MONSTER BUILDING

Three subway stops from Causeway Bay, in the popular Quarry Bay district, this is one of Hong Kong's most emblematic buildings. Appearing in films such as Transformers, it is partly responsible for Hong Kong's reputation as a cramped, apocalyptic hive of buildings.

This 19-storey public housing complex was built in the 1960s to meet the growing demand from Chinese immigrants arriving in Hong Kong to work as a result of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China. The housing market quickly became saturated, and the shortage of low-cost housing became apparent. The idea, as is often the case with public housing, was to accommodate as many people as possible in a very small space. The five-building complex is often compared to the old Kowloon Walled City, leading to its current nickname of Monster Building. Today, around 10,000 people still live here, and a few small local businesses still survive. The average rent for a 20-30^m2 apartment is between HKD 8,000 and 15,000.

Warning: it may raise ethical questions to come and observe the architecture of social housing, or even to aestheticize it, so as this is a building where people live, you should come with the utmost respect - no shouting or taking photos of people.

Access: at n°1044, enter the passageway and you'll arrive in the courtyard of the main building.