There seems to have been a bit of revival lately in the forums about strange, monolithic gritty old concrete buildings, commies, ghettos and such stuff ... I'd thought I'd start a thread dedicated to it !

Anyway I'll start this thread off with my little contribution from S'pore ... the photos I took of the Golden Mile Complexm though not gritty by a long shot (or HK's standards !) still quite interesting because of the unusal architecture !

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/p44ano.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/pqano.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/pan6o.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/IMG_4875.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/IMG_4887.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/IMG_4890.jpg

Next, the pearl bank, a unique commie, this is a repost of some of the pics I've uploaded before in the commie thread, for the benefit of those who have not seen it.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/pano82.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/stormoverpearlbank.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/dogyears/pano2.jpg

ok your turn !

I won't be posting KWC or Chungking this time! But some illegal facades in HK :)

http://www.generativedesign.com/asialink/de11_file/image008.jpg

nice pics, but too small !

Another one,

An HK tenement!

http://www.archidose.org/Blog/wolf2.jpg

Two buildings that might be mistaken for slums here

Golden Mile Complex
http://img218.exs.cx/img218/5761/goldenmile2fc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/redstone2/gmc.jpg

http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5034/gmcp8wi.jpg

Golden Mile Complex is a shopping-cum-apartment complex at Beach Road and was by the sea I believe, for at least a short while before land reclamation took it away.

It's 17 storeys tall and is sloped. Every apartment unit had a balcony at the rear, which gave everyone a great view of the sea. Every unit would feel as if living in the top floor penthouse as it gave everyone a clear view of the sky.

But, since it was built in the early 1970s, apartment owners begun to add to their balcony, erecting sunshades and creating rooms. These individual ad-hoc additions in dull colours made the rear of the whole building look like slums on a slope.

Pearlbank Apartments
http://img51.photobucket.com/albums/v157/baqthier/viewsgapart1.jpg

http://www.pearlbankapartments.com/pbk-image4.jpg

http://www.skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2003/08/209293.jpg

http://www.skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2003/08/209296.jpg

http://img73.photobucket.com/albums/v222/ylstan03/City%20Landscapes/DSCN14961.jpg

A Brutalist styled 'open cylinder' 1970s condominium block built on the slopes of Pearl's Hill.

It's external facade is in bare concrete, never painted, with a mosiac of indentations and windows.

http://files.photojerk.com/RafflesCity/pearlbank.jpg

Pointe City, Johannesburg

http://www.eyesonafrica.net/safari-images/south-africa/gaut_imgs/joburg.jpg
http://www.sayheykey.de/schacht.jpg
http://www.sayheykey.de/PONTE_23.jpg

Pointe City, Johannesburg

http://www.eyesonafrica.net/safari-images/south-africa/gaut_imgs/joburg.jpg
http://www.sayheykey.de/schacht.jpg
http://www.sayheykey.de/PONTE_23.jpg

How tall is it?

How tall is it?

173m / 567ft and is the tallest residential building in Africa.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051006/OCT06-S02-144.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051006/OCT06-S02-153.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051006/OCT06-S02-201.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-015.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-086.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-014.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-020.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-030.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-041.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-056.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20051005/OCT05-S01-082.jpg

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/3487/oldsalvationblg17dm.jpg

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/9918/pacific7wk.jpg

http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/6421/uniontowernorthside3ta.jpg

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/2848/lonlybrick6fm.jpg

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/6600/underpass15gn.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/4850/bellhotelblock33qp.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bellhotelblock33qp.jpg) http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5210/bellhotelblock8pt.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bellhotelblock8pt.jpg) http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9161/bellhotelblock20ct.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bellhotelblock20ct.jpg)

http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/2411/dscf15450wl.jpg

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/5268/artdent21dv.jpg

[IMG]http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/6421/uniontowernorthside3ta.jpg


Where's the grit in this picture? That's a beautiful old bank building, and it appears to be in decent shape, unless the photo doesn't reveal everything.

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050326/RIMG0182.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050326/RIMG0192.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050326/RIMG0193.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050326/RIMG0285.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050326/RIMG0286.jpg

Toronto's grit ain't that bad! Reminds me of Pittsburgh :D

http://www.globalphotos.org/pittsburgh/DSCN7348.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/pittsburgh/DSCN7323.jpg