PREVIEW Mark Magazine #71 Dec 2017/Jan 2018

Frankfurt The Good, the Bad and the Fake

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Another Architecture N°71 December 2017—January 2018

Shenzhen A new destination for art and culture Cape Town Brutalism meets refinement

this is not a toy BIG’s Lego House in Billund

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Plan 006

Notice Board

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Cross Section

020 Brooks +Scarpa Cedar City 022 Wild Bär Heule Winterthur 024 Büro Ole Scheeren / HLS Bangkok 025 Martin Emborg 026 Jakob + MacFarlane Paris 028 Ludloff Ludloff Berlin 030 Kogonada / Elisha Christian 031 Maison Édouard François Grenoble 032 TNA Tokyo 034 Infographic 036 Buchner Bründler Münchenstein 038 OMA Saclay 040 Coop Himmelb(l)au Asten

December 2017 — January 2018

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Maison Édouard François Housing in Grenoble Photo Renaud Chaignet

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042 Perspective Shenzhen 044 Harry den Hartog sees how Shenzhen embodies China’s longing for renewal.

048 Maki and Associates adds an important cultural space to Shenzhen’s waterfront.

056 Wang Weijen’s university library completes a Jeffersonian campus green.

064 Open Architecture offers an alternative to the low-density Chinese university campus.

072 Urbanus combines housing and shopping in unexpected ways.

Open Architecture University building in Shenzhen Photo Wade Zimmerman

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December 2017 — January 2018

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Long Section

082 Heatherwick Studio converted a decommissioned grain silo in Cape Town into an art gallery with a hotel.

094 COBE transforms a former grain silo in Copenhagen into 38 unique apartments.

106 BIG applied the language of toy bricks to a full-scale building.

114 Mad’s Chaoyang Park Plaza in Beijing is inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings.

122 Takasaki Masaharu infuses a house with mythology and religion.

132 David Connor and Kate Darby preserved a ruined cottage by encapsulating it within their new studio.

140 Yazdani Studio designed an innovative research building in South Korea.

148 Three projects in Frankfurt’s city centre show three ways of dealing with history.

162 Equipo Mazzanti’s playful hospital extension in Bogotá offers an antidote to lethargy and apathy.

172 Alexander Rieck thinks the printed word is obsolete in the digitized world.

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Alexander Rieck Photo Maks Richter

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COBE Housing in Copenhagen Photo Rasmus Hjortshøj / Coast

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Mark 71

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TIMELESS ART OF BUILDING

Do you want to preserve the old but also include the new?

Steel systems by Jansen. The key to your challenge.

The lightness of being. With steel.

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Mark 71

Notice Board

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Notice Board

‘It’s

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mankind’s worship of technology and power that has created this tyrannical monument’

Ma Yansong on the Montparnasse Tower in Paris, completed in 1973, page 010

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Notice Board

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Redevelopment Ferdinandplatz Dresden – Germany Barcode Architects – A 120,000-m2 mixed-use master plan comprising a new city hall, shops, offices, a public underground parking garage and approximately 250 apartments Expected completion 2025 barcodearchitects.com

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Aviapolis Urban Blocks Vantaa – Finland Mass Lab and Mandaworks – A 240,000-m2 master plan for an area near the Helsinki-Vantaa airtraffic hub Competition entry, shared 1st prize masslab.pt mandaworks.com

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A 21st-Century City Gate Amsterdam – Netherlands HOH Architecten and Children of the Light – Transformation of a motorway underpass with the use of mirrors and retroreflectors Competition entry, 1st prize hoh-architecten.com children-of-the-light.com

4 Woodrise São Paulo – Brazil Triptyque – Multifunctional, 13-storey, timber-framed building in São Paulo’s Vila Madalena neighbourhood Expected completion undisclosed triptyque.com

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Concert Hall Jyväskylä – Finland JKMM – Concert hall with 1,000 seats Expected completion undisclosed jkmm.fi

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Looping Towers Maarssen – Netherlands Peter Pichler Architecture – Residential 35,000-m² tower complex with approximately 260 apartments, parking garages, public facilities, a gym and a rooftop running track Expected completion 2020 peterpichler.eu

7 Rendering by Turbulentarch

7 Village Calgary – Canada Modern Office of Design + Architecture – Residential 78-unit building with 2.5-storey townhouses, 1.5-storey lofts, condos and studio apartments Expected completion 2019 moda.ca

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Oliver Heilmer.

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MINI

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‘The challenge is to anticipate a future that’s still vague’ Oliver Heilmer, Head of MINI Design, talks about the parallels between designing buildings and cars.

Many architects love a good car – not just for driving, but also for inspiration. Ever since the advent of mass production, car design has exerted a strong influence on architects. In the 1920s, Adolf Loos sketched the body for a new Lancia. A decade later, Buckminster Fuller invented the Dymaxion car, and Le Corbusier designed his own Voiture Minimum. Architects continued to be aspiring designers of futuristic vehicles: witness Zaha Hadid’s Z.Car. Moreover, many a successful architect, among whom Norman Foster and Jan Benthem, possesses a private car collection.

As it turns out, the attraction is mutual.

Oliver Heilmer, who became the Head of MINI Design on 1 September, loves a good building.

He was formerly president of Designworks, a BMW Group subsidiary with studios in California, Munich and Shanghai. Heilmer, who joined the BMW Group design team 17 years ago, was responsible for the brand’s interior design until 2016. He talks about the parallels between buildings and automobiles, and about two recently presented concept cars: the MINI Electric Concept and the MINI John Cooper Works GP Concept.

What are the similarities between car design and architecture?

OLIVER HEILMER: There are many. Both are applied arts. Both include a briefing and a customer. As a car designer, you have to deal with the character of the brand. This goes for many architects, too. If you work at Zaha Hadid Architects, your designs have a certain style.

Can you describe the process of car design?

It’s a very collaborative process. Car designers pitch their designs against each other. The first sketches are made in drawing programs, such as Photoshop. Nowadays, designers often use Cinema 4D, which allows for the easy rotation of your model and views from all sides. The next phase is a full-size, highly defined 3D model. At the end of the process, only a few

designs remain. The board makes the final decision, taking into account the Head of Design’s recommendation.

Do you look at architecture for inspiration?

I'm greatly inspired by architecture, especially by interior architecture and furniture. As designers, we’re out to push boundaries. Forms that we now take for granted were once new.

Take buildings by Mies van der Rohe, for instance. Their straight lines are now the norm, but they were ground-breaking in their time.

Another example is the Eames Lounge Chair.

It’s intriguing how designs like these can become part of the collective memory. At MINI, we’re striving to do the same.

What about the differences between car design and architecture?

Obviously, a car is a moving object and carries a high level of responsibility. Designers have to deal with all sorts of technical requirements,

‘As designers, we’re always asking engineers for things that are difficult to achieve’

but a car should also appeal to the emotion.

It doesn’t have to be full of curves, though. A straight line can also be emotional.

Another limitation is the fact that a car is designed to be used anywhere in the world. When a country passes a new regulation concerning vehicles, we have to add it to regulations authorized by all other countries.

Then, too, the life cycle of a car is much shorter than that of a building. A car design is thoroughly renewed about every seven years.

Individual cars can be used much longer, of course, but generally speaking, buildings outlast cars.

You’ve just introduced two concepts: the MINI Electric Concept and the MINI John Cooper Works GP Concept. Is designing a concept car different from designing a production car?

The inspiring part of designing a concept is the chance to create the car of your dreams.

Unfortunately, technical or legal restrictions sometimes prevent us from realizing a few dreams. The challenge is to anticipate a future that’s still vague. As we speak, the MINI Electric Concept is evolving into the first fully electric MINI production car, which will be shown in two years. That’s the near future. If a car is due to hit the market within two years, you have a pretty good understanding of what society will look like at that moment. Our image of society in ten years is far less clear, though. Take air bags, now required by law.

At some point, when autonomous driving is commonplace, air bags may be eliminated. If that happens, designers can give the car a more spacious interior. It’s a nice idea, but we don’t actually know whether it’s an option for the design of cars in the future.

Another item is the design of a car’s user interface, which is becoming increasingly important. Today’s MINI still has buttons, but since a few months our cars also offer a touch option, which is a big step forward. The next generation of user interaction will be →

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Mark 71 The radiator grille of the MINI Electric Concept is almost fully closed for the sake of aerodynamics. A striking yellow accent bar in the grille – with an E badge in the same colour – produces a contrasting effect.

‘A straight line can be as emotional as a curve’ Designed for use in urban areas, the MINI Electric Concept offers a window into how electric day-to-day mobility might look in the years ahead.

MINI

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Inspiration for the MINI John Cooper Works GP Concept came from the carmaker’s triumphs at the Monte Carlo Rally 50 years ago.

a perfect symbiosis of voice control and touch options on screens. This will let us get rid of most of the buttons, for a more calm and aesthetic appearance. We designers are always asking engineers for things that are difficult to achieve. Already after the first iPhones came out, we contemplated the application of touchscreens. We wanted to install the same kind of slim screen in our cars. We had to keep in mind, however, that the temperature of a car interior exposed to desert conditions can reach almost 100°C. Screens behind the front window are fully exposed, but they still have to work. If a smartphone gets overheated in hot weather, customers tend to understand, but for a car it’s not acceptable.

So it’s the engineers who determine what you can do as a designer?

Yes and no. Sometimes it works the other way around. By making the MINI John Cooper Works GP’s radiator grille black instead of chrome, we created a dark area that’s perfect for hiding sensors. We offered engineers a space for mounting technical equipment.

The familiar colour contrasts of John Cooper Works models come in the form of the Black Jack Anthracite exterior paint finish – which shimmers between grey and black – and the accent colour, Curbside Red metallic.

engine. To what extent do you think an electric car should be recognizable as such?

An electric car should be distinguishable from a nearly identical car with a combustion engine, even from a distance. The radiator grille is one of the few components that you can use to articulate the type of motor without changing the design of the model. Different from the grille of a MINI with a combustion engine, the grille of the MINI Electric Concept is closed for the sake of aerodynamics. This doesn’t mean that electric cars don’t need air intakes. Their engines and brakes need cooling, too, but the best location for intakes isn’t necessarily at the same place in the front. It’s one of the many things that called for collaborative research between designers and engineers.

When will the concept cars be available on the market?

The MINI Electric will be presented in 2019. We haven’t yet decided which parts of the MINI Electric Concept will make it into production.

At the moment, the MINI John Cooper Works GP Concept remains a concept car. _ mini.com

The MINI Electric Concept looks very much like the present MINI, which has a combustion

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Cross Section

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‘The building is like a cheaper version of a Prada bag’ Édouard François on his apartment building in Grenoble, page 031

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Kogonada — Elisha Christian

Eero Saarinen’s North Christian Church (1964).

Finding Solace in Architecture In the film Columbus, modern architecture plays a therapeutic role.

Text Oliver Zeller Photos Depth of Field / Superlative Films

The directorial debut of noted video essayist Kogonada is set in Columbus, Indiana, a town with a population of 45,000 and a stunning number of modernist masterworks by architects that include four Pritzker laureates and seven AIA Gold Medal recipients.

The movie opens inside Eero Saarinen’s mid-century-modern tour de force, Miller House, where a woman (Parker Posey) is searching for her companion, a renowned architecture historian. The professor collapses into a coma, and his estranged son, Jin (John Cho) – a translator living in Seoul – arrives shortly thereafter. Stuck in Columbus and emotionally adrift, Jin meets recent high school graduate and architecture enthusiast Casey (Hayley Lu Richardson), who lives with and cares for her mother (Michelle Forbes), a recovering meth addict.

‘Meth and modernism are a big thing here,’ remarks Casey, as they form an intimate relationship in which architecture becomes the basis for emotional discourse and musings on modernism.

In much the same way that Casey and Jin mirror each other, Kogonada and cinematographer Elisha Christian frame shots with an artful precision that mirrors the film’s architectural design. Shots are frequently composed with balanced asymmetry, a quality Casey admires in Eliel Saarinen’s First Christian Church.

Working at the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library by I.M. Pei, Casey seems stunted within its high coffered ceilings, deep-set windows and barren plazas. She yearns for more and finds escape in architecture with a more personal significance.

Deborah Berke’s Irwin Union Bank, a dramatic glass volume elevated above an otherwise banal strip mall, represents an uplifting object of comfort to Casey, while embodying a private connection that harks back to her chaotic childhood. A second elongated glass box with an orderly design, The Republic building

by Myron Goldsmith, is another pivotal site for Casey. Facilitated by its sheer transparency – intended

Eero Saarinen’s Miller House (1957).

to symbolize the visibility of a free press – the building provides a stage for Casey’s new-found revelation about her mother.

Unsurprisingly, Casey is also drawn to the design of the Mental Health Services Center by James Stewart Polshek. Situated in a park, the building spans Haw Creek, forming a literal bridge to mental health that epitomizes Polshek’s ‘idea of architecture as healing’.

As they stroll by Casey’s second-favourite work of

architecture, Eero Saarinen’s Irwin Conference Center, Casey barrages Jin with facts about the building.

Ever the architectural pessimist delving for a deeper response, he asks: ‘What does the building make you feel?’

Kogonada approached the project wondering how he could ‘make meaning of absence’.

The absence of the unnecessary in modernist architecture offers solace for the mind.

Maison Édouard François

Grenoble — France

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A Cheap Prada Édouard François thought his client’s boring building could use an experimental skin.

Text Anna Sansom Photo Renaud Chaignet

Art meets fashion on an avenue in Grenoble, France, where Édouard François’s mixed-use ‘python’ draws the attention of passers-by.

Asked by a property developer to design a high-rise topped by a pair of duplex apartments, the French architect interpreted the brief as ‘the most boring building’. The only component that offered him freedom was the façade. With no input on this point from his client, he ‘camouflaged the building’s shape, windows and balconies’ with a pattern found among his personal possessions. ‘I have a Prada bag in python,’ he says, ‘and the façade is an exact copy of that. We mapped the skin onto the building. What’s interesting is that python skin is composed of pixels – lozenge-shaped scales that are black, white and grey.’

For budgetary reasons, the bold design could not be applied to all external surfaces, so the wall facing the side street is bright green. ‘The building is like a cheaper version of the Prada bag,’ jokes François. ‘It’s small and sophisticated, like a piece of luxury luggage in polished stainless steel, oxidized zinc and aluminium.’ Not everyone passing by continued on their way, it seems. François reports that all 47 units have already been sold.

The high-rise is part of a peninsular area that’s home to the alpine city’s urban-regeneration zone, whose development is being overseen by another French architect, Christian de Portzamparc. ‘Christian encouraged me to experiment,’ says François.

Approaching a commission with a site-specific twist in mind is a recurring thread in François’s practice. Nonetheless, he stresses that ‘all our projects are different.

We never designed a python façade before, and we won’t do it again.’

Not every boring brief slithers towards a serpentine solution. edouardfrancois.com

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Cross Section

TNA

Tokyo — Japan

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Chopping the Skyscraper Makoto Takei and Chie Nabeshima of TNA build a human-scale skyscraper for a Tokyo chopstick retailer.

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Text Cathelijne Nuijsink Photos Daici Ano

While writing my master’s thesis on the urban qualities of this particular Tokyo neighbourhood, I discovered that the charm of the area – although it has an overall Western feel – lies within the human-scale subdivisions of the large city blocks.

MAKOTO TAKEI: Yes, what makes Ginza attractive is that it contains many activities inside those city blocks – there where the buildings meet back to back – and that it is these activities that form the ‘face’ of the neighbourhood.

With our project, we wanted to espouse criticism of the recent large-scale developments that destroy this face. For that reason, we reassessed the original alleys and gaps within the city, which usually get lost in large-scale developments.

What solution did you come up with to draw customers all the way to the top of this 25-m-high ‘tower’?

Japanese department stores typically have restaurants on the top floor as a way to attract customers. Alternatively, we wrapped two roji, the Japanese word for ‘alleys’, along the outer walls of the building as a means to invite people up. Our roji consist of two spiral stairways,

one atop the other. As a result, the building has two lines of flow. Simultaneously, the solution makes effective use of the building’s seven floors, each only 37 m2 in size.

In what way is this project different from other recent developments in Ginza?

First of all, we inserted semiexterior space into the building in the form of an upper stairway that is only partly covered with a glass façade. Contrary to stores that clearly separate interior from exterior, this building permits visitors to experience the sounds, smells and lights of Ginza as they climb the stairs.

Secondly, we made the façade transparent rather than opaque, which allowed us to show the structure and fixtures in a way similar to exposing the skeleton of a traditional wood-framed shop.

Thirdly, it was our intention to make a skyscraper on the scale of a house. The diameter of the steel columns we used is only 10 cm, which is the same as the diameter of a slender wooden column. We thought a delicate scale would suit a building that handles delicate chopsticks. tna-arch.com

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Cross Section

Vehicle as Weapon Text and graphics Theo Deutinger

Using a motor vehicle as a weapon is not, despite the headlines in recent years, a new phenomenon.

In Israel, the first vehicle-ramming attack was carried out in 1987 by a Palestinian.* Since then, this mode of terror has increased and emerged in cities worldwide. In July 2016, Europe’s most tragic terrorist event occurred in Nice, France, when a truck was deliberately driven into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, resulting in 87 deaths and 434 people injured. Terrorist organization ISIL, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is known for propagating the use of vehicles as deadly devices in its magazines, Rumiyah and Dabiq. ‘Though being an essential part of modern life, very few actually comprehend the deadly and destructive capability of the motor vehicle and its capacity [for] reaping large numbers of casualties if used in a

environment in crowded places.

Generally, people want to feel safe but do not want to be confronted with safety measures. They want to have untroubled, barrier-free urban areas, but a ram-proof city calls for the installation of heavy blockades and bollards of different heights. The art of designing a ram-proof city is the art of concealment. The first step is to separate pedestrians from vehicle lanes with clearly defined pathways. The second is to place a defensive line of vertical elements between vehicles and pedestrians.

Large statues, planters, rocks, trees, fountains, lampposts, bus shelters and even contemporary art can be

premeditated manner’ appeared in the third issue of Rumiyah (November 2016).**

The rising popularity of vehicles as weapons is rooted in a combination of factors. Vehicles are cheap, require little expertise and can be piloted single-handedly, while the damage to the morale of the urban population is large, since any truck or car can pose a threat at any time. The knowledge that terrorists prefer to target crowded places – such as shopping malls, parades and markets – can induce a feeling of fear and uneasiness among city dwellers. That’s why the main ram-proof measures in urban areas focus on the built

part of a ram-proof landscape.

As long as the threat remains, our cities will become progressively cluttered with obstacles that are camouflaged as art, nature or street furniture. Street configuration will change to prevent vehicles from accelerating rapidly. Ironically, within the lamentable need for such extreme protection lies the potential for a more livable, pedestrianfriendly city. *terrorism-info.org.il **azelin.files.wordpress.com

ma

x1

30°

max. 120

min

50°

min 125

max. 120

concrete foundation (optional)

1 Rocks. Rocks are a landscape-design element that can

2 Trees. Woodland areas or dense groves of trees form

serve as seating as well as engineered barriers.

3 Features with sloped bases. For elements with

a natural barrier. Gaps between trees may require additional measures. The use of individual trees is not generally recommended.

sloped bases, specific heights and angles need to be considered to make such barriers effective.

standard "New Jersey" barrier reinforcement bars

80

10

collapsible concrete

60

collapsible concrete

4 Tiger Trap. The Tiger Trap relies on collapsible concrete technology below at-grade

continuous foundation

20

25

95

5 Jersey barrier. When

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paving or planting. Under the weight of a vehicle, the material collapses and the vehicle is stopped by a wall.

decorative cover

max. 120

used as a permanent measure, the barrier is reinforced by a concrete foundation.

max. 120

45

15

90

6 Planter barrier. Engineered planters have below-grade

reinforcements and become fixed design elements. Planters without foundations rely on friction to stop or delay a vehicle.

60

min. 50

80

15 continuous conctrete foundation

7 Bollard. Made of steel or concrete, a cylindrical bollard can be part of a system that connects all bollards underground by means of a continuous beam.

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min 90

planter barrier min.

305 cm long

min. 50

30

60 setback

70

earth fill

120

min. 45

90

structural bollard filled with concrete

concrete foundation for ramp-proof wall

Stairs and retention walls. Stairs and walls are effective measures that can be incorporated into a larger design.

Sufficient heights and angles should be taken into account.

Infographic

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B

A Head-on impact. This mode of

A

attack is the most dangerous. The vehicle achieves its full momentum at the point of impact.

B Angled impact. This mode of attack

is less dangerous than head-on impact. The angle of approach prevents the vehicle from achieving its full momentum.

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C ‘In-turn’ impact. This mode of

attack is even less severe. The vehicle is unable to maintain or increase speed while turning.

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D Chicanes and roundabouts.

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Chicanes or bends in the road encourage drivers to slow down.

Roundabouts equipped with ramp-proof elements can prevent head-on collisions.

10 1

concrete block or New Jersey barrier

6 C

E 4

5 8

12.20 m > 32 km/h

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26.20 m > 64 km/h

12

calculation for 910cm road width

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2

3 D

pull post

crash arresting chain system

plantation to hide the fence

cable barrier

hydraulic cylinder

concealed ramp-proof bollard

max. 120

earth fill

120

45.5

15

70

100.2

line post

Well-designed temporary chicanes can help to slow vehicles as they approach special-event areas.

Sources - ‘Selection and Application of Vehicle Barriers’, US Department of Defense - ‘Site and Urban Design for Security: Guidance Against Potential Terrorist Attacks’, FEMA 430 / December 2007, fema.gov - ‘Hostile Vehicle Guidelines for Crowded Places: A Guide for Owners, Operators and Designers’, ANZCTC, nationalsecurity.gov.au - ‘Crowded Places Guidance’, National Counter Terrorism Security Office, gov.uk - Rogers Marvel Architects and Rock 12 Security Architecture, rogersmarvel.com - news.bbc.co.uk - secureusa.net - deltascientific.com

19.20 m > 48 km/h

32.90 m > 80 km/h

E Roadblocks (King Tut Blocks).

118.6

240.5 deadman

9 Wedge barrier. A wedge-barrier ramp flush with the roadway does not obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic when inactive.

The system becomes fully functional within two seconds.

10 Fences. Cable restraints that stop a vehicle are

hidden among vegetation. The cable is held in place by bollards and is anchored to the ground by a ‘deadman’.

12 Advertisement. At the Emirates Stadium in London, the name of the Arsenal soccer club functions as a massive shield at a critical access point. The letters can allegedly stop a 7-tonne truck.

11 Hidden bollards in planters and street furniture.

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concealed ramp-proof bollard

Crash-rated bollards can be concealed between benches and in planters to minimize visual obstruction, save space and secure the terrain.

13 Icons and art in public space. Exemplifying

this category are the cannons – borrowed from Arsenal FC’s insignia – that appear outside the stadium disguised as ‘tank traps’ to stop car bombers.

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Perspective

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Perspective

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‘Shenzhen is like a collection of islands, and glue is needed’ Liu Xiaodu, page 072

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Perspective

Futuristic Towers and Vibrant Urban Villages Shenzhen embodies China’s longing for renewal.

Text Harry den Hartog Photos Wade Zimmerman

Shenzhen’s urban landscape is, perhaps more than any other Chinese city, characterized by strong spatial and social fragmentation. At first sight, it lacks coherence. The city consists of a series of island-like developments, crisscrossed by large infrastructure. Shopping malls and high-rises seem to dominate the streets and the skyline. But anyone who takes a better look, will see lots of exceptions to the rule. In fact, Shenzhen seems to be becoming China’s breeding ground for innovation in urban design and architecture.

Shenzhen is without doubt China’s most extreme urban miracle. After chairman Deng Xiaoping declared Shenzhen to be China’s

first Special Economic Zone in 1980, the new Urban Structure Master Plan (1986) was based on a system of six dense urban clusters in a row, interconnected by three parallel freeways running from east to west. In a next plan, three development axes with a series of smaller clusters were added, expanding the city towards the north between the hills. Within strictly controlled green boundaries, the megalopolis now has no other way to expand than vertically or on land reclamation along its coast.

Among the massive amounts of newly built structures, some rural and traditional traces can still be found. Former villages transformed into urban villages when their rural landowners gathered in cooperatives, started to act as small developers and built informal, relatively cheap accommodation for the massive numbers of migrant workers that flocked to Shenzhen. These urban villages are now an eyesore for some, but for many others they are a more than welcome relief from the increasingly tall high-rises and a source of inspiration. Less than two decades ago, Shenzhen had about 40 urban villages, but almost half of them have been demolished.

Nevertheless, urban villages still play a key role in the urban and social structure of Shenzhen. They are also the central theme of the upcoming Urbanism Architecture Bi-city Biennale (UABB) that starts in December 2017, with chief curators Hou Hanru, Liu Xiaodu and Meng Yan. While all of the previous editions of the UABB were held on former industrial sites, this edition will be held in the midst of the urban village of Nantou, which has partly been demolished and awaits its fate. ‘Urban villages definitely need a facelift, but they are very convenient and bring life to the city,’

according to the curators. They are a safe haven for migrants and low-income groups who can’t afford to live elsewhere. They also function as a space for experimentation and form a collection of urban memories. Partly thanks to the biennales, people are increasingly coming to realize the value of urban villages.

Shenzhen has become more and more expensive over the past few years and it is hard to find a house, even for members of higher-income groups. According to Liu Xiaodu, partner at Urbanus and one of the curators of the UABB, the new prosperity is also changing the mentality of the people.

Shenzhen has one of the most healthy and liveable urban environments in China. Over 70 per cent of the businesses in Shenzhen are privately owned, the reverse of Shanghai and Beijing. This means that Shenzhen is more dependent on income tax and not on the sales of land-use rights. More than in other cities, large real estate complexes are popping up, especially towers and malls.

International offices design most of these towers. Architectural highlights are the Shenzhen Energy Headquarters designed by BIG and the Hanking Tower by Morphosis, both nearly completed. Other skyscrapers that are under construction are the Baidu International Towers by CCDI, the Guosen Securities Tower by Fuksas, and the Liu Xian Dong Micro Apartments by MLA+. Without doubt, the most imposing of these new projects is the monstrously huge complex for internet giant Tencent, designed by NBBJ. The Tencent Seafront Towers comprise two individual high-rises that are connected on three levels.

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The Tencent Seafront Towers by NBBJ.

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‘Shenzhen is without doubt China’s most extreme urban miracle’

additional gimmicks such as running tracks and rock climbing walls. An incredibly large amount of steel was used for this mind-blowing project that is reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s neo-noir science-fiction classic Blade Runner. At its peak, more than 8,000 construction workers were busy working on the site.

As a typology, towers and skyscrapers are meant to maximize floor space for living and working in an economically efficient way.

Especially in China, the Corbusian ideals of light, air and space have resulted in astonishing numbers of tall and supertall structures that dominate skylines. However, towers and skyscrapers are also huge energy consumers and, if badly designed, they can disturb the urban fabric and liveability. Within Shenzhen’s designers’ discourse, there is a lot of criticism of high-rises, not only because most of them

The Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis.

are designed by foreigners – thereby limiting the possibilities for local talent to develop – but also because most office towers and residential projects are purely speculative and do not add quality to the city’s public space. Shenzhen’s market is already saturated with offices, according to some experts.

BIG’s project for the city’s energy headquarters tries to enhance the conventional tower typology by folding its curtain wall in a way that shading is optimized while views are guaranteed, improving the indoor climate and lowering energy costs by minimizing the use of air conditioning. Also, glass coating isn’t needed, guaranteeing clear views. Interruptions and folds in the curtain walls subtly create niches and unique spaces on several floors.

From an energy saving point of view, this project is supposed to be a model for the 21stcentury skyscraper, according to the architects.

The super-slender Hanking Center Tower by Morphosis is another attempt ‘to rethink and transform the traditional commercial office tower’, say the architects.

As opposed to classic towers, its core is decentralized to the exterior along with all services, although two additional smaller cores have still been placed in the main volume in order to ensure stability. This resulted in an open-office floor plate, which is flexible but relatively small. The elegant tower dominates the skyline of Shenzhen’s Nanshan district.

Like BIG’s project, this tower has no plinth. An attempt is even made to minimize the building’s footprint – it’s almost flying – to create more public space around the tower. Inside, the tower contains suspended walkways, transparent lobbies and sky gardens, adding to its futuristic character. The slender structure also results in a maximum of transparency and natural light, although this might be a point of worry, too, since Shenzhen’s extremely hot climate will make it necessary to cool down the interior.

Guosen Securities Tower by Studio Fuksas – who earlier designed Terminal 3 at Bao'an International Airport – is another attempt to add a new dimension to the skyscraper typology. The architects inserted a ‘vertical public space’ along the façades of the building, in fact very similar to the design for the Baidu International Towers by CCDI.

The Liu Xian Dong Micro Apartments

by MLA+ is a 150,000-m2 megablock, filled with tiny residential units. Since Shenzhen is one of China’s most expensive cities, it’s hard to find affordable housing beyond the urban

The Shenzhen Energy Headquarters by BIG.

villages. Although still not cheap, MLA+’s micro apartments fill a gap. The very limited floor area and lack of flexibility make this type of residential unit resemble a service flat or hotel room for temporary stay, however, rather than a proper apartment. The approximately 5,000 units are almost identical and 18 m² in size. Regrettably, amenities such as shared kitchens, shared laundry facilities or co-living have not been included in this project.

All of these towers focus on one single aspect, in which they excel. But the real innovation in Shenzhen is probably in some of the city’s low-rise projects, such as the Sea World Culture and Arts Centre by Maki, Tsinghua Ocean Center by Open Architects, the library of CUHK by Weijen Wang, and Shum Yip UpperHills Loft by Urbanus, as explained further in this issue. These four projects experiment with new balances between private and public space, for example by bringing in public routes through the building or by creating new connections to neighbouring areas. In this sense, they could repair the urban structure that has been wiped away by commercial development and bring in more urban diversity, charm and spirit.

Other promising projects are under construction, such as the Nanshan Yuehai Neighbourhood Sport and Cultural Center designed by Urbanus, the Three Cultural Centers & One Book Mall by Mecanoo, the Pingshan Cultural Cluster by Vector Architects, and many others. Hopefully, many more experiments and interventions will see the light in this exciting city in coming years, making Shenzhen into a real avant-garde promise. _

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Public Platform With the Sea World Culture and Arts Center, Maki and Associates adds an important cultural space to Shenzhen’s waterfront.

Text Harry den Hartog Photos Wade Zimmerman Since its designation as China’s first Special Economic Zone in 1980, Shenzhen has mainly been known as an economic miracle and bustling migrant workers’ city. Not as a place for art and culture. That might change soon, since a series of ambitious cultural events, theatres and museums are seeing the light here. The Sea World Culture and Arts Center (SWCAC), operated by Design Society, is one of the most prominent examples.

This new cultural hub, designed by Maki and Associates, will open to the public early December. It has several users, but the operator is the newly established Design Society. Director Ole Bouman is responsible for the content and international profile. As an open and collaborative platform, the Design Society has the ambition ‘to empower the interconnectivity between design and society, design and everyday life, and design and industry’.

This is why it identifies itself not as a museum but as a society. Its mission is ‘to activate design as a social catalyst’ by ‘encouraging audience participation’ and enabling ‘cultural conversation and dialogue’. The opening exhibition in the main gallery, titled ‘Minding the Digital’, deals with the impact of digitization and explores ‘how design can mediate between technology and core human values’. MVRDV has been commissioned to design the first exhibition. →

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A large flight of stairs leads to the public roof of the building.

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‘The most prominent features are the three aluminium-clad volumes on top of the structure’

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Shenzhen’s economy used to be based mainly on manufacturing and trade, but this is transforming into services and the creative industry. Since the city was recognized as a Unesco City of Design in 2008, multiple new creative initiatives have been promoted by local authorities, especially in the Shekou district, where many foreigners live, and ferries and a bridge offer shortcuts to Hong Kong. SWCAC is part of Sea World’s coastal city complex in Shekou, which is the fast developing southeastern waterfront of Shenzhen’s Nanshan District. Since the city’s designation as a Special Economic Zone, the Shekou area has become known as the Shekou Industrial Zone. China Merchants of Hong Kong developed it, even before Shenzhen became a Special Economic Zone. Shekou is now also pioneering in terms of arts and architecture. China Merchants Shekou, a developer under the umbrella of the China Merchants Group, became the initiator and developer of the SWCAC.

The SWCAC is contextually designed, as opposed to most other contemporary projects in China, which usually ignore their surroundings. Almost like a sculpture, the building creates a multi-layered urban space.

One third of the centre consists of publicly accessible areas, including the roof, ‘which allows civic life to happen all around, inside and on top of the building’, says Bouman.

Its most prominent features are the three aluminium-clad volumes on top of the structure, looking in three directions: a restaurant facing the city to the east, a theatre facing the mountain to the north, and a multipurpose ‘Horizon Hall’ facing the sea

to the south, with Hong Kong on the horizon.

From the inside, the volumes function as a kind of reverse viewing boxes that frame the surrounding landscapes. The three directions may remind Chinese visitors of the saying rén shān rén hâi, which literally means ‘a mountain of people, a sea of people’, or, in other words, a huge crowd. According to the Design Society, however, the three directions refer to something else. They symbolize the ambition ‘to disseminate culture and information to Shenzhen and the world beyond’. Another important feature of the building is the podium composition, with a public square on top of the four-storey base. The three volumes on top define its borders and views.

The SWCAC is Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki’s first project in China. His main idea was to make the centre as open and public as possible, by folding the landscape over the roof and continuing the public space throughout the building. The interior space is organized along a main axis that runs from the road to the sea. The axis is in fact a series of three internal ‘squares’ in a row: Culture Plaza, Central Plaza and Waterfront Plaza. Along with the side streets, this almost village-like pattern connects the interior with the exterior. The squares lend access to the different parts of the complex, including (private) art galleries and museums and additional commercial spaces.

The mixture of these functions is expected to add to the vibrancy of the place. The corridor is also used to merge the two grids along which the floor plans are organized. The building not only accommodates the Design Society, but also a branch of the Guanfu Museum, which is →

The Sea World Culture and Arts Center is composed of three volumes that project from a common base.

The roof terraces have been furnished with trees.

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‘The public character and multiple users of the SWCAC make it feel a little like a mall’

A large, X-shaped column is the eyecatcher in the main entrance hall.

China’s first private museum (founded by Ma Weidu), the Shekou Museum of Reform and Opening-up History, and the KF Gallery. To top it all off, the Victoria and Albert Museum is also opening a gallery here.

Both Maki’s ambition and that of the developer, which is a semi-governmental company, is high. SWCAC is a key project for them. For this reason, both the building and its content need to be ready for the opening at the end of this year. The museums’ programmes were developed simultaneously to the building’s construction phase, which is rare in the Chinese context, where many museums and other cultural institutions are made without knowing what will later happen inside.

The public character and multiple users of the SWCAC make it feel a little like a mall, but this is where the analogy ends. The SWCAC is open and meaningful, like a three-dimensional urban street, and well embedded in the surrounding landscape and neighbourhood. The project is not only meaningful as new base for the cultural scene, but also as a new public space in this exciting city. It’s part of the 15-km-long, newly built public waterfront on reclaimed land. The omnipresence of public space in, around, and on top of the building makes it an integral part of the waterfront of Shenzhen. _ maki-and-associates.co.jp

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Large surfaces of blue natural stone embellish the central atrium.

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COBE transforms a former grain silo in Copenhagen into 38 unique apartments.

Text Terri Peters Photos Rasmus Hjortshøj / Coast

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Copenhagen is growing so fast that the Danish capital is extending outward. Just 4 km north of the centre, a new city is emerging in the waterfront district of Nordhavn. Master-planned by local office COBE, which is building several projects in the area, in time the entire district will be transformed, extended, demolished or renovated, eventually becoming the largest metropolitan development in Scandinavia.

COBE recently completed The Silo, a radical renovation of a massive concrete grain silo from 1962 that had been abandoned for a decade, unloved and filled with graffiti, pigeons and rainwater until forward-thinking developer Klaus Kastbjerg and NRE Denmark stepped in to give it a new lease of life. Having previously collaborated with Kastbjerg on the adaptive reuse of PapirØen – or Paper Island – in Copenhagen, the architects felt

confident that they could work together with the other players to create something special.

The focus has been on celebrating the scale and proportions of the enormous structure and expressing honestly what is new and what is old. The building wears a shimmering suit of galvanized-steel armour whose faceted surface features integrated balconies that seem to be ‘in between’ the new and old structures. In the summer of 2017, when the project was nearing completion, people started to move in. Later this year a rooftop restaurant will open to the general public. The Silo has been reborn while retaining its monumental brutalist appearance.

On a mid-September afternoon, the walk from the train station to the new Nordhavn developments is loud and windy.

Construction hoarding is everywhere. In this flat, cluttered terrain, it would be easy to get →

The Silo rises like a beacon among the many urban-renewal projects in Nordhavn.

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lost, but The Silo’s unmistakable form on the skyline provides an excellent orientation point.

‘Originally, the plan was to tear down these old industrial silos, but luckily for us the developer spotted their potential,’ says Dan Stubbergaard, head of COBE. I’m touring the building with him and Klaus Kastbjerg, who guides us into the residents’ lobby, where a small section of glazed floor lets light enter the fitness area.

‘This is where the grain came in,’ he says.

‘Lorries drove through this large entrance and emptied grain down these chutes into the basement. We kept them, because we want to celebrate the building’s history. You see them every time you enter.’ Similarly, in The Silo’s ground-floor exhibition space, black-painted metal chutes poke from the ceiling and remain as clues to the building’s previous life.

From the beginning, Kastbjerg and Stubbergaard plotted to capitalize on the unique

opportunities presented by this structure.

Their concept went beyond the building’s considerable height, which made it attractive as a development site – at 62 m, it is far higher than city planning regulations allow for new buildings – to include unique apartments and facilities. A glazed rooftop extension will accommodate a restaurant accessible to the public and terraces with panoramic views of the water and the city. Each of the 38 apartments – encompassing either one or two storeys – has a different floor plan. Ceiling heights range from 3 to 7 m. The top-floor corner unit, currently for sale, is rumoured to be the most expensive apartment in the city.

Walking around in one of The Silo’s grander residences evokes images of machinery used for industrial operations.

Balconies on three sides offer views of the harbour and the city. Kastbjerg tells me that

the high ceiling and the exposed concrete surfaces led this apartment to be nicknamed ‘The Cathedral’. Black-steel spiral stairs ascend to an upper level with bedrooms and a surprisingly luxurious bathroom.

‘It was important to preserve as much of the existing building as possible and to get the details right,’ says Stubbergaard. ‘We installed window frames and glazing from the outside, for example, neatly cutting the concrete to show that the building has a double façade.’ The meticulous detailing is remarkable.

Concrete around the windows was polished with sliced stone, and the layering of old and new is distinct. Carving windows and doors out of the concrete structure ‘required about 30 km of diamond drilling’, he says. ‘The massive building is like a rock. We could not bring ourselves to cut small windows.’ Leftover concrete from the original silo is visible at →

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‘We want to celebrate the history of the building’

Ceiling heights in the apartments range from 3 to 7 m and floor areas from 106 to 401 m2.

ground level outside the building, where the reused material is stacked as though it fell from a high window and landed there to become outdoor seating.

Converting the grain silo was not without significant challenges, which probably explains why the building was overlooked as a development project for so long. ‘Each prefabricated façade unit had to be unique,’ says Stubbergaard. ‘When engineers surveyed the building, they discovered that the dimensions vary about 22 cm from front to back and side to side, so the exterior units may look the same, but they aren’t quite identical.’

Every prefabricated façade component boasts galvanized-steel cladding, insulation, and a balcony with laser-cut perforations that shade

the interior. ‘We calculated it would take 80 days for the new façade installation. It took a bit longer but was still relatively quick.’

Despite the many demands, The Silo is an exceptional example of adaptive reuse.

Public spaces at ground level and in the rooftop extension are large-scale community functions for everyone, not just for those who can afford to live in a luxury apartment. It’s a perfect place for concrete enthusiasts, a group that includes many architects. COBE’s current office is in a former industrial warehouse on PapirØen, but change is in the air. ‘Next month we will move our office just a few blocks away from The Silo – and get a taste of our own medicine,’ Stubbergaard laughs. _ cobe.dk

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The central part of the ground floor is an exhibition space.

‘In time everything in Nordhavn will be transformed, extended, demolished or renovated’

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Although the interior of The Silo was left as raw and untouched as possible, the exterior has a new steel cladding intended to protect the building from the climate; architect Dan Stubbergaard describes it as a ‘new overcoat’.

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