Homes for China

Massive residential tower blocks have infiltrated Hong Kong's terri tory like a forest, heedless of geography. A look at a map or from the mountain peaks reveals a violent contrast between the dense high-rise developments and the natural island/mountain setting. From this evident juxtaposition, there is no doubt that lack of land and a growing population has provided the perfect context with which to experiment with new forms of densities. In this sense, land use and verticality are not the only vectors that set up Hong Kong's urban condition. Optimization drives the entire system to expand activities and movements at every level of its infrastructure, voids, or building blocks. Compactness draws the flowing crowds of people through an intensive network of lifts, escalators, streets, and mass transportation that runs in all directions. Speculation and the hectic market prices have discouraged agriculture and industry, and forced a hyper-selective urban land use. Through the years, this sectional direction has produced the most fascinating and dynamic form of density that has now reached a new extreme in the latest 72 story private residential model in Tsim Sha Tsui East on the Kowloon peninsula.