HONG KONG | Bank of China Tower | 1,205 FT / 367 M | 70 FLOORS | 1990
Probably still my favorite tower anywhere in the world, the Bank of China Tower is an exceptional work by I.M. Pei. The building was designed and constructed at a time when China was wishing to establish more of a visible presence in Hong Kong, a few years before the handover.
The Bank of China Tower exceeded the next tallest building in Hong Kong by nearly 500 feet, and firmly planted the skyline of the city squarely in the discussion of world's best. It was the first 'supertall' building outside the United States.
The tower was designed by Pei as a series of triangular prisms (Pei was playing with 4 sticks tied together). The diagonally braced structural system of the resultant shape performed wonderfully in wind tunnel tests.
The site of the tower isn't the best in that it is surrounded on 3 sides by heavily travelled streets. Other than the cascading fountain side of the building, the tower doesn't hit the ground very well. It is meant to be seen as a skyline defining sculptural element anyway.
The lighting system is quite distinctive, accentuating the building's structural system. The white jagged lighting assures that the tower is as notable at night as it is during the day.
like lightning!
...and of course the building is part of the nightly HK lightshow...
Please add more! I know there are lots of fans of this building. Strangely, though I've been to HK twice, I don't have very good daytime shots of this tower...and none in the sunshine.
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What a great building, but it's not my favourite in Hong Kong. for me, it's still the purple-lit one on the right of this photograh: Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. I know, I'm crazy. It's not as elegant, but it's one of those buildings along with Hancock in Chicago that got me interested in skyscrapers across the world.
What a great set of buildings Hong Kong has.
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What a great building, but it's not my favourite in Hong Kong. for me, it's still the purple-lit one on the right of this photograh: Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. I know, I'm crazy. It's not as elegant, but it's one of those buildings along with Hancock in Chicago that got me interested in skyscrapers across the world.
What a great set of buildings Hong Kong has.
Interesting how you mentioned this along with the Hancock in Chicago, as I was thinking of how similar this tower is to the Hancock - at least in the exterior bracing. Very cool tower, man I have to make it out to Hong Kong!
I was kinda bummed when this box was built so close to it as it takes away some of BOC's impact on the skyline (even though I think it's one of the best looking boxes around).
Location: enjoying life in Tønsberg the coolest little town in Norway
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do any one have any lobby pictures or other interior pictures of the building? would be very interesting to see
it is such an brilliant and special design on the Bank of china tower the angles and lighting during the night and day is stunning and the glass is also very beautiful
and it was the first skyscraper in Asia to really challenge the great skyscrapers of USA and Canada wich stood pretty much alone up to the ninties
it really put Asia And especially Hong Kong on the Skyscraper map and whenever i think of Hong Kong i kinda see this building
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