Lippo Centre

Why a review on Lippo Centre? Just because it’s one of my favorite buildings in Hong Kong!
On my first time in the city, the cab drove by Queensway and I saw it from the distance: what a cool weird building… oh wait, there are two towers… even cooler! So I did a quick search in the Internet to find out a little more about its architecture style and history. Lippo Centre was built in 1987 and it comprises two office towers. At first sight the towers seem identical but they are not: Tower II is around 14 higher (4 more floors). Its designer, Paul Rudolph didn’t like symmetries and he not only designed two different ‘twin’ towers, but he gave them a distinctive shape that stands out in the Hong Kong skyline. Some people say you can see koalas hugging the towers but this is not the official version, so I’ll leave it up to your imagination.
Some interesting facts: the initial project envisaged a footbridge between the towers, but one of the owners disagreed with this idea because it reminded him of old warehouses in Indonesia; Rudolph did adapt the design to the city’s aesthetic by covering it in shiny dark blue glass (he usually avoided shiny materials in his other projects). This is also one of the reasons why Lippo stands out from the rest of the buildings: in spite of being smaller than most of its neighbors, Lippo’s color is unique.
Although its location is fantastic, access to the building can get a little tricky in the maze of shopping malls and busy roads. I had to learn this, as now I have a fantastic view from the 20^th floor every day from 9 to 5!