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M+, Hong Kong, © Chung Wah Nan Architects Ltd.
Chung Wah Nan 鍾華楠
Chung Wah Nan Architects 鍾華楠建築師有限公司
Model, Peak Tower (Upper Terminal of the Peak Tramway) (1967–1972), Hong Kong 香港太平山頂觀景台（山頂纜車山頂總站）（1967–1972）模型
1969, reproduced 2013
Architect Chung Wah Nan began work on the Peak Tower in 1967, a year of political and economic turmoil in Hong Kong. Built as a tourist attraction, the project—with cafes, restaurants, and lookout points above a multilevel base—served as the upper terminus of Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak tramway. Punctuated by windows and niches, the building’s base fixes itself solidly to the site’s steep slopes, while the tiered upper portion perches like a space-age version of a traditional Chinese watchtower. Indeed, the project was an effort by Chung to reconcile modernist and historical Chinese design vocabularies, while providing an architectural statement of Hong Kong’s self-confidence at a time of growing unease. Immediately upon its opening in 1969, the Peak Tower became a popular icon of the city, appearing for a while on the 500 Hong Kong dollar banknote. Nevertheless, it was demolished in 1993 to make way for a larger replacement, designed by British architect Terry Farrell.
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