Steven Holl Architects
Post By:Kitticoon Poopong
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
With more than 17.4 million residents and a growing middle class eager to trade its Mao-era housing for new apartments, Beijing has been building residential towers at a breathless clip for much of the past decade. In the process, it has erased entire neighborhoods of single-story, courtyard houses on the old streets and lanes known as hutong, unraveling the tight social fabric that connected residents, shopkeepers, and other local businesses. While a few rich Chinese and foreigners have lovingly restored or modernized old courtyard houses, most middle-income families have moved into new apartment towers that stand alone or in gated clusters.
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Built by the Modern Green Development Company—a Beijing-based developer that has worked with foreign architects such as the Austrian firm Baumschlager Eberle—Linked Hybrid comprises eight apartment towers ranging from 14 to 21 stories that are connected near their tops by one- and two-story bridges. Rather than serve merely as a circulation element, this so-called “sky loop” provides programmed space for art galleries, shops, cafés, and even a fitness club with a swimming pool. (People began moving into the complex in early 2009, but the developer has yet to find an operator for the bridge spaces. In the meantime, the company has held events, parties, and exhibitions in them.) More shopping and dining areas occupy a loop at the base of the towers, while a preschool and a kindergarten nestle in grass-covered structures tucked along the perimeter of the site. With roughly 650 apartments, the project “has enough density to keep both loops active,” says Holl, refuting any notion that Linked Hybrid might repeat the errors of Minneapolis’s skybridge system, which strangled street life. “We created a porous place that invites people inside,” explains the architect. “This project offers a new urban model for Beijing,” states Li Hu.
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
Photo © Courtesy of SHA |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
The project’s location just outsie Beijing’s Second Ring Road (the city now has six) and within a 15-minute walk of a subway station makes it a convenient place to live. In the 1950s and ’60s, Mao Zedong developed this area for industrial uses, so Modern Green didn’t have to knock down any houses to clear the site, only a factory. “I wouldn’t work on a project that requires people to be relocated,” states Holl.
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Andy Ryan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Andy Ryan |
Photo © Courtesy of Andy Ryan |
Photo © Courtesy of Andy Ryan |
Photo © Courtesy of Andy Ryan |
Photo © Courtesy of Andy Ryan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
As he has done on other projects, such as Simmons Hall at MIT, Holl introduced color on window soffits. For Linked Hybrid, he applied saturated hues to powder-coated aluminum panels on the header and two jambs of each window. Holl says he took the colors from polychromatic Buddhist temples, then used the I-Ching to determine the pattern.
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
Photo © Courtesy of Shu He |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
Photo © Courtesy of SHA |
Photo © Courtesy of Iwan Baan |
site plan--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
ground floor layout plan--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
typical floor plan--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
elevation 01--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
elevation 02--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
section--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
bridge section--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
bridge details 01--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
bridge details 02--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
cantilever section--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
geothermal diagram--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
neighborhood interaction diagram--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
pedestrian circulation diagram--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
section diagram 01--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
section diagram 02--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
section diagram 03--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
skybridges diagram--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
urban porosity diagram--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
model--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
model--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
model--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
model--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
model--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
model--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
perspective--drawing Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects |
The PeopleArchitectSteven Holl Architects 450 W. 31st street, 11th floor T: 212-629-7262 F: 212-629-7312 Design architects Steven Holl, Li Hu Partner in Charge Li Hu Project Architect Hideki Hirahara Assistant Project Architect Yenling Chen Technical advisors Chris McVoy, Tim Bade Project Designers Garrick Ambrose, Yimei Chan, Rodolfo Dias, Gong Dong, Peter Englaender, Guido Guscianna, Young Jang, Edward Lalonde, JongSeo Lee, Richard Liu, James MacGillivray, Matthew Uselman Project team Jason Anderson, Lei Bao, Christian Beerli, Johnna Brazier, Cosimo Caggiula, Kefei Cai, Guanlan Cao, Shih-I Chow, Sofie Holm Christensen, Frank-Olivier Cottier, Christiane Deptolla, Mike Fung, M.Emran Hossain, Gyoung-Nam Kwon, Eric Li, Tz-Li Lin, Clark Manning, Maki Matsubayashi, Giorgos Mitroulias, Daijiro Nakayama, Olaf Schmidt, Judith Tse, Li Wang, Ariane Wiegner, Lan Wu, Noah Yaffe, Liang Zhao Associate architect Beijing Capital Engineering Architecture Design Co. Ltd. Interior designer: Steven Holl Architect China National Decoration, Co. Ltd. Structural Engineer(s): Guy Nordenson and Associates China Academy of Building Research (CABR) Mechanical Engineer(s): Transsolar Beijing Capital Engineering Architecture Design Co. Ltd; Cosentini Associates Consultant(s) Landscape: Steven Holl Architects; EDAW Beijing; Beijing Top-Sense Landscape Design Limited Co. Lighting: L’Observatoire International Curtain Wall: Front Inc. Xi’An Aircraft Industry Decoration Engineering Shenyang Yuanda Aluminum Industry Engineering Co. Beijing Jianghe Curtain Wall Co. Ltd. General contractor: Beijing Construction Engineering Group Photographer(s) Iwan Baan +31 (0) 6 54 63 04 68 Shu He +86 10 88438138 Renderer(s) Courtesy Steven Holl Architects | The ProductsStructural system:Seismic isolator: Earthquake Protection Systems Exterior cladding Aluminum panel: Xi-Fei Exterior Shade: s_enn Glazing Glass: Saint-Gobain Hardware Hinges: Dorma Furnishings Swimming pool: Astral Pool Lighting Exterior: iGuzzini Conveyance Elevators/Escalators: Otis Plumbing Geothermal: Beijing Huaqing Geothermal Development Co.,Ltd Bathroom fixture: Duravit |