Today's image is a view most likely taken from near the intersection of Garden Road and Queensway showing the dome of the Legislative Council Building, the Mandarin Oriental hotel, Jardine House and Exchange Square Block 1.
The compressed depth tells me I shot this with a telephoto. From my approximate shooting location to Exchange Square Block 1 is about 1,700 ft (500 m). From the top of the dome to the facade of Jardine House behind it is about 800 ft (250 m).
There are so many different architectural styles in this frame.
The Legislative Council Building served as such from 1985 to 2011. Before that it was the Supreme Court. Opened in 1912, the building was designed by Sir Aston Webb and Ingress Bell. Webb redesigned the main facade of Buckingham Palace in 1913.
The Mandarin Oriental hotel opened in 1963. At 26 storeys high, it was the tallest building in hong kong at the time and reportedly the first hotel in Asia to include a bath in every guestroom. This was formerly the site of Queens Building which was built in 1899 and was on the waterfront!
Jardine House, with it's distinctive porthole windows, was completed in 1972 and, surprise surprise, was the tallest building in hong kong (and Asia) at the time. Since the Mandarin Oriental was originally on the waterfront, Jardine House (or Connaught Centre as it was originally) was build on reclaimed land. The terms of the land deal included a clause that no building to the north would obstruct the views from Jardine House – so they partially blocked the views from the Mandarin Oriental and secured that no-one could do the same to them!
Exchange Square Block 1 was completed in 1985, but was never the tallest building.
Each of these four buildings has it's own distinct architectural style, construction approach and construction materials which is one of the reasons I like this particular shot.
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