Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong

BOC Tower, Hong Kong

First Published Date: Sep 19, 2009

Much of modern architecture is about making a statement. In fact, it is probably truer to say that architecture has always in some way been about making a statement. Even the most unremarkable buildings have something to say about themselves, even if that thing is simply “I am simple and unobtrusive, it is what happens inside that is important”. Nevertheless, the increase in the amount of money spent on architecture has been enough to persuade architects that what they must provide in this day and age is a little bit of “bang for your buck”. Any major development today, you can be assured, will not be a simple straight up-and-down edifice with sober decoration. One look at the Dubai skyline will make clear the direction in which the wind of modern architecture is blowing.

As far as statements go, it is not merely the modern day buildings that seek to make themselves heard, as a look through the last few decades will tell you. One building which has been in situ for nearly twenty years in its current form, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, is very much a statement building. Its bold lines are certainly impressive, and although it was conceived in the Eighties and opened in 1990 it still looks modern to most eyes. With the importance of the number eight in Chinese culture,  the plan was to open the tower on the eighth of August, 1988 (8.8.88). This did not happen, and this seems to fit the story of the tower, as it seems to deviate from the long-held beliefs about auspicious buildings and projects in Chinese culture.

For one thing, the building does not conform to the standard practices of feng shui which are broadly considered to be of major importance in China and its territories, in some places seeming almost to have a sense of open defiance against the rules. This is not quite the intention, and in fact the architect who conceived it, I.M. Pei, consulted with experts before finalising the design, removing a majority of the X-shaped structures from the final look as they are considered to bring bad luck. On the other hand, the presence of numerous sharp lines in the building is considered to be provocative. Nonetheless, the building has yet to be befallen by any major difficulties. On being built it was the tallest building in all of Asia, and the first outside the United States to break the fabled 1,000 foot mark.

One other interesting feature of the Bank of China Tower is its shape. From certain angles it bears a marked resemblance to a meat cleaver, and indeed this shape is known as a “cleaver building”. While this in itself may seem to be just a common fact, it becomes interesting when one notes that the “blade” of this cleaver points across the road at another building – the headquarters of the Hong Kong branch of HSBC, to be specific. A coincidence? Possibly, and possibly not, but interesting to ponder nonetheless.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Sep 13, 2009