i. m. pei / bank of china, hong kong
pei had to grapple with 'feng shui' when he designed
the bank of china tower in hong kong in 1982.
the term means 'wind and water' and 'it has its roots
in the worship of the forces of nature, which sometimes
degenerated into a form of superstition.
when you design buildings in hong kong, you cannot
get away from that problem.
there are specialists, feng shui masters, who advise people
on all matters of things, especially on the selection of a building site;
placement of the building on the site;
and the shape and form of the building.
I was aware of this, but did not take it seriously.
As soon as we made our design public, I was immediately attacked -
just as fiercely as I was attacked for the louvre, but for different reasons.
for instance,...(the) building had too many sharp corners
(which would) bring bad luck to one's neighbours.'
but the real challenge for pei was architectural.
the building was placed on a incredibly small and difficult site ,
'surrounded by a heavily trafficked roadway...there was no
possibility to make an entrance...(so) I proposed to create a new
road at the back of our site.
(but) the site had one important advantage.
because it was located just out of the airport flight path,
the new building was not restricted by the height limit...
a tall building would permit us to overlook some of the most
prestigious buildings in hong kong...
the next challenge was...how to make it structurally expressive.'