SUPERSTITION & SPECULATION
stories of architecture | part one
(From Left to Right) HSBC Headquarters, Bank of China Tower, Lippo Centre, Cheung Kong Centre
The year was 1979. In China, Deng Xiaoping had recently come to power, intent on reversing the disastrous legacy of the Cultural Revolution and to open the country to economic reform. On the other side of the world, Margaret Thatcher ascends to 10 Downing Street, with the mission to “Make Britain Great Again” in an era of stagflation and decolonisation. In freewheeling British Hong Kong, expats and local residents are getting nervous about an upcoming deadline - the termination of the 99-year lease of the New Territories and the approaching handover to China. In an atmosphere fraught with political and economic uncertainty, architecture was the least of anyone’s concerns.
Enter Norman Foster. That same year, the executives of the HongKong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) approached the young British architect to design “the best bank building in the world.” The young and relatively unknown architect had just completed the Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich - a low-slung, three-story building with an undulating glass facade. The building employed some of the most advanced building innovations of the time - an office escalator system, a leisure rooftop garden, and raised flooring. As it turned out, the heads of HSBC had been impressed, and they would like him to employ a similar architectural strategy in Hong Kong. Anticipating the impending handover of sovereignty to China, the British-owned HSBC, which had essentially acted as the de-facto treasury of the colony, wanted to make a confident statement on future of the city. No matter the outcome of the Sino-British negotiations, HSBC will stay in Hong Kong, along with its form of capitalist banking.
The result of the commission, Mr. Foster’s magnum opus, the HSBC Headquarters, would kickstart a whirlwind boom of high-rise construction in the city. Over, the next two decades, the construction frenzy would lead to the “Feng Shui Wars of Central” - a series of tit-for-tat, architectural one-upmanships between competing developers, individuals, and governments, whose success was measured equally by their architectural ingenuity as well as their adherence to the mystical principles of feng shui.
Enter Norman Foster. That same year, the executives of the HongKong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) approached the young British architect to design “the best bank building in the world.” The young and relatively unknown architect had just completed the Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich - a low-slung, three-story building with an undulating glass facade. The building employed some of the most advanced building innovations of the time - an office escalator system, a leisure rooftop garden, and raised flooring. As it turned out, the heads of HSBC had been impressed, and they would like him to employ a similar architectural strategy in Hong Kong. Anticipating the impending handover of sovereignty to China, the British-owned HSBC, which had essentially acted as the de-facto treasury of the colony, wanted to make a confident statement on future of the city. No matter the outcome of the Sino-British negotiations, HSBC will stay in Hong Kong, along with its form of capitalist banking.
The result of the commission, Mr. Foster’s magnum opus, the HSBC Headquarters, would kickstart a whirlwind boom of high-rise construction in the city. Over, the next two decades, the construction frenzy would lead to the “Feng Shui Wars of Central” - a series of tit-for-tat, architectural one-upmanships between competing developers, individuals, and governments, whose success was measured equally by their architectural ingenuity as well as their adherence to the mystical principles of feng shui.
Century of Change: Views of Victoria Harbour
(Left to Right) 1864 -1964
(Left to Right) 1864 -1964
“Feng Shui”, which translates to “Wind Water” in Chinese, comes the from the ancient art of geomancy in China: to arrange objects and people in harmony with the energy of the earth. In Hong Kong, where superstitious beliefs survived the ideological purges of Mao, feng shui is an all-encompassing practice - influencing the placement of furniture at home to the seating arrangement of households. At the scale of architecture, the practice of feng shui has even led the creation of “dragon gates” and circular swimming pools on rooftops. In money-obsessed Hong Kong, the harmonious nature of feng shui is a form of social placebo - a way to safeguard and expand personal wealth, by all and any means.
In Central, Hong Kong’s financial heart, the spiritual dimensions of feng shui is physically manifested in the distinctive corporate offices of the 1980’s and 1990’s. In this examination of the “Feng Shui Wars”, we will focus on four specific buildings, each from a world-renowned architect, that charts the rise and fall of feng shui architecture in the twilight of colonial Hong Kong.
In Central, Hong Kong’s financial heart, the spiritual dimensions of feng shui is physically manifested in the distinctive corporate offices of the 1980’s and 1990’s. In this examination of the “Feng Shui Wars”, we will focus on four specific buildings, each from a world-renowned architect, that charts the rise and fall of feng shui architecture in the twilight of colonial Hong Kong.
I. THE PIONEER: HSBC HEADQUARTERS, 1979 - 1986
"LIONS AND CANNONS" | FOSTER AND PARTNERS
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II. THE CHALLENGER: BANK OF CHINA TOWER, 1982 - 1989
"THE SILVER SWORD" | PEI COBB FREED & PARTNERS
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III. THE MARTYR: LIPPO CENTRE, 1984 - 1988
"KOALAS ON A TREE" | PAUL RUDOLPH, WITH WONG & OUYANG
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IV. THE UNDERDOG: CHEUNG KONG CENTER, 1994-1998
"THE BOX & BELT" | PELLI CLARKE PELLI ARCHITECTS
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