Flutterby™! : Hong Kong architecture

First off, apologies for the quality, I shot these all with the S100 point-n-shoot without much exposure modification, and shots like these really need super high quality glass, a monster heavy tripod, and a lot of exposure tweaking. Anyway...

As you can see from the different lighting in the photos I used to construct this panoramic view of the Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Peak, there are some amazingly complex lighting systems on the buildings of Hong Kong. Note the building on the left which has the small purple top in the composite picture, but in the two pictures which have the image in it you can see one has a blue pattern down the side. And the one just right of the middle has a green zigzag in the final panorama, but an orange pattern in the middle raw shot.

Even without the fancy lighting, Hong Kong buildings take risks. I think this view is looking up inside the Bank of Hong Kong, which I believe was designed by Norman Foster. Note the willingness to take extreme risks in high contrast lighting.

When I was being given directions to the tram up the peak, those giving me instructions searched their wallets for a bit to drag out currencty. Rather than having presidents or monarchs, the banknotes all have images of banks on them, and my instructions went "Go to the building on this bill, then turn towards the building on this one...". Good that a city knows where its leadership really comes from.

The I.M. Pei designed Bank of China building contrasts nicely with Government House. I've got a few more pictures of Government House and a couple more of the Bank of China, none of which capture just how starkly they contrast with the local buildings, and yet manage to be completely in character.

Meanwhile, across the strait to the north, the Hong Kong Culture Center has no windows. Somehow, though, it didn't seem all that bad or out of place. Just south of it is an elevated walkway along the waterfront down to the aforementioned Star Ferry from which I took a panorama looking south into Hong Kong. Again, the the source images show some of the lighting differences (and also some of the special lights up for the season).

But the whole city isn't built this way, up in Tsuen Wan, where I stayed (much closer to the garment district) the buildings are much more functional. And obviously lived in, complete with clothing drying on the balconies. And even on high rises, the scaffolding was lashed together bamboo.