[MOC] The (in)famous Kowloon Walled City as a modular building

[Graupensuppe]

Hi everyone, I recently built my first modular MOC and I'd like to present it here as well...

With as many as 50000 residents on a footprint of just 126 x 213 meters, Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City once was the most densely populated settlement in the world.

While this model depicts only four of its levels, the actual building complex reached a height of up to 14 stories as new structures were frequently built on top of older ones. Streets were overbuilt, turning into corridors full of water pipes and exposed electrical wiring. The city housed numerous low-cost production facilities such as small workshops and food factories. Living space was scarce inside the labyrinth-like city, but residents could enjoy fresh air and sunlight on the rooftops.

The complex of intertwined buildings was finally demolished in the early nineties, but its unique construction style and dense urban aesthetic have served as an inspiration for a number of fictional settings, possibly even for Lego's Ninjago City set with its stacked architecture.

The model features advertising signs as well as a grocery store at the outer face of the city, a noodle factory, a metal workshop, one of the dark alleyways at ground level, a fish gutter's shop, a stairwell, two very cramped apartments, caged balconies, a weaving and sewing shop, a dentist's office, a light well obstructed by lattices and clothes, a cookshop, a dough sheet bakery, and rooftops packed with TV antennas.

Details include a carrying pole, neon tubes, a noodle machine, a fan, food items, beds, a hearth, clothes lines, a loom, and a sewing machine.

This has 2385 pieces, by the way. Well, I'm a big fan of the modulars Lego has released so far, but they all look colorful and clean and sort of European/American. I decided to submit this on Lego Ideas (there's also some pictures of the interior) because I'd love it if a more densely built, dark, "ugly" or even cyberpunk-y model were released for once (though of course Ninjago City already went in the right direction). What do you think?

Edited July 1, 2018 by Graupensuppe

[cjtonic]

Great work. Love the beauty of the ugliness. Any images from the inside?

[Graupensuppe]

9 hours ago, cjtonic said:

Any images from the inside?

The Ideas entry has some images of the interior as well (first floor, second floor, third floor, fourth floor for example). Most of these rooms are to some degree modeled after those seen in an Austrian documentary about the Walled City that can be found on Youtube.

Edited July 1, 2018 by Graupensuppe

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Amazing MOC and oustanding stuff ...the sewing machine is my favorite!

[Bricked1980]

I think it looks great and is a really unique and original style for a modular moc. Great work. 

[Digger of Bricks]

I saw this over on Ideas back when you joined Eurobricks, and immediately highlighted it over on @LegoModularFan's inspiration topic (linked below).

Best of luck to you over at Ideas on your journey towards ten thousand supporters! 

 

Edited July 1, 2018 by Digger of Bricks

[Graupensuppe]

17 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I saw this over on Ideas back when you joined Eurobricks, and immediately highlighted it over on @LegoModularFan's inspiration topic (linked below)

Ah, thank you!
Since this is my first Ideas project I wonder where else I could promote it though - I guess cities that don't even exist anymore don't really have a "fanbase" I can appeal to.

[Digger of Bricks]

Also, if you're not aware yet, the blog ArchBrick has featured this creation two days ago. 

ArchBrick - Kowloon Walled City 

[Graupensuppe]

It's not even been two weeks and I've already felt like building an add-on today. Phew, the overall piece count is exactly 2999 now, with the piece limit on Lego Ideas being 3000...

This expansion adds a shop that sells beverage cans and bottles, a nursery, a staircase, more advertising signs, another dwelling, a roof section, and the room of a pigeon breeder! New details include electrical wiring, some rust, two babies on blankets, a bed, cans, a potted plant, and a birdcage.

Here's the update that includes some more pictures.

Edited July 11, 2018 by Graupensuppe

[Littleworlds]

Excellent build! I really love its style 

[CopperTablet]

Fantastic work!   I could see something like this, in a somewhat modified form, being the Ninjago big set for 2019.    Right now, it's very realistic, and while that's great, if Lego wanted to sell it, they'd need to add some kid appeal.  How would you adjust it to interface with the Ninjago city and docks?  

 

Is anyone building this in brick?

[Graupensuppe]

On 7/12/2018 at 6:26 PM, CopperTablet said:

I could see something like this, in a somewhat modified form, being the Ninjago big set for 2019. Right now, it's very realistic, and while that's great, if Lego wanted to sell it, they'd need to add some kid appeal.

Now that you say it... It certainly wouldn't look out of place next to Ninjago City:

But I don't really want to use brighter colors or Ninjago elements. I'd describe the Kowloon Walled City as "so ugly it's beautiful", and that's what I wanted the model to look like as well.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Graupensuppe

[Graupensuppe]

The interview with Jamie Berard gives me hope that we might also see an Asian modular building, or maybe even one that's "darker and uglier" like this one, sooner or later:

Quote

How you feel about this slightly new direction the series has taken?

- I think this is a very deliberate move. Coming off the 10th anniversary, we've had 12 modular buildings of a fairly consistent style. People were horrified that it was too American; the previous buildings were more European. But if we gave you every building exactly the same, this is not going anywhere!

 

Edited August 1, 2018 by Graupensuppe