[wyliepoon]

First of a series of photo threads from my recent trip to Hong Kong.

Views of the International Commerce Centre (ICC) on a foggy Hong Kong morning. The 484-metre tall ICC, when complete in 2010, will be the tallest building in Hong Kong, the third tallest building in the world (after the Burj Dubai and the Shanghai World Financial Centre). It will also house in its upper floors the world's highest hotel in the Kowloon Ritz-Carlton, and will also be the first Hong Kong supertall building to have a dedicated public observation deck (as opposed to a skylobby).

It is jointly developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties and MTR Corporation (the subway operator) as part of the Union Square development on top of Kowloon Station on the Airport Express/Tung Chung Line. The development also has a number of the world's tallest residential buildings, and the Elements mall in a massive podium (which in no small way contributes to the ICC's height).

 

[Hipster Duck]

While other cities are content building individual condo and office projects, Hong Kong seems to be going for self-contained cities in the sky. Arcologies, really.

 

[khris]

This is one of my favourite buildings being built in the world right now. It's disappointing to see the exhaust grates though. I think it ruins the sleek elegance of the building.

 

[Ramako]

I can't really tell from the photos, but it looks like a lot of these tall office towers are really isolated from city life.

 

[taal]

I can't really tell from the photos, but it looks like a lot of these tall office towers are really isolated from city life.

I was about to mention that ... but I think these are their "suburbs" so to speak

 

[junctionist]

This is one of my favourite buildings being built in the world right now. It's disappointing to see the exhaust grates though. I think it ruins the sleek elegance of the building.

Thankfully, new towers here don't have the exhaust sections.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Nice architecture, terrible urbanism. The tower isn't in the "suburbs" - it's built on relatively newly reclaimed land that is right beside the pre-existing urban core of the Kowloon Peninsula.

AoD

 

[golodhendil]

The urban environment will hopefully improve significantly when the area around the Kowloon Station development (all the towers seen in the pictures) are built up into the envisioned cultural district (including museums, concert halls, theatres, shops and cafes) over the next decade or so and connect the area better to the rest of Kowloon.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

golohendil:

The urban environment will hopefully improve significantly when the area around the Kowloon Station development (all the towers seen in the pictures) are built up into the envisioned cultural district (including museums, concert halls, theatres, shops and cafes) over the next decade or so and connect the area better to the rest of Kowloon.

I am not sure how much faith to put into that particular project, given how it crashed and burned a few years ago. Even after that, I wouldn't expect it to be "urban" the way we consider it - I would expect a massive megaproject of some sort.

AoD

 

[golodhendil]

I don't have high expectations for how it will turn out either, though to be fair it failed last time mostly because of political play by all sides. There is certainly a consensus and a will to build something nice there, and if done right it could really become a fairly urban area. It's true that the existing complex really wasn't built with "urbanness" in mind, since it was designed mostly as a self-contained "suburban"-style development with direct access to the metro/ airport railway/ (soon) highspeed intercity rail station complex underneath.
And btw it's golodhendil

 

[wyliepoon]

I would consider Union Square a supersized version of the typical Hong Kong-style development in recent years ("Suburban" is really not the best word to describe this style of development, since this is being built all over Hong Kong- HK Island, Kowloon and the New Territories). This comprises of a massive podium with bus terminal and/or MTR station entrance at street level, obscure entrances featuring escalators and elevators whisking pedestrians to a shopping mall on floors 2-5 of the podium. A tropical-themed private park covers the top of the podium, on top of which is built rows of notorious 50-storey "screen towers" of subpar design (compared to North American residential towers).

From a transit perspective, this is a perfect development model since a complex with extreme residential and commercial densities surrounding a transit station is good at attracting ridership. However, urban design is sacrificed at Union Square as developers and the MTR think that the only way people will get to the complex is by public transit (with a few rich people arriving by car), and the development is designed to almost completely shut out pedestrians.

However I am optimistic that things in the area will improve in the future. I, too, have confidence that the West Kowloon Cultural District will improve the area. I don't see how the WKCD can be developed except as an area with exceptional architecture and urban design. Perhaps, when the WKCD actually opens, the heavy pedestrian flow in the area will force MTR to open up Union Square to pedestrians.

 

[golodhendil]

^ The only reason I used "suburban" is because this type of towers-on-podium development isn't all that common within the urban "core" (HK island north shore along the tramway, old Kowloon up to Cheung Sha Wan, and the core of older new towns like Tsuen Wan, Yuen Long and Tai Po), for the obvious reason that there is no space there without extensive demolishing. But otherwise I concur with everything you said.

 

[Aaron]

What a great podium.

I agree about the exhaust grates though.

 

[ProjectEnd]

It's funny to read all the negative response here concerning the complexes' lack of 'urbanism.' While this clearly isn't a small, tight knit neighborhood, buried deep in Kowloon, I think it comes off rather well. When you consider that it seems to be raining when wylie took those photos...

Maybe I'm way off the mark - could anyone who has been here speak to that?

 

[Hypnotoad]

It's funny to read all the negative response here concerning the complexes' lack of 'urbanism.' While this clearly isn't a small, tight knit neighborhood, buried deep in Kowloon, I think it comes off rather well. When you consider that it seems to be raining when wylie took those photos...

Maybe I'm way off the mark - could anyone who has been here speak to that?

I've been and I somewhat agree. Like all new mega-developments, this complex (not just ICC but the entire transit-oriented district) is incomplete, sterile and massive. It is also isolated. While it can be reached by foot from the rest of Kowloon, it is a barren walk and not all that pleasant. Indeed, it is like an island only accessible by transit. The station is beautiful, deep and basic. But it is also heavily populated with shops, mostly for convienence sake. All the structures above are connected and their is a sense of a grant quartyard between them. It is as if the complex is a community that turns its back on Hong Kong and looks inward at itself. Thus, it fails the urbanity test because it does not integrate into the existing context.

The West Kowloon cultural lands could become a great urban experience. Notwithstanding the highway that runs between (and then under) the park, it has potential. The place isn't finished yet and has only seen one cycle of development. As is the case with almost any new, instant neighbourhood, it fails the urban test but passes the amenity test. Think of it like a transit-oriented mega City Place.

Here is a link to an earlier discussion, based on my last visit there and some great photos from Wyliepoon: http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=4858