Hong Kong’s incredible density and three-dimensional complexity is characterised by its towers. It is intensified, however, by a network of layers of circulation. There is no single street level but rather a lattice: pavements, bridges, escalators, stairs, covered walkways and air-conditioned sky-bridges. While wandering through the city, you might find yourself in a corporate lobby or sharing a glazed bridge with office workers, sharp-suited lawyers or lounging nannies, picnicking on their day off in ingeniously constructed cardboard shelters.
You’ll also find a tightly focused collection of some of the finest towers and skyscrapers in Asia, or indeed anywhere. The city districts of Central and Admiralty have become a kind of museum of architecture, a wonderful tracking of trends and technology over the past 75 years or so. There is not much left from earlier periods — with the exception of the occasional sculptural lion, cannon or war memorial — but that does not limit its range of expression.