City of ex­cess, city of con­trasts, city of ex­tre­mes. Ever­y­thing that can be said about Hong Kong ap­p­lies equally to its ar­chi­tec­ture. For today's multi­tude of ob­ser­vers, the built en­vi­ron­ment is the most vi­sual ex­pres­sion of con­tem­porary Hong Kong. Vi­si­tors in­va­ria­bly mar­vel at the re­mar­ka­ble scope of what has been achie­ved in such a short time. In turn, local re­si­dents have a pheno­me­nal pride in their city's ar­chi­tec­ture, to an extent un­matched el­sew­here in the world.
This guide pro­vi­des a per­so­nal selec­tion of projects which cap­ture the present mood. While it in­clu­des 'must-see' buil­dings, it also co­vers many less well-known projects. As well as pro­vi­ding in­for­ma­tion about Hong Kong's ar­chi­tec­ture, the book's in­ten­tion is to pro­voke de­bate. Open dis­cus­sion at an in­ter­na­tio­nal level is im­pe­ra­tive if the city's ar­chi­tec­ture is to con­ti­nue to flou­rish under its new re­gime.