The Red Cape

by Vincent Wan Lau

In the Middle Ages, townspeople erected hundreds of cathedrals seeking not only religious popularity, but political popularity as well. Towns competed with each other to sport the tallest cathedral. If one town raised a cathedral, the next town would build higher, and the next town after that. Cathedrals were about power. You, the fine strapping lad or fair damsel you are, trod along the beaten path of a vast and seemingly endless field. You’re tired, sweating, and starving, wondering where Kingsbridge is, the town where you wish to lodge for the night. And there it is. Soaring high in the distance is a colossal structure, so high it might as well have disco lights and neon signs because you really could not have missed it. It is the Lone Ranger. The Shooting Star. The Cathedral.

I spotted the Cathedral in Hong Kong, sans the clunky chain mail and silver armor of course. The IFC(International Finance Center) claims the sky on that business-booming island, belittling the small cities without towers and shaking hands with those with them. His outstretched hand grasps that of the Empire State Building on a daily basis. No doubt he has shaken hands with the skyscraping Costanera Center in Chile. Which means he seals deals with the exuberant Sony Center in Berlin from time to time. Having a soaring tower, a Cathedral, in your city means one thing: it is about the business, just as it was back in the Middle Ages. Business is their link. It is their common language. This is what makes Hong Kong, Santiago, and Berlin brothers.

Hong Kong is pressed up awkwardly in the crowded bus and enjoys his coffee black in the morning. Santiago never takes his Giorgio Armani sunglasses off and brags about his “business-suit tan.” Berlin turns the experimental indie rock up on his iPod and stops to buy an expensive finger-painting piece he wants to hang up in his office. No matter what race, gender, or culture, at the end of the day, they can all shake hands, seal a deal, and go out for happy hour drinks laughing over a game of soccer.

Years ago, New York and Tokyo went out for happy hour. They still do. They just do not dance on top of the bar when Real Madrid scores a goal or challenge brawny men to pool games that only end up with broken sticks. Those days are long gone. Hong Kong, Santiago, and Berlin are the Google’s of our generation. They are the Picasso’s, the Nacho Libre’s. Traditional rules do not scare them, corporate guidelines do not bind them, and thus they are limitless in potential. Yeah, I’m scared too.

NYU’s International Study Project emphasizes these three cities so that our students can see a construction in progress. This triumvirate is not stopping with the jello shots anytime soon. In the future, they will reminisce of those days, but for now life is good. Their citizens are as proud as the builders from the Middle Ages, who sat back and chewed at roast beef in the presence of their ever-more popular Cathedral. For those who are going to visit one of these cities this year, stand in its beauty and breathe the air of success. Bask in its tireless energy, dance on top of tables, for the city is young. You are feeling the night breeze against the cape of Nacho Libre. For those of us not yet experiencing that trip, we can only long to slip on those recreational pants, that spandex jersey, that handlebar mustache, that flowing red cape.