Urban jungle: architectural photography in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a city packed with architectural landmarks which most of you are now familiar with thanks to being one of Hollywood's cherished background.

Housing more than 7.3 million residents within just 426 square miles (1,104 sq kilometers), Hong Kong has become one of the highest population densities in the world. In such a limited and popular environment, developers tend to build as tall as possible, leading to the surreal sci-fi-like cityscape we all know.

Taking a step back from the madness of the busy streets to observe this "kingdom" from afar is a great way to realize the extent to which the city is dense and compact.

I often wondered what would happen to these buildings if an earthquake tragically occured in this area. Knock on wood this never happens....

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Much like many other cities displaying similar futuristic skylines, Hong Kong's concrete forest is best appreciated at night, when the lights come on and the streets have emptied out a bit.
Here are 2 of my favourite buildings which have an almost hypnotizing effect when observed once the moon has risen:

The International Finance Center (IFC)	"Tetris" lookalike building found in Kowloon district

Something I've always found to be quite impressive and is, to me, one of the trademarks of Hong Kong, is the bamboo scaffolding enveloping numerous buildings around the city. It's almost impossible to visit Hong Kong without contemplating such a sight.

There are over 1,500 registered bamboo scaffolders in Hong Kong, yet apparently the practice of this unique industry is diminishing due to major shortages in material and labour. If you stand aside on the sidewalk for a few minutes and observe these men at work, you will be surprised by their spiderman-like movements and rapidity - often weaving their way around these bamboo webs up to 1000 ft above the ground, using very few safety restraints!

There is something so enchanting about seeing these impressive structures in the foreground, while ultra-modern glass skyscrapers can be seen on the horizon.

North Point disctrict "Chicken Coop"	Jardine House a.k.a. The Thousand Butthole building

Although, not all buildings will impress you with their geometrical designs and intriguing facades... Much like this "chicken coop" in North Point, Hong Kong is filled with shockers which, luckily, are mostly found far away from Victoria Harbour, thus saving the famous cityscape money shots from looking like a rundown anomaly.

The skyrocketing housing prices in Hong Kong have forced many to live in dirty, cramped, and unsafe conditions. Tens of thousands have been forced to live in 6x2 ft "rabbit cages" - and the situation is only getting worse year after year.

If you wish to learn more about this not-so-glamorous side of HK most will not tell you about, this 13-minute documentary is bound to raise a few hairs:

On a lighter note, Jardine House (seen on the photo to the right) located in Central district, was built on reclaimed land (artificial land created as an extension within the harbour itself) and affectionately called the "Thousand butthole" building by locals. The building features a unique façade with circular porthole shaped windows, inspired by the nautical history of the city and the building’s site.

_{Map Location: !steemitworldmap 22.4437014 lat 114.0073853 long HONG KONG D3SCR}

Thank you @juliank for hosting these contests.

Here is a list of all the contests you can enter on a daily basis:
Monday: foodphotography and animalphotography
Tuesday: landscapephotography and cityscapephotography
Wednesday: architecturalphotography and vehiclephotography
Thursday: macrophotography and colourfulphotography
Friday: streetphotography and portraitphotography
Saturday: sportsphotography and smartphonephotography
Sunday: goldenhourphotography and longexposurephotography

All photos were taken with my Canon EOS 500D and Samsung Galaxy S4

To view some of my previous posts, click on the links below:

Illustrations by my great-grandfather	The Hundred-year-old Egg
The treasures left behind by my great-grandfather #8	Faces of Borneo - Portrait photography

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“Learning is not a race for information, it is a walk of discovery” - Jane Healy