Wan Chai Market! (20)!

Wan Chai Market

The Wan Chai Market was constructed in 1937.It is located at 264 Queen's Road East Wan Chai,Hong Kong Island. It is a Grade III Historic Building.
Its architectural style is influenced by Streamline Moderne (also known as Streamlined Moderne or Art Moderne) architecture, a popular style of building of the 1930s. It is often erroneously referred to as a Bauhaus-style building.






History
During Japanese occupation, the basement of the Wan Chai Market was occupied by the Japanese troop for the storage of corpses.
In 1961, the Market underwent a renovation to improve its facilities and environment so that the Market could compete with other market places in the district.
The Land Development Corporation obtained approval from the Executive Council to acquire land in Wan Chai, including this site, for redevelopment as part of an urban renewal project. A consortium was formed comprising Chinese Estates (40%), Kwong Sang Hong (25%), Chi Cheung Investment (20%) and Peregrine Group (15%).
Chinese Estates, controlled by Joseph Lau Luen-hung, agreed with the Urban Renewal Authority in 1996 to jointly redevelop the site into a luxury residential-commercial complex. Phase two of the project, which requires the demolition of the building, was scheduled to start early 2008 and completion by mid-2011.
In 2007, the Urban Renewal Authority and the Development Bureau jointly announced that the facade and the front part of the historic market building will be preserved in the redevelopment project; the front part will be used as a shopping centre. A residential building will stand at the back of the market building.

Facilities
There is a basement and staff quarters in the building.

In Popular Culture
In the successful video game by Eidos, Deus Ex, Wan Chai Market is used as the basis for a portion of the game.

Gallery







圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/HK_Wan_Chai_Market_in.jpg/120px-HK_Wan_Chai_Market_in.jpg


Wan Chai Market





圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/HK_Wan_Chai_Market_n3.jpg/90px-HK_Wan_Chai_Market_n3.jpg






圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/HK_Wan_Chai_Market_fd.jpg/120px-HK_Wan_Chai_Market_fd.jpg

灣仔街市，位於香港島北的灣仔皇后大道東264號鄰近與灣仔道交界，與石水渠街傾對望。街市的建築是一幢戰前典型德國包浩斯風格的建築物，建於1937年，由英國建築師組成的工務局設計，現被列為香港三級歷史建築。

灣仔街市樓高兩層，主要的造型元素是橫向長窗和雨蓬所組成的橫線條。它的入口位於流線型的角上，強調角的流線形，加上屋頂上的欄杆設計，使它更像船形。牆身結構是由玻璃、磚、混凝土及鋼構架組成。大樓採取開放式設計，周邊攤位及中央獨立攤位只有矮小間隔，而鋼構架減少樑柱的使用，為大樓提供了更大的內部空間。



拆遷
1996年，香港政府將灣仔街市納入發展計劃範圍之後，灣仔街市就一直面臨被清拆的命運。近年有人反對清拆灣仔街市，要求保留。也有在街市內經營多年的商販反對調遷至新的灣仔街市。

由於灣仔街市是第三級歷史建築物，因此在保育與發展的同時要有所取捨。該地的發展商華人置業表示會為各方面作出平衡而會決定是否興建尚翹峰第二期。有意見認為，假如灣仔街市被保留的話，在政府的立場上是不好的先例；不過，這也是文化保育和尊重建築科學智慧的一個好開始。