Design
Historical past
Illustration
Social Points
#structure
#China
All photographs courtesy of Greg Jensen
At its peak within the Nineteen Nineties, Kowloon Walled Metropolis in Hong Kong housed about 50,000 folks. Its inhabitants is unremarkable for small cities, however what set Kowloon aside from others of its dimension was its density. Spanning solely 2.6 hectares, the tiny enclave contained 1,255,000 folks per sq. kilometer, making it the densest metropolis on this planet. For context, New York Metropolis boasts about 11,300 per sq. kilometer, whereas Manila, probably the most extremely concentrated municipality right now, tops out at about 42,000.
Kowloon was constructed as a small navy fort across the flip of the twentieth century. When the Chinese language and English governments deserted it after World Battle II, the world attracted refugees and folks looking for reasonably priced housing. With no single architect, the city middle continued to develop as folks stacked buildings on prime of each other and tucked new constructions in between present ones to accommodate the rising inhabitants with out increasing past the unique fort’s border.
With solely a small pocket of neighborhood house on the middle, Kowloon shortly morphed right into a labyrinth of retailers, companies, and flats linked by slim stairs and passageways by the buildings. Fairly than navigate the town by alleys and streets, residents traversed the constructions utilizing slim corridors that at all times appeared to morph, an expertise that prompted many to consult with Kowloon as “a living organism.”
The town devolved into e a slum with crime and poor dwelling situations and was razed in 1994. Earlier than demolition, although, a staff of Japanese researchers meticulously documented the architectural marvel, which had develop into a type of cyberpunk icon that even impressed a gritty arcade as tribute.
For a now out-of-print guide titled Kowloon Metropolis: An Illustrated Information, artist Hitomi Terasawa drew a meticulous cross-sectioned rendering of the city phenomenon to protect its reminiscence. The large panorama friends into the compact neighborhood, glimpsing slim dance halls, laundry dangling from balconies, and full factories tucked inside cramped quarters.
Due to psychologist Greg Jensen, we now have a surprising high-resolution scan of Terasawa’s illustration full with annotations and diagramming. It’s price viewing the total panorama in its entirety to zoom in on all the main points of this notorious metropolis. And, for images of Kowloon and its inhabitants, try this extremely informative video detailing its historical past.
#structure
#China
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