Beyond the skyline: Hong Kong through the eyes of an architect.Between sea and mountains, Hong Kong unfolds through extraordinary contrasts: soaring towers and intimate temples, crowded markets and quiet courtyards, elevated walkways and places of pause beside the water.In Hong Kong: The City Between Sea and Mountains, architect and photographer Augusto H. Martínez Paredes explores how these spaces connect. His photographs move between the monumental and the everyday, revealing a city shaped as much by its thresholds, streets, and rituals as by its celebrated skyline.From the vertical city to the life of the streetThe journey begins among the towers of Central, where buildings such as Jardine House, the HSBC Main Building, and Bank of China Tower invite close attention to structure, geometry, and their relationship with the ground.At street level, the focus shifts. Markets, signs, shopfronts, and passing pedestrians reveal the dense layering of urban life. Architecture becomes a framework for movement and encounter: a sheltered edge, an opening between buildings, a place to gather beneath the towers.Sacred spaces, public interiors, and the harbourWithin Man Mo Temple, incense coils, lanterns, smoke, and shadow make the passage of time visible. On Lantau Island, Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha bring architecture into conversation with landscape, ritual, and the experience of ascent.The book also examines the spaces that keep the city moving. Elevated pedestrian routes, the West Kowloon Station, and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre reveal different ways of organizing circulation and public life.Along the harbour, reflections and changing light open another perspective. Waterfront promenades, vessels, and buildings connect the city's vertical density with the breadth of the water. The journey extends to Stanley, where the pace and scale of urban experience change again.What readers will discover• An architect's perspective: photographs and concise commentary that connect form, material, structure, and human experience.• Contrasting urban scales: from the details of a facade or temple interior to public infrastructure and panoramic views.• Architecture in use: streets, markets, walkways, and gathering places that show how the city is inhabited.• Light, atmosphere, and time: visual studies of reflections, night scenes, sacred interiors, and the spaces between buildings.• A carefully sequenced photographic journey: chapters devoted to the vertical city, the urban theatre, sacred spaces, infrastructure, and the harbour.English texts, accompanied by Chinese titles and selected passages, provide context while allowing the photographs to lead. Broad views and close observations encourage readers to return to the images and discover relationships that become clearer with each encounter.Volume IV of the China SeriesWith photography, texts, and editorial design by Augusto H. Martínez Paredes, this book offers readers of architectural photography, design, and Chinese urban culture a sustained exploration of Hong Kong.Discover a city whose character lives both above the streets and within them. Read more
