Built for Swire Properties Ltd. (962), the structure cost HK$27,000 ($3,477) per square foot to construct, including land premium. A standard high-rise apartment in the city can cost as little as $HK4,000 per square foot to build, according to Swire Chief Executive Officer Martin Cubbon.
“Of course, it’s going to be enormously expensive by any standards,” says Cubbon. “In rental values and capital values, it’s going to command the highest numbers that Hong Kong has ever seen.”
— businessweek.com
4 Comments
can someone explain to me the purpose of what appears to be exterior columns wrapped in glass?
another view.
http://www.opushongkong.com/en/Film.html
He mentioned briefly that these are both for structural and aesthetic purposes. Could they be reinterpretation of bamboo? Just guessing.
cool, thanks for that link. i get the formal expression of the structural component as a reed swaying in the breeze...it's just enclosing it in glass (a material that almost disappears in this application) for no purpose that is functionally apparent just kind of blows my mind. gehry does some crazy shit we all know...some say it's all mindless formgasm, some say he's the most contextual architect of all time...but whichever side you fall on this kind of senseless waste in a time of austerity, dwindling material resources, and threat of an imminent end to architecture as we know it just seems like an ignorant and out of touch message! i suppose this could only happen in china at this moment but i mean, and i don't know if i'm taking this in the right direction, what does gehry think of the world he's leaving behind? does he care about anyone but himself? the only thing this building does other than pander to the super rich is disenfranchise the broader public who look at this and think "if that's good architecture and good architecture cost that much, how can we in this new world even afford to respect and appreciate that?" i know that's what i'm thinking.
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