The huge weight carrying columns marks points of private space where they can enclose a more quiet and decent space. In the moment of domestic helpers singing, playing, and chatting, the white-collars will always pass by and getting up into the building by escalators crossing in-between the lobby space. The distance of these two groups is so short but their contact is too remote. Security staff roam around, keeping their eyes on these most familiar strangers. With the growth of the social economy founded by the influx of elites in the 20th century, more and more middle class families are demanding cheap labour in charge of taking care their family. The capacity of globalization, flights, policies, and education, attract foreign domestic helpers to swarm into the city, filling into the niches of the gradually ossifying social structure. The broken social mobility and ossified social structure is constantly presented in the moment of passing-by sheltered by HSBC Building. The more
the moment is witness and presented to the city, the more the society is acknowledge the reality. It’s the meta-modernity8 of HSBC in the distorted globalization era. “The old liberal attempts at social control, which at least tried to balance repression with reform, have been superseded by open social warfare that pits the interests of the middle class against the warfare.9” In the essay by Mike Davis, describing the destructed public space in Los Angeles, the urban poor are suppressed by merged police apparatus and architecture. However, under the shelter of HSBC Building, violence doesn’t exist, and everything seems peaceful but oddly reiterating an ironic modernity. Struggling against power differentials happens silently between, Hong Kong locals and colonists, general labours and international elites, and middle class and domestic helpers. The space never belongs to the people who really enjoy it, use it, and reside on it, which is traced and reinforced by the skyscrapers of which HSBC being the one.
Notes
1. Koolhaas, R. (1994). Delirious New York : A retroactive manifesto for Manhattan (New ed.). New York: Monacelli Press. 2. Davidson, C., & Anymore Conference. (2000). Anymore. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 3. Decaudin, M. (2019). Geological Discrimination. Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 59, 76-107. 4. Nissim, R. (2011). Land Administration and Practice in Hong Kong (3rd ed.). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, HKU. 5. Pryor, E.G. (1975). “The Great Plague of Hong Kong” (PDF). Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 15: 61–70. PMID 11614750. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 24, 2020. 6. Rikkie Yeung (2008). Moving Millions: The Commercial Success and Political Controversies of Hong Kong’s Railways. 7. Mumford, L. (1961). The city in history : Its origins, its transformations and its prospects. London: Secker & Warburg. 8. Vermeulen, Timotheus; van den Akker, Robin (2010). “Notes on metamodernism”. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture. 2 (1): 5677. doi:10.3402/jac.v2i0.5677. ISSN 2000-4214. 9. Sorkin, M. (1992). Variations on a theme park : The new American city and the end of public space (1st ed.). New York: Hill and Wang.
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The Modern Architecture Guidebook Hong Kong’s built environment represents a unique site of inquiry in the global history of the Modern Movement. The Modern Architecture guidebook series draw from an inter-disciplinary toolkit of knowledge, references, and field studies to understand the processes at work in the built environment. Each walking tour in the series begins with one of the 98 MTR stations in Hong Kong as the meeting point. First opened in 1979, this modernist infrastructure has produced a city rationalized around transportoriented development. Organized around key themes (industrialization, colonization, environment, internationalization, migration, decolonization, counterculture, and globalization), the guidebooks present a critical yet open perspective towards the implications of large-scale modernist schemes on the environment and community.
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