The Unknown City: Contesting Architecture and Social Space

Part I: Filters
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Shirley Wong
9.2 | Hongkong Shanghai Bank, 1886. Northern facade facing the harbour.
Photograph taken ca. 1900, after completion of praya reclamation (PH140.1.11).
The status of the Bank was further signified by an elevated entrance.
The main entrance was reached by ascending one flight of granite
steps—first to the verandah formed by the colonnade and then to the level
of the entrance door. The same message was also conveyed through the immense
space in the banking hall under the large octagonal dome. To the
users of the Bank, the whole spatial experience of climbing the stairs and
discovering this imposing space in the banking hall acted to confirm what
they should already have realized: the unrivaled power enjoyed by the Bank.
The sense of solidity and strength evoked by the granite used in the
building reinforced this dominance. Moreover, granite had long been associated
with important government buildings such as the Flagstaff House
and the Government House, which were themselves symbols of power; the
headquarters building drew on these associations as well.
CONTROL
Upholding the dominance-dependence relationship was the key to sustaining
the power structure within the colony. It required not just physical or
overt aggression but other means of control that, though less explicit, were