"The Peak" Hong Kong


The composite building and terraced gardens of The Peak rest on a plinth that emerges from the hillside, providing an acropolis from which to view the city, the harbor, and the mainland beyond and forming a strong architectural counterpoint to the natural landscape. Two prototypes considered in the proposed design, Schinkel's project for the palace of the King of Athens and Hadrian's villa, are both characterized by the integration of interior and exterior spaces as a sequence of rooms. The villa prototype suggests a set of relationships that identify and delineate the public and private aspects of the program. The plan is generated from the manipulation and repetition of a limited catalogue of forms, which are derived from archetypal architectural elements: wall, gate, rotunda, arcade, pavilion.