| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Topic : "Kowloon Walled City" |
Capt. Fred
member
Member #
Joined: 21 Dec 2002
Posts: 1425
Location: South England
|
 Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:16 pm |
 |
 |
Http://www.deputy-dog.com/?p=91
50,000 people in 26,000 square metres is about 2 people per square metre. And stunning it is too!
Last edited by Capt. Fred on Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
Max
member
Member #
Joined: 12 Aug 2002
Posts: 3210
Location: MIND
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:12 am |
|
|
| Wow. I have never heard anything about this city. Impressive,... |
|
| Back to top |
|
Naeem
member
Member #
Joined: 13 Oct 2004
Posts: 1222
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 4:18 am |
|
|
| i second that |
|
| Back to top |
|
Capt. Fred
member
Member #
Joined: 21 Dec 2002
Posts: 1425
Location: South England
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:07 am |
|
|
The story behind it is amazing too.
A small area of land temporarily set aside be the Chinese for some British troops, later developments left it unaffiliated with any government. and it essentially ran itself in a 'harmonious state of anarchy'. Albeit with drugs, gambling and prostitution making up part of that harmony.
It is not purely residential, there were busy factories, shops etc. A volunteer group emerged to take the role of the absent police. It was serviced by a single resident postman (Mr Liu, below).
Apparently you had to use the roof for significant horizontal travelling.
Totally stranger than fiction. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Jabo
member
Member #
Joined: 25 Jul 2002
Posts: 467
Location: Germany
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:13 am |
|
|
Woah, thanks for sharing. Massive indeed. I googled it and found this picture. I feel a strange memento of Half-Life 2 looking at it.
_________________
CA SB|Flickr |
|
| Back to top |
|
Gort
member
Member #
Joined: 09 Oct 2001
Posts: 1545
Location: Atlanta, GA
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:01 am |
|
|
Uh oh - do I smell a mod? 
_________________
- Tom Carter
"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield |
|
| Back to top |
|
Jabo
member
Member #
Joined: 25 Jul 2002
Posts: 467
Location: Germany
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:47 am |
|
|
Nope, you can actually see it's the same corner of the housing block that is shown in Fred's picture.
_________________
CA SB|Flickr |
|
| Back to top |
|
Capt. Fred
member
Member #
Joined: 21 Dec 2002
Posts: 1425
Location: South England
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:02 am |
|
|
| I thought Gort was saying it would make a great map for a video game... no? |
|
| Back to top |
|
RasselTassel
member
Member #
Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 94
Location: Montreal, Canada
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:28 am |
|
|
i visited kowloon some years ago... did some gambling and street fighting... mmm good times.
beautiful if you ask me!
_________________
If u build it, he will come |
|
| Back to top |
|
The Insane Lemur
member
Member #
Joined: 19 Oct 2003
Posts: 768
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 4:10 pm |
|
|
| strange, i just came across some of those photos the other day- It was like mini Coruscant! Too bad it got torn down, heard some group got to explore the empty city right before its end. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Jimmyjimjim
member
Member #
Joined: 12 Dec 2002
Posts: 459
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:21 pm |
|
|
| Capt. Fred wrote: |
A small area of land temporarily set aside be the Chinese for some British troops, later developments left it unaffiliated with any government. and it essentially ran itself in a 'harmonious state of anarchy'. Albeit with drugs, gambling and prostitution making up part of that harmony.
|
Fascinating. And your background is an extremely good example of how anarchy doesnt work in the real world. As good of an idea as it is, jerkoffs will always spoil the fun. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Capt. Fred
member
Member #
Joined: 21 Dec 2002
Posts: 1425
Location: South England
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 1:18 am |
|
|
I'm not sure I follow you. I have only read a few pages on this, but nothing I have read points to it's state of political anarchy as the cause of its eventual demolition. It was evacuated and torn down for health & safety reasons.
For a lawless slum, I get the impression that it ran itself with reasonable order! Afterall, there are many other places you can find drugs, gambling and prostitution (London for example). |
|
| Back to top |
|
Jimmyjimjim
member
Member #
Joined: 12 Dec 2002
Posts: 459
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:57 am |
|
|
Hmmm.... I read into that a little too much, I think. I got the impression in what I read that it was torn down because it was lawless and filled with drugs, gambling, and prostitution.
Either way, fascinating stuff. for some reason, it reminds me of Pueblo dwelling of the southwest:
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
Capt. Fred
member
Member #
Joined: 21 Dec 2002
Posts: 1425
Location: South England
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:16 am |
|
|
| Is that a sand castle? ! |
|
| Back to top |
|
Jimmyjimjim
member
Member #
Joined: 12 Dec 2002
Posts: 459
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:24 am |
|
|
| You're kidding, right? It's adobe: Clay, sand, straw, and manure applied like plaster. It can also be baked into bricks. A standard of ancient southwestern american architecture because of it's insultaing properties. |
|
| Back to top |
|
eyewoo
member
Member #
Joined: 23 Jun 2001
Posts: 2662
Location: Carbondale, CO
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:38 am |
|
|
| Quote: |
| A standard of ancient southwestern american architecture because of it's insultaing properties. |
yeah... I think insulting properties are the best... 
_________________
HonePie.com
tumblr blog
digtal art
Last edited by eyewoo on Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
Max
member
Member #
Joined: 12 Aug 2002
Posts: 3210
Location: MIND
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:57 am |
|
|
| I have been at this place, it was quite awesome. Something like this doesn't really exist in europe... |
|
| Back to top |
|
Francis
member
Member #
Joined: 18 Mar 2000
Posts: 1155
Location: San Diego, CA
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Drunken Monkey
member
Member #
Joined: 08 Feb 2000
Posts: 1016
Location: mothership
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:24 pm |
|
|
This is one of the coolest fucking phenomena i've ever seen. Shame they tore it down.
If you look at it from the air it kind of looks like compacted garbage doesnt it? Same impression i got of NY (or any big city really) when i flew over it, but much more so even due to the square shape if it and uneven divisions caused by the whole ad-hoc construction.
Anyway, i am all for the clean beautiful cities, but there always needs to be a slumtown.
_________________
"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" - Sigmund Freud |
|
| Back to top |
|
Lunatique
member
Member #
Joined: 27 Jan 2001
Posts: 3303
Location: Lincoln, California
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 11:24 am |
|
|
| Drunken Monkey wrote: |
This is one of the coolest fucking phenomena i've ever seen. Shame they tore it down.
If you look at it from the air it kind of looks like compacted garbage doesnt it? Same impression i got of NY (or any big city really) when i flew over it, but much more so even due to the square shape if it and uneven divisions caused by the whole ad-hoc construction.
Anyway, i am all for the clean beautiful cities, but there always needs to be a slumtown. |
I think other than it being an eyesore and an embarrassment, there were also safety issues. They had to tear it down or it'll probably collapse on itself sooner than later. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
