Tuesday, February 5, 2013

In Hong Kong People Are Packed Into Sardine Can Sized Apartments: Michael Wolf And His Architecture Of Density Images...

By choice I'm lucky to live in 131 square feet of house bus with all amenities and enjoy a good and healthy lifestyle. I'm very happy.
And then there's the great outdoors.
But the seven million residents or should I say Sardines of Hong Kong don't have very much choice at all.
For various reasons, only twenty three percent of the land is developed and of that, less than seven percent is used for housing.
This goes to make Hong Kong one of the most densly populated places on the planet.
Most of Hong Kong's resident sardines are packed into 6588 high rise buildings making New York pale into insignificence with only 5818 high rise residential shoeboxes.
The celebrated German photographer Michael Wolf, who you'll remember gave us Chinese Factory Workers and The Toys They Make published here late last year, has been putting his considerable talents to his Architecture of Density series of images, showing the living conditions of these people and how they live.
These people living in these claustrophobic residential cages are some of the lucky ones though.
There are others who live in far worse conditions.
You'll notice that neither sky nor land feature in these images.
Neither land nor sky feature in these people's lives...








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12 comments:

  1. Very sad - the communists moved the boat people into these tiny apartments to tidy up the harbour, then when they moved in they were so depressed they jumped out of the windows to commit suicide so they put bars over the windows to stop that practice.

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    1. f you they have to be made earthquake proof and it was said more people would be on the electricity grid eq proof has to be paid for

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  2. What an incredibly sad way to be forced to live... But amazinf photos.
    Like you Keith... I'm thankful I was born and live in New Zealand.

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  3. Looks to me like a fate worse than death.

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  4. A 105 sq foot "apartment" with shared kitchen and bathroom can cost $1000 a month! and you're not talking luxury or location

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  5. We may feel quite smug here in NZ, but many of my young students from Hong Kong can't wait to go home from Rotorua NZ where they say' It's so boring, there are no people and too many potatoes'. Luckily it takes all sorts...

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  6. I found those photos so scary... mostly because they're REAL! I'm so grateful to live in NZ

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    1. will you please adopt one of my kittens? theyre no trouble really I just think its time someone else woke up from a kitten licking a bald spot because no one believes me when I say that

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  7. nice photo, HK is unique, but all HK people do have different character, live at small size house and have character are two different things.

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  8. I would NOT want to be the postman to one of those apartment complexes! My entire 8-hour work day would be done on one building! Lifts/(elevators) I hope? WHEW!

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