The Monster Building is a group of five connected buildings on King's Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong.[1][2]22°17′03″N 114°12′44″E / 22.284198°N 114.212300°E It is a popular location for photography and has been used as inspiration for several filming locations.[3] There are 2,243 units in five blocks with 18 floors in height. Currently, 10,000 people live in the complex.[4]
Monster Building | |
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怪獸大廈 | |
General information | |
Address | King's Road |
Town or city | Quarry Bay |
Country | Hong Kong |
Completed | 1960s |
Height | |
Top floor | 18 |
Monster Building | |||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 怪獸大廈 | ||||||||
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History and characteristics
editThe housing estate was originally built in the 1960s and named the Parker Estate (百嘉新邨; in reference to Mount Parker, south of the estate) and later sold. In 1972, the housing block was split to five blocks: the Fook Cheong Building (福昌樓), the Montane Mansion (海山樓), the Oceanic Mansion (海景樓), the Yick Cheong Building (益昌大廈), and the Yick Fat Building (益發大廈). There are shops on the street front. The highest building is the Oceanic Mansion, with 18 floors. Due to it being a composite building, it is dense.[5][6]
Popular culture
editThe location is a private estate which became popular with tourists and locals after a photograph of it by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze became viral in 2013.[7] The photograph of the housing estate was the cover of his photo book 'Vertical Horizon'.[8] This spot became so popular that residents have placed warning signs asking visitors to be respectful.[9] The structure has inspired locations in films like Transformers: Age of Extinction and Ghost in the Shell[10][11][12] and music videos like "Labyrinth" by Mondo Grosso and Hikari Mitsushima and "Cave Me In" by Gallant and Eric Nam.[13]
References
edit- ^ Kate Springer (11 December 2017). "Pro tips: Shooting Hong Kong like a street photographer". CNN. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
- ^ @NatGeoUK (2018-02-25). "Neighbourhood: Hong Kong". National Geographic. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
- ^ "The beauty of urban Hong Kong through the lens of photographer Peter Stewart". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
- ^ 陳銘智 (2017-01-12). "鰂魚涌海山樓何以是打卡聖地?建築學者、前街坊還原真面目". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2022-11-24.
- ^ "變形金剛驚入迷城E" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Apple Daily. 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ "鰂魚涌「巨廈」全球絕無僅有". The Sun (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ Lin, Veronica (2019-07-16). "Romain Jacquet-Lagreze, the man who made the 'Transformers' monster building Instagram famous, on making poetry from Hong Kong's iconic street signs". www.scmp.com. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
- ^ "Hong Kong's vertical horizons". www.telegraph.co.uk. 2013-05-10. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
- ^ Lilit Marcus (18 October 2021). "When your home becomes a tourist attraction". CNN. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Quarry Bay 'Monster Building'". Alas Obscura. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ "Monster Building (Yik Cheong Building)". Time Out Hong Kong. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ "【影像熱話】海山樓張貼告示禁拍照 遊人懶理照「打卡」" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 香港01. 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ "HONG KONG: EAT, PLAY, LOVE". clashboomband.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
Further reading
edit- Lau, Ho-yin (2016). The spirit of the Hong Kong city : establishing the cultural heritage significance of an iconic Hong Kong urban architectural vernacular typology : the case of Parker Estate (Thesis). University of Hong Kong.