Hong Kong seems to be a place where I.M. Pei can do business easily. Hong Kong, like I.M. Pei himself, is a blend of the old and the new, the East and the West. Hong Kong is the hub of overseas Chinese network and the gateway to the motherland in culture and geography.
In 1980s, due to norman foster's bold innovation, the high-tech headquarters building was designed for Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and the architectural reputation of Hong Kong was enhanced. HSBC is a powerful British financial institution and is known as the "best bank" in Asia. Foster's design seems to be a spaceship parked on the ground along a striking port.
As early as in Shanghai, HSBC began to compete with Bank of China in terms of structure. For decades, the two banks have been competing to build more and more magnificent buildings and compete with each other.
As Hong Kong will return to the administration of China government in 1997, the new building of Bank of China Hong Kong Branch designed by I.M. Pei is bound to symbolize the bright future of Hong Kong. This building must dwarf Foster's bank building and other signs of colonial rule, and reassure the famous established companies in Hong Kong that Hong Kong will continue to prosper under the leadership of the China government. I.M. Pei said that it should represent "the wishes of the people of China".
At the age of 65, I.M. Pei had the opportunity to add a unique skyscraper to his architectural works. His attitude is very positive.
Foster's landmark building is built on the edge of the harbor, with a prominent position and a budget as high as $654.38+0 billion. I.M. Pei does not enjoy these advantages. He only got $654.38+300 million, and the land area was small and the environment was desolate. The elevated highway blocked it from three sides. To make matters worse, the Japanese Army Command occupied this land during World War II. Many Hong Kong people believe that tortured prisoners still haunt the area.
Between Hong Kong's port and the hills, there are already many skyscrapers of forty or fifty stories high. If I.M. Pei wants to build a striking building on such unfavorable land, he must build it surprisingly high. By his own admission, relying solely on the vertical height is a "180 degree turn" compared with the thoughtful and simple style of Xiangshan Hotel. The problem is that there are more skyscrapers on every street in Hong Kong than in any other city in the world. I.M. Pei promised: "The western style of the Bank Building will not be inferior to any other building. Hong Kong is the crossroads of the world. It has the technology and means to build modern buildings. "
In traditional high-rise buildings, the weight of the building increases with the increase of floors; The taller the building, the thicker the columns. The architect tied the rectangular frame supporting the weight of the building firmly with transverse tie rods to make it stable and prevent the side of the building from swinging. As Hong Kong is frequently hit by typhoons, its horizontal connection standard is twice that of new york. An architect who doesn't dare to innovate boldly like I.M. Pei may be content to build a standard 50-story box building with such extra burden and insufficient budget funds. However, the award-winning bank building in norman foster is just two blocks away, and the inevitable competition prompted I.M. Pei to try all the architectural possibilities.
Shortly after returning to the United States from Xiangshan Hotel, I.M. Pei asked his son to cut a square wooden pole into four triangular fan-shaped columns longitudinally, then cut the top into inclined planes and tie the columns together with rubber bands. When I.M. Pei slid these columns to separate them from each other, a tower and wall steps with gradually decreasing volume appeared at the height of a quarter of the column; When it reached half height and three-quarters height, the second and third towers appeared respectively. The remaining pillars continue to rise, forming a pyramid-shaped vertex. Mountain said, "My father likes to think behind closed doors before calling his assistant. I feel that the above ideas have been fully formed in my father's mind. "
I.M. Pei put the drawings together with the model developed from a bundle of columns. It was an architectural engineer who discovered the bud of a new concept from I.M. Pei's architectural inspiration. This concept will replace the expensive "I"-shaped column combination, so that the traditional high-rise buildings will be submerged by the economic vertical space framework. Robertson said: "Yu Ming is very inspiring. He has the most fundamental intuition about architecture, people and everything. He often can't express these feelings in words, but you can definitely trust his intuition about architecture. "
One way to stabilize a high-rise building is to transfer the weight to the edge, so that the building can withstand the storm like a sailor standing with his legs crossed. Robertson did this by horizontally reinforcing the tower designed by I.M. Pei with prefabricated components similar to transistor antennas every 13 floors. These inclined members transfer all the longitudinal and lateral loads of the building to the four corner columns. Steel bars originally used for repeated lateral reinforcement can now be used vertically. Robertson said: "It represents a new type of building. Let people see the importance of structure in architecture. It increases the height of the column. "
In order to emphasize the structural feasibility and aesthetic feasibility, I.M. Pei circled the diagonal members and transverse trusses of the reinforced tower with a red pen every 13 floor. I.M. Pei said, "If we don't show the structure, the building won't look comfortable."
I.M. Pei shows a proper Confucian attitude in respecting history, but he doesn't always welcome behaviors that violate his professional life. In the past, he often joked that he didn't pass the site planning part of the New York State Architect's License Examination because he applied the principle of "Feng Shui".
Feng Shui theory is very popular in Hong Kong. The mysterious practices and superstitious rituals used to appease the world of ghosts and gods are extremely discordant, keeping pace with the high-tech financial institutions that monitor the world market. When Huangdu Hotel was completed, people who believed in Feng Shui were worried that the nine dragons symbolized by the hills around Kowloon would not find their favorite bathing places. They thought the problem was very serious and asked to open forty windows in the front hall so that the nine dragons could find their way into the water.
I.M. Pei once said, "How can I believe those things? Despite this, Feng Shui is part of my education and part of architecture. "
When designing the building of China Bank Hong Kong Branch, I.M. Pei once gave a book about geomantic omen to one of his assistants, and asked him to evaluate the design according to the geomantic omen rules. After careful study, the assistant reported to him several places that violated Feng Shui in the design.
Later, I.M. Pei explained, "China people in Hong Kong are the most superstitious people you can find. There, feng shui is another big business. Mr. Feng Shui there is like a lawyer here: they are everywhere, and you can't move without asking their advice. I know I will get into trouble, but I can't predict what kind of trouble it will be. "
At least, the Bank of China will not tolerate the appearance of Feng Shui in public, because the doctrine of * * * has officially abandoned the theory of ghosts and gods. Nevertheless, when designing the technical drawings, the bank sent a telegram to I.M. Pei, expressing deep concern about the numerous framed giant "X" displayed on the front of the building. In China, the "X" means pain, partly because convicted prisoners wear signs with their names on their necks. Bank executives in China don't necessarily believe in geomantic omen themselves, but they are worried that once the geomantic omen of the building is not good, it will affect the enthusiasm of depositors and tenants. Several real estate transactions in Hong Kong broke up because of bad feng shui. I.M. Pei said, "They suggested euphemistically that maybe I should look at those X's again. I told them that "X" is the most important part of the design. They must support the whole building. "
After a lot of research, I.M. Pei hid the transverse truss used to separate prefabricated members every 65,438+03 stories, and skillfully depicted the exposed part as a series of intersecting gems-an auspicious image that made bankers very happy. At the same time, he compared the tower to mushrooming, symbolizing regeneration and hope in China tradition. I.M. Pei said, "There is an old saying in China that when it comes to lotus flowers, they are muddy but not stained. We hope that the building has the same qualifications as Lotus. "
I.M. Pei used symbolism that Hong Kong could understand. He erected the shiny square minaret on a three-story granite foundation. The heavy post-modernism pedestal is awkwardly connected with the lighthouse above, but it achieves the purpose of showing dignity and strength. I.M. Pei's father once told him: "Banks must appear very safe." I.M. Pei originally wanted to use the steep terrain to introduce fountain water from one end of the building, and then let the water gush out from the other end. But according to the principle of geomantic omen, doing so means failure. Therefore, I.M. Pei decided to set two inclined fountains on both sides of the huge foundation to reduce the noise of the surrounding vehicles.
Thanks to his effective framing system, I.M. Pei was able to build one of the tallest buildings in the world except new york and Chicago with a relatively low budget. Even counting the extra typhoon reinforcement equipment, the bank building uses 40% less steel and 25% less welded joints than the traditional high-rise building. The Bank of China Building 1985 broke ground, and one floor was built in four days. The whole super building structure was completed in 16 months. On August 8th, 1988, the capping ceremony marking the completion of the aerial craft of the building was officially held. 200 guests, wearing plastic helmets, took the construction elevator covered with wires to the top of the 70th floor. There, a pillar engraved with the names of 100 workers has been placed on the rough concrete floor, and the pillar is firmly fixed by festive golden bolts. When people lift shovels symbolizing cement with shovels tied with red ribbons, countless colorful balloons are released. They drank a bucket of sake, lit incense and ate roast suckling pig. Everyone jokes about the HSBC building designed by norman foster: from such a high position, the HSBC building is as magnificent as the decorations in the toy city below.
The time of this ceremony was carefully chosen, because "8" is homophonic with the word "fa" in Cantonese, which means making a fortune. Some Hong Kong residents think that August 8, 1988 is the most auspicious day in the 20th century. However, even if I.M. Pei and others are so courteous to the China tradition, they can't dispel the stubborn views of the neighbors in the building. Mr. Feng Shui, who was sneered at by architects and clients, told the press their views: I.M. Pei can poetically compare architecture to spring bamboo shoots full of hope, but in their eyes, architecture is a cold sharp knife with a triangular sharp blade.
It is said that some sharp corners of the building point directly at the governor's residence. Shortly after the newspaper published these reports, I.M. Pei and his wife happened to meet Governor Wilson and his wife on the flight from Paris to Hong Kong. The Governor and his wife invited Mr. Pei and his wife to visit the Government House the next day. Before sitting down for lunch, the host and his wife showed I.M. Pei the new funny content in the garden. Wilson later explained: "Because in the eyes of many people, the Governor's Office represents the Hong Kong government, we planted two willows in a straight line between that sharp corner and the central position of the Governor's Office, which is a protective measure. Willow is soft and round, which acts like a knife to cushion the sharp corners of the building. In this way, the problem is solved and everyone is happy. " □