The Robot Building

     Yesterday when I was subbing in an art class, one of the students was working on a project bending 5' lengths of aluminum wire into models of buildings.  We chatted about his work and also about a few famous buildings on Hong Kong Island, including the HSBC building, formerly the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, pictured at right.  It's nicknamed The Robot Building by some Hong Kongers.  The student said that this building could be taken apart and reassembled--like a robot, I suppose--which was new information to me.  After I got home I went online to check this out.  He was right.  The building was completed in 1985 when there was a lot of uncertainty about the future of Hong Kong, due to be handed over to China in 1997.  Just in case things did not go well with the handover, it was constructed from 5 prefab modules that could be disassembled and moved.
     The building has a couple unique features related to conservation.  It makes extensive use of natural light, and it was built to use seawater rather than fresh water for the cooling system.  The price tag was not conservative, however.  At the time of construction it was the world's most expensive building, costing $U.S. 668 million.

     Lions traditionally have been  placed outside building entrances in Hong Kong to keep away evil spirits. Standing guard outside the HSBC building are two bronze lions, which were commissioned in 1935 for the earlier Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank that stood on the site.  They're named Stephen and Stitt, after two former bank managers.  Supposedly the personalities of these managers is reflected in the bronze statues:  one roaring and one calm.  For decades people have come by to touch the lions' paws and noses, hoping that power and fortune will rub off on them.
     The photo shows Stephen's war wounds.  He took quite a few hits when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong during WWII and actually had a piece of unexploded ordnance lodged inside that had to be taken out by an explosives removal team.

     Occupy Wall Street has been camped in the public space underneath the HSBC building since last fall.  Their informal quarters are quite a contrast to the buttoned-down all-business atmosphere in this part of Hong Kong Island.  They've been more or less tolerated, although I've read the usual op-ed pieces about the protestors needing to go out and get jobs.  Supposedly most of them are either students or have jobs, though, and from the lack of occupation when I took this afternoon photo a few weeks ago, that seems a reasonable assumption.
     Besides disrupting business as usual, the protesters here may also hope to disrupt the feng shui of the site.  Geomancers consider the HSBC building to have a very favorable location.  There's a clear view of water, Victoria Harbor in this case, which is supposed to bring prosperity.  There's also what's called a dragon's gate, an open space at ground level under the building that allows the dragon to descend Victoria Peak and whoosh underneath the building and fly out over the water.  As it is right now, the dragon coming down off the mountain will get tangled up in the banners and tents of the Occupy Wall Streeters.