Kowloon Walled City repository

Those of us who’ve been in Hong Kong are constantly barraged by articles and people describing the magic of the now-dismantled Kowloon Walled City. Amidst the romanticization of this 6.5 acre block that was ungoverned or policed for decades (it lay in limbo between communist China and colonial British rule), people rarely offer any photographs of its inside. Until now, I had seen more of it’s outside and bird’s eye view than its innards.

Discovering 99% Invisible’s excellent podcast on it changed this. On their article about the podcast, they feature Greg Girard’s wonderful photographs:

More from where that came from here.

The article continues by featuring video footage of the Walled City. Here’s Jean-Claude Van Damme in an action movie there before it was torn down:

And they even managed to find a 40-minute German documentary (subtitled) about the City:

If you can get past the judgmental German overtones, they take us on through quite a thorough tour.

Aside from interviewing photographer Greg Girard, 99% Invisible also talks to architect Aaron Tan, who wrote a thesis on the Kowloon Walled City. Listen to the episode now.

Update: Check out an infographic of the city that the South China Morning Post commissioned. (Via Transpondster & Final Boss Form.)