Architecture
A Tale of Two Cities
THE LOUVRE – COUR NAPOLEON
At first glance it’s hard to find two cities with more different personalities than Paris and Hong Kong. One is the product of centuries of Religious and Political influence, the other a 21st century celebration of Capitalism, yet if we dig deep enough we can find more similarities of motive and evolution than we may expect.
HONG KONG FROM VICTORIA PEAK
Even at a very young age I was fascinated by architecture, and for a little while, in between wanting to be a Marine Biologist or Merchant Navy Officer, I thought I might have been interested to pursue it as a career. In the end I did none of the above, but did travel the world and have sought out interesting buildings to photograph. My main interest here is to consider the intent of the architect or designer, and to ascertain how successful I feel they have been in their goal to articulate the message.
INSIDE NOTRE DAM CATHEDRAL
The two cities both express their identities clearly and consistently; walking through the streets of either, we are continually bombarded with a constant, clear message, no room for ambiguity, solid on all fronts.
As societies grow and become geographically established, with neighbors to trade or fight with, buildings begin to reflect that sense of place and purpose. Architecture grows out of need first; design and aesthetics come along as an afterthought.
HONG KONG FINANCE DISTRICT
PARIS:
After a long period of inhabitation starting around 4500BC, Paris began its notoriety during the Roman Empire, but fell into heavy decline after the Black Death. It reputation was reestablished with King Francois I, when he returned the crown residences there in 1528. However, from the 5th century AD throughout the Middle Ages, the dominant force modeling Europe was Christianity. Spectacular Cathedrals such as Notre Dame de Paris were already completed by the 13th century and had a duel purpose; worship, and representations of the incredible power held by the Catholic Church. Religion painted and carved European History and left us with breathtaking architecture and art. Thankfully, as one walks along the wide tree-lined boulevards, so much of these buildings remain. Paris has embraced its history and identity firmly and the millions who visit every year appreciate it.
It’s a city that sets the bar very high, before you even arrive your expectations are setting yourself up for disappointment, but the city knocks those down one by one and leaves you wanting more and wishing you could get posted there with work. Obviously the main sites require no further accolades, but it’s the little details that drag you in, from the cute little bookstalls along the Seine selling ancient novels and antique porn to posters by Monet and Van Gogh. Just the thought of all the great artists who have plied their trade on these stones is staggering and humbling. I could spend a year in Paris and never tire of walking the streets, especially between sunset and sunrise, then the city comes to life and a heavy dose of abstraction can be layered onto already beguiling images.
THE EIFFEL TOWER
Shooting Tips:
My most commonly used lens was a Nikkor 24-70 f2.8 on my trusted Nikon D700. This allowed me to shoot wide open at quite high ISO’s inside buildings like Notre Dam and The Louvre without flash, which is not allowed. In the evening, the addition of my Gitzo tripod, Really Right Stuff BH55 Ball Head and cable release helped out with panoramas and longer timed exposures. There is room for a wider zoom (14-24/2.8) especially inside the cathedrals, but I didn’t have mine with me (next time). Cour Napoleon is a really busy place, in fact packed with tourists. By not going until after 11pm we got it fairly quiet and in the morning before dawn it was deserted. That is the time to take the big panorama shots to avoid lots of figures.
HONG KONG:
Due to its strategic location on the South China Sea, with a natural harbor overlooked by tall peaks, the island of Hong Kong was always going to be a trading post. But in 1842, when the Chinese handed it over to the British, its destiny was sealed. Many top financial and commercial companies of today owe their success to their origins in Hong Kong. The cities whole identity is based on two things; show the world how powerful and rich it is, and to accommodate all the people who live there. Downtown is steel, glass and lights, the architectural equivalent of the power tie. The rest of Kowloon and the New Territories are virtually given over to monoliths of residencies, some of the highest density living in the world. The skyline looking across the bay from Kowloon is one of the manmade wonders of the world.
HOME OF THE NEW GODS?
It’s a city I love, and one I have visited often, but only recently to shoot. Architects have always loved to quote Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: “God is in the Details” and in that I agree, the images I captured here are all about details and I find some of them exquisite. Away from the harbor lights it’s not as immediately attractive as Paris, and most of the architecture is way up, and I am often bumping into people and apologizing, ending my long days with a stiff neck.
Shooting Tips:
I had 3 lenses with me on my last trip to HK, 14-24/2.8 24-70/2.8 & 70-300/4.5-5.6 and while I did use them all, the longer zoom was the most used. It’s great for getting into those details. I would consider taking a faster 300mm f2.8 VR prime with me next time, but would have to consider the play-off between weight and lack of compositional flexibility. The building is quite open and the light generally okay, handholding the longer zoom didn’t create any sharpness issues and off course, as the light faded in the evening, I switched to tripod and mirror lock up/timer release for guaranteed sharpness. As always in low light, I tend to focus first, turn off AF and finally compose the image and step back before pressing the shutter.
ENLIGHTENMENT
And what we can learn from these two cities is they represent two sides of the architectural coin, two mechanisms to deliver the same messages, power, strength, cultural identity and their origins. And the second thing we can see in great evidence is the human capacity to express itself articulately in a myriad of ways.
I feel the most interesting fact is this; Paris and Hong Kong are built on the same model, by more or less the same people, but separated by only 300 years of European history. As previously alluded to in the paragraphs above, Religion was such a powerful force in Europe that it set out the template for most of the towns and cities of the day. The Cathedrals, Abbeys, Churches, Basilicas and Mosques are immense in scale and in stature, they make one statement loud and clear, we’re here, and we’re here to stay. The onset of the industrial revolution powered the continent forward with global implications. The settlement by foreigners of Australia, New Zealand, North America and Canada, and that was just the British. The Spanish. Portuguese, Dutch, French and Germans all founded extensive global colonies under the banner of trade, although I suspect few today would argue that a healthy dose of exploitation was being administered to the locals.
GOTHIC INTERIOR OF NOTRE DAM
Had Hong Kong been seeded to the French in 1500 instead of the British in 1842 would the skyline be any different? I suspect so; the Cathedral Building mentality of the day was ingrained and absolute. Instead, there was a new deity on the block, money. What the British exported to the Orient wasn’t faith, as the Spanish did in South America, it was a business ethic, and that remains today in Hong Kong and in another very similar old colony, Singapore. This has enabled those countries to pick up the ball and run with it, released from the shackles of faith, standing up and saying to their citizens it’s okay to want more, you deserve it. The Hong Kong skyline in a way is almost a celebration of Capitalism.
When I was there a few weeks ago carrying around my camera and tripod, I would often be standing composing a shot and people would come up and start talking to me, more often than not they were either Korean or Taiwanese, two of the fastest developing countries in the world. Were they there to celebrate the capitalist dream?
THE STATEMENT
But Paris represents our past, history we can walk through and touch, does that nostalgia indicate a weariness of opulence and a desire for a simpler time? I don’t think so, Paris is opulent to the extreme and I for one would be in no hurry to return to the Middle Ages, when being burned at the stake was a common fate for heretics. However, the Parisians came up with a novel and bold step, perhaps aware of the worldview; they allowed The Chinese born architect I.M. Pei to design a glass pyramid for the Cour Napoléon and in one monumental step Paris declared we are a modern cosmopolitan city well aware of our history, but well-seated here in the 21st century. Is it just coincidence that the same architect designed one of the most prominent buildings of the Hong Kong skyline, the Bank of China Tower?
SYNTHESIS
In my opinion it was a stroke of genius and photographing that location is enthralling, the French have to be applauded for the thoughtful way they have integrated their new buildings with the old. As you walk along the River Seine it feels as if the intervening years have vanished. The stately buildings, grand, majestic, gothic and solid in stone remain as they always have, highlighted with some 18th-19th century architecture such as the Tour Eiffel. It all fits; the tree-lined streets, the bistros, the boats on the river, a giant composition of timeless art. Walking through the streets of Paris is a joy, bombarding the senses and provoking thought, well-dressed people sure of who they are, some say arrogant, but confidence and self-esteem can easily be confused with negative atributes.
And I feel that same sense of “right” as I amble through the skyscraper canyons of Admiralty in Hong Kong’s Financial District, it all fits; clean, organized, the people well-ordered and efficient. In fact, it’s business-like. I always feel when I’m in the city I should be wearing a suit, and feel oddly underdressed in shorts and a T-shirt, my only defense being, “I’m a photographer.” Even in the chaos of the local markets efficiency reins: “You want a fish, here’s a fish, how much, that’s how much, have a nice day.”
THE NEW FACE
Paris and Hong Kong clearly define their identities with their architecture and I believe the aesthetic success of these two sisters is based on a marriage of heart and mind. There is a conflict in all of us, the euphoria of heart battling with the rational of a sound mind, instinctive animal behavior suppressed by a façade of civility. To me religious art never fails to move, and have come close to epiphany in many European Cathedrals, close, but not quite! I certainly wouldn’t feel the same emotion looking at an illuminated Bank Tower, but I can still be strongly moved by the aesthetic, and here we strike the fundamental difference between our two cities; Paris has grown within the confines of its past, whereas Hong Kong has been able to grow in spontaneous bouts of inspiration. The more recent buildings taking modern architecture to a whole new level, the expression of the heart wed to function and bound with inspired design. And Paris makes the same statement with the Musée du Louvre, once a fortress, now home to 35000 works of art and a little piece of Hong Kong.
DEVOTION
Our evolution as a species has been rapid, from simple hunter-gatherers to a population of 6 billion people inhabiting all corners of the globe. Not everyone in societies share the same goals, beliefs, drive and passions, for an individual to say and feel what they want is now considered the most basic of human rights. It is however, a world fraught with inequality and the natural world is rarely a winner when man and animals compete for the same acre of land. But, rather than burying my head in the sand and going to live in a hut in the Arctic, I feel I have to embrace the beauty, look for the inspiration where I can find it. An illuminated window of a skyscraper in the business district of a metropolis can be a play of light and shadow and a thing of beauty. A glass pyramid in the middle of a 16th century building is a stroke of genius. The buildings around us are time capsules, some destined to be still standing in centuries, an ongoing link to our ancestors and the continuance of faith. Others become temporary homes to the corporate gods, reflecting fashion and the ongoing struggle to outshine the competition; two sides of the coin, both necessary as outlets of our expression and need to be understood.
THE SEINE
This is a wonderful blog and a nice summary here