油麻地停車場大廈 Yau Ma Tei Carpark Building

too much obituary but then here is another one.

Yau Ma Tei Carpark Building, know for the Gascoigne Road Flyover passing through the building on the 3rd floor, will be permanently closed next year, in 2021. The top three floors of the car park will off limit starting 1st nov 2020. disappearing landscape aficionados in hong kong are congregating on the 7th and 8th floors to savour the hustle and bustle of yaumatei on this last full day of its operation.

2020實在寫得太多訃聞，不過還是越寫越有。預告你知十一月仲有我想寫但未寫嘅。油麻地停車場大廈要重建／改建了。我期待的是地下的讀書館會變得更乾淨、更大、提供更多元服務等等。今日我就跟其他香港人追逐那些虛無縹緲、似有似無嘅回憶。油蔴地係五湖四海、人流複雜的地方。出入停車場大廈地下公廁的，有時有點駭人、像是吸毒癮君子、亦有神志不清的人。如果說資源不公，這里的圖書館和公廁都可以算是我用過之中的最污糟。希望這社區奇景消失之餘，政府會改善此地的各項服務。

https://youtu.be/WR97jqinsQ0

too many photos taken inside

carpark

carpark2 – flyover on lower right

bmw – car as model

notice on permanent closure

此時此刻的地圖  library was marked in the middle of the proposed thoroughfare

another video after my errands at the library 去完圖書館再拍過:

低啲再影過 a closer look further down :

蘇屋邨的夕陽 sun setting So Uk

杜鵑, 海棠, 茶花, 彩雀, 百合, 牡丹, 劍蘭, 金松, 櫻桃, 蘭花, 石竹 楓林, 綠柳, 壽菊, 丁香。。。不要心邪,這不是某夜總會的小姐的別稱。當2012年初到最後時，香港的蘇屋邨也快走進歷史。一九六零年代建成的最後幾座也快要拆掉。 有陽光，有空間，有樹木的好環境，不知將來“再生”的蘇屋邨比得上舊的嗎？

As we leave 2012 behind, we bit farewell to So Uk Estate，one of the first housing estates in Hong Kong. The last of its remaining buildings will also leave the physical world and enter into history books.

In those earlier days of housing development, even the banal naming of housing blocks sounded much more elegant than the luxurious private condominiums these days…
Azalea, Begonia, Camelia, Larkspur, Lily, Lotus， Cedar, Cherry, Orchid, Gladiolus, Carnation, Peony, Maple, Willow, Marigold, Lilac… buildings all named after flowers, you can’t get really more elegant than that!

Goodbye 2012, goodbye another piece of Hong Kong history from the 20th century.

蘇屋邨 杜鵑樓 Azalea House, So Uk estate

name plaque

蘇屋邨 (三), So Uk estate (3)

蘇屋邨, So Uk estate (name in Chinese)

2 Flatirons, 2 destinies

encore des fers à repasser (Flatiron)

another “flatiron” in Vancouver, BC, Canada 加拿大溫哥華一"熨斗"樓宇

cette bâtisse dans un coin anciennement défavorisé a vécu la gentrification (c’est à dire l’embourgeoisement) du quartier. Il y a de plus en plus des touristes qui la passent pour aller aux boutiques, aux cafés ou aux restos.

本土九龍的，更人來人往

九龍大角咀也有熨斗唄 ONE of the Flatirons in Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, HK

可悲是有特色，而不太高的舊樓在市建局的陰影下生存空間越來越窄，跟熨斗一樣窄！
為什麼前者（溫哥華的）可以留下來？但這大角咀的呢，多半會在一、兩年內消失。

看看以前這博客提及過的熨斗樓吧

more flatirons in this blog from the past

假兄弟 fake bros – separated at birth (3)

Located just outside the Northeast perimeter of the 2nd ring road in Beijing, 当代 MOMA and another newly erected landmark in the CBD next to the east 3rd ring road, the new CCTV tower (with the former hotel-to-be or now a temporary eyesore as of August 2010) are NOT separated at birth. They do however, share some genomic sequence in the plasmid with
each other if you look from a certain angle. If nothing else, the represent the playground for architects and urban planners alike in the rapidly developing Chinese capital.

坐落在CBD東三環旁的新中央電視台大樓和二環東北角外的當代MOMA是否有親戚關係的呢？正面看它們是沒血緣的，側邊遠眺，雖不是失散的兄弟，但倒有三分像吧。

CCTV Tower with fireworks torched hotel, Beijing, Aug 2010

當代 MOMA， Beijing， Jan 2010

武康大廈 Normandie appartment – separated at birth (2)

這是迷失雙胞胎系列 之二 紐約二十三街和百老匯交界的熨斗(Flatiron)大廈很美嗎？上海這妖艷的城市也有她線條優美的武康大廈。別少看後者，她的身材還比她那更著名的姐妹更均衡呢。

武康大廈 Normandie apartment

從外觀來看，大廈的保養還不錯。

大廈北邊是隨街道而有弧度的

looking up Wu Kang

looking up 2

part 2 of the separated at birth series. Normadie apartment in Shanghai is no less charming than the Flatiron in NYC. Paris of the Orient has a collection of mansions and buildings that are bound to open some eyes of architecual enthusiasts.

Flatiron, 23rd and Broadway, NYC, USA