Michael Wolf's Architecture of Density project transforms Hong Kong's ubiquitous high-rise architecture into stunning works of art. Photo: Michael Wolf Wolf begins by driving around Hong Kong to scout possible photo locations. If he sees a photogenic building (tall, bright and detailed), he’ll look for the best vantage point for shooting the structure. Photo: Michael Wolf To get his shots, Wolf will walk up an incline to get parallel to the middle of a building. Occasionally, he’ll climb up on rooftops, parking garages or even schools. Photo: Michael Wolf Wolf only shoots on overcast days, that way he can get as much detail as possible. Photo: Michael Wolf If you look closely, you can see personal belongings hanging outside the windows. Photo: Michael Wolf This is because the average apartment is Hong Kong is tiny. Photo: Michael Wolf Many of Hong Kong's high-rises are colorful. Photo: Michael Wolf Developers use the color to distinguish their buildings. Wolf calls it a "calling card." Photo: Michael Wolf Still, there are some sad-looking megabuildings. Photo: Michael Wolf Wolf's photographs capture intricate architectural patterns. Photo: Michael Wolf Photo: Michael Wolf Photo: Michael Wolf

When you first see Michael Wolf’s photography, it takes a second to realize what you’re looking at. The multi-colored patterns look almost like an unidentifiable piece of technology, as though a chunk of plastic was plucked out of a motherboard and magnified. It’s only when you begin to notice the windows and balconies and even the occasional person punctuating his frame that you realize you’re staring at someone’s home. More specifically, you’re looking at Hong Kong’s colorful high-rises, the most prevalent form of housing in one of the most vertical cities on the planet. In his Architecture of Density project (now a book), Wolf transforms his adoptive home city’s ubiquitous architecture into stunning works of art.

>'By removing the context, viewers have no idea how big these building actually are.'

Wolf begins by driving around Hong Kong to scout possible photo locations. If he sees a photogenic building (tall, bright and detailed), he’ll look for the best vantage point for shooting the structure. “The location is crucial,” he says. “You need an unobstructed view.”

Fortunately, Hong Kong is a hilly place, so it’s easy for Wolf to walk up an incline to get parallel to the middle of a building. Occasionally, he’ll climb up on rooftops, parking garages or even schools. “Sometimes I’ll go into the building opposite,” he says. “I’ll try to find someone who will let me into his apartment so I can photograph out of the window.”

After Wolf gets his shots, he prints out the photographs and lays them on the floor to study them, sort of like the way a writer storyboards a novel. “At some point I just took a photograph and I folded away the sky and the horizon until I just had the pure architecture. I realized it was a very effective visual effect,” he explains. “By removing the context, viewers have no idea how big these building actually are.” It’s easy to imagine that the buildings Wolf shoots could easily rise another 40 stories, though it's impossible to really know. “It gives you this illusion of almost endless size,” he says.

If you look closely at Wolf’s photographs you can see that none of them are taken on sunny days. “I always photograph on overcast days because I don’t like the hard contrast,” he says. “I like to see a lot of detail.” Clouds allow Wolf to see into the gaps of the houses and document the small details that would otherwise be washed out.

As viewers, it allows us to notice the designs of everyday life in Hong Kong. Because it doesn’t freeze, contractors are able to snake drainage pipes up and down the length of a building, creating striking patterns. And because Hong Kong is so densely packed (Wolf notes the average apartment size is probably around 400 square feet), people tend to use public space as private space. "You’ll see woks, mops, all kinds of things hanging outside the windows because there’s just not enough space in the apartment,” he says.

The driving force behind Hong Kong’s expansive high-rise culture is purely economic. To maximize revenue, the government needs to keep the land expensive, which means they need to keep it rare. Contractors will bid on a small plot of land, driving the price up, and whoever wins has the choice: Do you build high or low? “If you want to make a profit on that land you have to build high,” explains Wolf. “Because you can build a two-story house on a plot of land or you can build a 60-story house, but if you build 60 stories you can get 20,000 apartments out of it.”

>'At some point I just took a photograph and I folded away the sky.'

It’s important to note that while Hong Kong’s buildings look unwelcoming and claustrophobic, Wolf notes that many people prefer to live in them (if they can afford it) than commuting in from the countryside every day. It's estimated that nearly 90 percent of people take public transit in the city.

In the United States, we’re spoiled with space. Even in New York City, where it can sometimes feel as though you’re walking on top of the person in front of you, we have the luxury of expansive parks and comparatively well-sized apartments. To live in Hong Kong is truly to live in a mega-city, where your apartment building can have a population greater than entire towns in Nebraska. It’s not for everyone, says Wolf, but it does lend itself nicely to the photographer lifestyle.

“Photography is a very voyeuristic medium,” he notes. After years of living in a small house in Hong Kong’s countryside, Wolf himself now lives in a 21-story high-rise that’s surrounded by similarly tall buildings. Believe it or not, he actually loves it. “It’s as if I’m living in one of my photographs,” he says. “I look out on a sea of 5,000 apartments...it’s fascinating.”

Want to see more photos? You can purchase Wolf's Architecture of Density here.