This morning Paul Harrison took me along to see what he's called the 'Lego building': granite blocks and columns stacked up on a patch of flat ground below lower Baguio Villas.
Does anyone know the story behind them?
Here's the patch of flat land below lower Baguio Villas. There's a fence running across the ground, and beyond the fence you can see the blocks in the distance, over to the left:
Here's a closer look:
Paul noted that the blocks must have been here a long time, based on the size of the trees on the right.
Outside the fence are more blocks:
No round columns in this collection, they look like they were originally square pillars:
One block is appx 30-in / 75-cm across:
Where they originally part of the Dairy Farm land in this area? They seem too ornate for cows!
Or part of an old building up on Pok Fu Lam Road, or even Central, that was demolished and moved here?
Was the original plan to use them for an ornate, old-fashioned entrance to Baguio Villas?
Those are just wild guesses - other wild guesses welcome!
Regards, David
Photos that show this Place
Comments
Answer
For your reference, Chinese newspaper version only: https://ol.mingpao.com/ldy/cultureleisure/culture/20210124/1611428320415
「上述古物都似乎有了固定歸宿，但坊間仍有一些散落一方。馮永基偶然在私人住宅碧瑤灣屋苑範圍內，發現數十截石柱散放草坪草堆中，形容乍看如龐貝古城。他查證這些過百年的石柱是中環新世界大廈前身友邦行拆卸時遺物，猜測建築師不欲丟棄，暫放同屬新世界物業的碧瑤灣，自此一直留在該地。截稿前，未能聯絡負責建築師潘肇棠先生求證。」
re: Answer
Thank you for this information. Here's the English from Google Translate:
"The above-mentioned antiquities seem to have a fixed destination, but there are still some scattered ones. Fung Wing-ki accidentally found dozens of stone pillars scattered among the lawn and grass in the private residence of Baguio Bay, describing it as Pompeii at first glance. Ancient city. He verified that these century-old stone pillars were relics from the demolition of AIA, the predecessor of the New World Tower in Central. He guessed that the architect did not want to discard it and temporarily placed Baguio Bay, which belongs to the New World property, and has remained there ever since. , Failed to contact the responsible architect Mr. Pan Zhaotang for verification."
We've got a Place for the old building at https://gwulo.com/asia-life-building, which shows how the pillars used to look:
Guild Park in Toronto, Canada
This park is the resting place for relics saved from demolitions of downtown Toronto buildings. The pieces are rearranged by artists and architects into imposing displays. A very good concept which the Hong Kong Government can learn from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_Park_and_Gardens
AIU / AIG
My uncle Bill Allman's office was in this building c.1960s when he was an exec with American International Underwriters.
Can't believe they are still there
I remember these being their in the eighties near what was know as Devil's Corner at Baguio. We moved in 1987 so they certainly predate that by a few years.
I'd forgotten about them so it's really interesting to hear the origin and answer one of life's many mysteries.