About the Council

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based at the Illinois Institute of Technology in CTBUH Journal Chicago and with a offi ce at Tongji International Journal on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat University in Shanghai, is an international not-for-profi t organization supported by architecture, engineering, planning, development, and construction professionals. Founded in 1969, the Council’s mission is to disseminate multi- Tall buildings: design, construction, and operation | 2014 Issue IV disciplinary information on tall buildings and sustainable urban environments, to maximize the international interaction of professionals involved Case Study: One Central Park, Sydney in creating the built environment, and to make the latest knowledge available to professionals in High-Rise Housing: The Experience a useful form. The Emergence of Asian Supertalls The CTBUH disseminates its fi ndings, and facilitates business exchange, through: the Achieving Six Stars in Sydney publication of books, monographs, proceedings, and reports; the organization of world congresses, Ethical Implications of international, regional, and specialty conferences The Skyscraper Race and workshops; the maintaining of an extensive website and tall building databases of built, under Tall Buildings in Numbers: construction, and proposed buildings; the Unfi nished Projects distribution of a monthly international tall building e-newsletter; the maintaining of an Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel international resource center; the bestowing of annual awards for design and construction excellence and individual lifetime achievement; the management of special task forces/working groups; the hosting of technical forums; and the publication of the CTBUH Journal, a professional journal containing refereed papers written by researchers, scholars, and practicing professionals.

The Council is the arbiter of the criteria upon which tall building height is measured, and thus the title of “The World’s Tallest Building” determined. CTBUH is the world’s leading body dedicated to the fi eld of tall buildings and urban habitat and the recognized international source for information in these fi elds.

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

S.R. Crown Hall Illinois Institute of Technology 3360 South State Street Chicago, IL 60616 Phone: +1 (312) 567 3487 Fax: +1 (312) 567 3820 Email: [email protected] http://www.ctbuh.org

ISSN: 1946 - 1186 Inside

News and Events Features 40 Social Issues Designing High-Rise Housing: condominium ownership through their own The Singapore Experience means. The range of available housing types is There is a land shortage in Singapore, compelling the search for different improving for HDB owners and renters. For 02 This Issue 46 Tall Buildings in Numbers models of high-rise housing. Singapore’s experience breaks with the dual example, Executive Condominiums have stereotypes that high-rise construction is expensive, and that an in been introduced in order to accommodate a skyscraper is a privilege of the rich. Reflecting the strategy of providing the the needs of young professionals who can afford more than a HDB flat, but for whom average consumer with affordable and comfortable housing, there is a rapid private commercial housing remains out of Daniel Safarik, Dream Deferred: Unfinished growth of design and construction of high-rise residential complexes in reach. Such flats are comparable to market- Elena Generalova Viktor Generalov Singapore. This process is based on the principles of sustainable urban rate condominiums in terms of design and development, minimizing environmental impact, and maximizing energy amenities. Figure 1. Map of HDB residential areas in Singapore. Authors efficiency. A clear standard of comfort for public housing has been developed, Elena Generalova, Associated Professor The Design, Build, and Sell Scheme (DBSS) was Viktor Generalov, Professor including a set of required improvements of the site, in the structure of Editor Tall Buildings Department of Architecture of Housing and Public launched in 2005, involving private develop- Buildings residential towers and in apartment layout. ers in a substantial way. Under DBSS, Samara State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering developers are responsible for the entire Kievskaya Street, 15, App. 55 According to many researchers, the most become the owner of an HDB apartment, the design and construction process (including Samara 443013, Russia t: +7 927 695 0233; +7 905 0189298 dynamic and vibrant housing markets are applicant must meet certain requirements purchase of land, design development, e: [email protected]; [email protected] those where public and private sectors coexist concerning nationality, age, and marital status. construction, and sales). built harmoniously. Singapore has managed to Also, there are limits on the average gross under this scheme are intended for public Elena Generalova develop conditions that support a high monthly household income that can be housing. They are developed by private Elena Generalova, PhD, is a member of the Union of of Russia and an associate professor in the standard of living by way of a set of required earned by residents of a given type of companies, which are free to design and Figure 2. People’s Park Complex, Singapore Figure 3. , Singapore department of Architecture of Housing and Public elements and system quality criteria for apartment. implement their projects as they see fit, so Buildings at Samara State University of Architecture 04 CTBUH Latest 48 Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel and Civil Engineering. Her scientific interests focus on different consumer strata embedded in long as they do not jeopardize the objectives, Each HDB town is designed to be self-sustain- requirements of a barrier-free environment. researching modern high-rise residential complexes. high-rise residential complexes, innovative principles, and basic features of public ing. There is no need to venture out of town Generalova supervises post-graduate research students in Architecture. She is the author of more technologies and “green standards,” based on Development of Multiple Financing housing. This means that, while providing to meet the most common needs of In the initial years following the establishment than 50 scientific works, including monographs and the principles of energy efficiency and And Occupancy Models sufficient flexibility in design, finishes, and residents. Employment can be found in and development of the concept of HDB educational editions. She is also a practicing with more than 60 completed projects. environmental friendliness which have sizes, tight control is nevertheless exerted over industrial estates located within several towns, housing, in addition to housing groups and Antony Wood, From Block to Blob and Back become available for mass consumers. Public housing in Singapore was originally the developments’ integration into the urban and each has education and health care estates development, the idea of building Viktor Generalov intended to be for-rent only, but the policy environment, so as to support favorable social facilities, sports complexes, recreation zones, multifamily residential complexes in the Viktor Generalov, PhD, is a professor at, and head of the Department of Architecture of, Housing It should be noted that Singapore has was quickly adjusted to extend applicants the and aesthetic interaction with the surround- multistory car parks, and other common high-density areas of Singapore was also and Public Buildings at Samara State University of reached such a high standard of living in a opportunity to buy apartments. The govern- ing existing HDB buildings. To date, 13 DBSS facilities. All HDB residential areas are encouraged. Some examples of the resulting Architecture and Civil Engineering, a member of the Union of Architects of Russia, and advisor to the very short period of time, based on its unique ment attached great importance to allowing projects have been constructed in different connected to a well-developed public experiments with integrating various Executive Director Again Russian Academy of Architectural Sciences (RAASN). climatic, political, regulatory, and economic the popular majority to become owners. parts of Singapore on 10 sites. Notable transport infrastructure, including under- functions in “,” include: People’s His scientific interests focus on the modern problems of specific types of high-rises. Within this framework, conditions. The history of public housing in Those lacking sufficient income to purchase projects include City View @ Boon Keng, Park ground, buses, and Light Rail Transit (LRT). Park Complex, (1973, 31 floors, 103 meters) he supervises post-graduate research students in Singapore began in 1960, when the Housing homes, but who were eligible for HDB Central @ , Natura Loft @ Bishan, (see Figure 2) and the Golden Mile Complex, architecture. He is the author of more than 100 scientific publications, including monographs and and Development Board (HDB) was formed, housing, could receive preferential mortgag- and The Peak @ Toa Payoh. Every residential complex has well-equipped (1974, 16 floors, 89 meters) (see Figure 3). educational editions. He is also a practicing architect the main purpose of which was to provide es, housing subsidies, and savings from the outdoor sports fields, embodying the state’s These were designed by Gan Eng Oon, and has more than 80 completed projects in Russia and Kazakhstan. affordable housing in a high-quality Central Provident Fund (CPF). The CPF is a commitment to the good health of its citizens. William Lim, and Tay Kheng Soon, who environment for the masses. In order to state fund in Singapore to which every HDB Town Features Children’s playgrounds are an integral part of subsequently founded DP Architects. These working citizen and their employer pays the living environment and employ a great were among the first high-rise facilities in monthly. The public pension, medical services, When the HDB took over in 1960, the agency variety of designs, advanced materials, Singapore, built as part of a reconstruction 05 Debating Tall: 51 Ask a CTBUH Expert: and home loans are fully financed by these adopted the “new town” planning concept on variations in age-appropriate equipment, as program that cleared dilapidated buildings contributions. In general, the system works a large scale, building entire towns from well as areas equipped for parents. The and installed new public housing. Both More than 80% of Singaporeans live in quite efficiently, as more than 80% of scratch in locations all around Singapore. covered walkway is the calling card of complexes are multi-use buildings with “public housing, and 95 % of public-housing Singaporeans live in public housing, and 95% There are now officially 24 “HDB Towns”, Singapore’s living environment, a piece of apartments, catering establishments, trade of public-housing residents are owners. As a compact and contiguous areas with a infrastructure necessitated by the pressing enterprises, social amenities, offices, parking Special Requirements for Victor Madeira Filho residents are owners. The wealthy have also result of the housing program, the country deliberate mix of residential, commercial, and need to protect citizens from the scorching lots, and other facilities. has provided every citizen with comfortable institutional uses (see Figure 1). sun, which can instantly turn into torrential overwhelmingly chosen high-rise condominium housing in a very short time. The wealthy have rain. All residential areas have such walkways, In recent years, several high-rise complexes High-Rise Luxury Apartment Tall Buildings’ Impact on ownership through their own means. also overwhelmingly chosen high-rise which are ramped to account for the have enhanced the status of public housing, 40 | Architecture/Design ” CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV Architecture/Design | 41 Owners? “Rights to Light”

06 Global News Highlights from the CTBUH 48 Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel From Block to Blob and Back Again very much closed on the side where the sun moves around the building. So the building news archive United Network Studio (UN Studio) is a Dutch architecture firm founded in doesn’t get oversaturated with heat, but you 1988 by Ben van Berkel and , which in the 2000s established also have thermal heat retained into the offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, partly to accommodate the firm’s increas- evening. Another thing that’s nice about the CTBUH ing number of highly detailed and demanding tall-building projects on the double-height is that they collect Asian continent. One of these projects, the Ardmore Residence in Singapore wind into the evening. After 5:00 p.m., that really helps to cool down the building. (see Figure 1), was a finalist in this year’s CTBUH Best Tall Building Awards Ben van Berkel program. Van Berkel paused to chat with CTBUH Editor Daniel Safarik on a It was a wonderful project to work on and we Figure 2. Canaletto Apartments, – neighborhood in the sky concept. © UN Studio recent whirlwind visit to the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. only had 1.5 years to build it. The client took a Interviewee lot of time to develop the project, around three Ben van Berkel, Principal UNStudio We’ve seen a lot of creative projects in have completely accepted them. Then years, but we had very little time to build it. complemented by increased services and young entrepreneurs to be able to buy these Stadhouderskade 113 Singapore in the last couple of years, and again, you don’t often hear “double-height amenities. On the other hand, in Singapore, units, and the price structure of units in this 1073 AX , The Special Report: Shanghai 2014 building helps with that. There are affordable 52 I’m wondering what kind of client ,” and “concrete” in the same So once you began construction there was they are better controlled. There are people t: +31 20 570 2040 f: +31 20 570 2041 commissioned the Ardmore and what sentence. So you must have resolved that no going back? that take care of the public spaces, and units and also very expensive units, and they e: info@.com www.unstudio.com made them interested in having such an with some pretty interesting engineering. Correct. For that reason I could show you in tenants pay fees to ensure proper all share these types of amenities like intricate design? How were they convinced Yes, but with the incredible knowledge of this detailed drawings that there are 16 modular maintenance. A sense of community is also restaurants, a cinema for families, a gym, a Ben van Berkel on the morphology of that building? client, I’ve noticed that collaboration is key. We elements for the entire façade structure that generated when long-term tenants agree on pool, and a club. So we took a contemporary Conference Ben van Berkel is the Co-founder and Principal Architect of UNStudio in Amsterdam and Shanghai. The beauty of that client is their architectural also do everything digitally now – and we test could be pulled and twisted in many different new ways to maintain their building. So it’s approach when looking at how we could fill UNStudio is a network of specialists in architecture, background; they have worked with many these things out very early in the design ways. They were repeatedly used in different quite well organized. in the commercial component. urban development, and infrastructure. Current projects include restructuring the station area of interesting architects like Philip Johnson and process. I do it more and more, where I come areas of the building. In this way, we developed , the Raffles City mixed-use development Paul Rudolph. Also, four of the brothers of this up with a proposal in the preliminary and a highly efficient strategy for making quite a It sounds a little bit like the co-op What I’ve learned over the years, even when in , over 30 stations for the Metro client live in a Paul Rudolph residential schematic design phases, and we test the complex building. model. we do a department store, we say to the Case Study Network in and the design and restructuring of the Harbor Ponte Parodi in . Currently he is building called , so they have slenderness of the building or the - The advantage that many clients like when client, “Why don’t you think of a department Professor of Conceptual Design at the Staedelschule in am Main, and was recently awarded the developed an incredible interest in free living areas, and see what we can do for The appearance of the building suggests they buy a high-rise unit is that they have, as a store that looks like a museum?”, because Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor’s Chair at Harvard architecture. Also, I like Singapore. When I was the sustainable components of the building. that it is hewn out of a solid piece of rock, community, a say into how they would like to objects in a museum are also fetish objects. University Graduate School of Design. Central to his teaching is the inclusive approach of architectural there I was fascinated with the city, its culture, For instance, this building is totally open on but it seems that nothing could be further maintain the building. This concept can be When Andy Warhol talked about his works integrating virtual and material organization and its regulations. They are quite tough in the side where you have little sunlight, and it’s from the truth. Did you use modifiable very beneficial for some projects. fascination with shopping, he talked about 59 CTBUH on the Road and engineering constructions. terms of their organizational needs; for formwork, or did you pre-cast the concrete instance, landscaping needs to come into the and raise it up? It is one that I am trying to instill in another first floor of the building. These requirements We precasted it, but it was interesting, because project we are working on in London, called 12 One Central Park, Sydney are tough, and can make it very challenging the Japanese contractor that was used had Canaletto (see Figures 2 and 3). It’s another CTBUH events around the world to design such an articulated building, but are techniques to move up the casting while they high-rise we are doing in the area of Islington, I’ve never been so ultimately beneficial. were moving up the building, and they did a which we characterized as a “neighborhood in lot of casting on the spot. They said that it was the sky.” While developing the project, we “worried about Clearly, a client that had an appreciation of the quickest way for them to operate. So they thought a lot about context, where, in this Jean Nouvel & Bertram Beissel Paul Rudolph would also have an apprecia- moved upward every day, and the crane would case, there are a lot of startup companies. The individual buildings, tion of sculptured concrete, curvilinear lift the next piece into place while workers whole area has been an inspiration, as has the organic shapes, and rough materials. completed the previous section. client. They want to include all kinds of crazy but rather the Exactly, and then of course we came up with amenities, like a restaurant on the ground the organization of the building based on the You mentioned that you like Singapore and floor where people can meet and interact collective skyline. [In optimum views we could get within the units. the constraints that it presented. It seems with their neighbors. 59 Diary a good skyline] you So the living room area is a column-free like a very civilized place. I have seen a space, with an incredibly nice span of more statistic that 80% of people in Singapore live How is it different facilitating a community don’t mind that some than 12 meters. Each apartment also has in high-rise public housing, and probably environment in London rather than double-height windows with a longitudinally close to another 10% live in market-rate Singapore? buildings are quite interlocking double-height set into high-rise housing. Why do you think they The thing that’s so nice about the market in Upcoming tall building events the concrete structure. This worked really well. have taken so well to high-rise living in London is that it is younger, if more close to each other, Singapore? commercial. So when I proposed to them the There is still a stigma about tall concrete You know, it’s the opposite of high-rise living in idea of a neighborhood in the sky, I presented because they have an buildings in North America, and to some Europe, where it used to be more common. it as a type of social enterprise that informs identity as a group. degree in Europe, whereas people in Asia Figure 1. Ardmore Residence, Singapore. Today, to lure tenants, high-rises are how the building could be used. We want the ” © UN Studio / Iwan Baan Figure 3. Canaletto Apartments, London. © UN Studio Research 60 Reviews 48 | Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel | 49 Review of new books in the 20 The Competition for the CTBUH Library Tallest Skyscraper: Special Report: Shanghai 2014 Conference Implications for Global 52 61 Comments 2014 CTBUH Shanghai Conference Tsang gave a short overview of the architectural features that resulted from this Outperforms All Predecessors brief, including the tower’s widened base, to increase structural stability; a tapered profile, to Ethics and Economics reduce seismic and wind forces acting on the Feedback structure; shaped corners, to improve aerodynamic performance, and a megastructural system as a means of achieving economic structural resiliency that would be Christopher Michaelson economically effective. VIP photo session. Back Row: Zhenyu Li, Tongji University; Zhaohui Jia, Greenland Group; Kazunari Kano, Mori Building; Wing Ip (David) Ho, New World Development; Yoshinori Kotera, Sinar Mas Group – APP; Peter Kok, Shum Yip Land. Middle Row: James Robinson, Hongkong Land; Antony Wood, CTBUH / IIT / Tongji University; Timothy Johnson, NBBJ; In a seeming friendly rejoinder to his colleague David Malott, KPF Associates; Mounib Hammoud, Jeddah Economic Council; Robert Pratt, Tishman Speyer Properties. from Shenzhen, Dong Shen of Zhongnan Front Row: Cathy Yang, Taipei Financial Center Corp.; Shiling Zheng, Tongji University; Thomas Tsang, Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center Construction & Development; Jianping Gu, Shanghai Tower Construction and Development; Dong Group, which is building the 729-meter Suzhou Shen, Zhongnan Group; Yang Wu, The Bund Finance Center; Nengjun Luo, CITIC HEYE Investment Co., Ltd. 62 Meet the CTBUH Zhongnan Center, began his presentation with some facts that helped explain how Suzhou, a opening plenary session. The possibility of a horizontal spaces at height is because it city only 100 kilometers from Shanghai, could future of tall buildings that support urban life, changes the psychology of building occupants. support a building of this scale. rather than stand apart from it as 28 The Emergence of Asian interchangeable icons, seemed especially clear “The idea is to inject more urban life into the Vincent Tse “Suzhou’s GDP has actually outperformed by the session’s close. high-rise city,” Wong said. “We introduce The 2014 CTBUH Conference was held at the Though admitting that the drum This line of thought informed the very careful Shenzhen economically, and it is a major horizontal movement in the high-rise building Grand Hyatt Jin Mao in Shanghai, China, from performance was a hard act to follow, session selection of the building’s height of 632 meters manufacturing center in addition to being a Mun Summ Wong, Principal of Singapore- because it changes the dynamic. When you talk September 16–19, drawing more than 1,000 chair and CTBUH Executive Director Antony – it is 140 meters higher than the neighboring historical capital,” Shen said. based WOHA, demonstrated his firm’s efforts to to the people next to you in an ordinary Supertalls delegates from around the world to attend Wood nevertheless cast the opening plenary Shanghai World Financial Center, which itself is upend assumptions about the social high-rise, it is considered rude. But in the street, three full days of sessions, with high session in an appropriately significant light. 70 meters higher than the Jin Mao Tower. Thus The Zhongnan Group envisions the Zhongnan sustainability of high-rises. One of the main you talk to people, build relationships and participation from tall-building developers. Referring to the three keynote speakers, he the three towers now compose a tightly Center as only one of a “cluster of modern reasons so many of WOHA’s projects emphasize bonds.” The three plenaries, three session tracks and said: “I don’t think there has ever been a time calibrated tripartite formation, defining the architecture along the axis of the No. 1 Subway three panel discussions were augmented by in which the developers of three megatall Pudong new central business district. line” that connects the critical districts of the Jonathan Hsu & Cynthia Chan eight technical workshops, and three buildings in the same country have spoken city. Some of the defining characteristics of the Session Snapshot 62 CTBUH Organizational additional tracks devoted to each of the next together on the same stage before.” Perhaps no other city embodies the rapidity of Zhongnan tower include public displays of its three tallest buildings in China. This made for Chinese urbanization like Shenzhen, which has engineering brawn. The observation deck in Tall Buildings as International Investments an intense flurry of activity, the true scope of Jianping Gu took the stage first, characterizing grown from a sleepy fishing village to a city of the crown will showcase the building’s hybrid Robert Pratt, Tishman Speyer Properties (Chair); Mounib Hammoud, Jeddah Economic Co.; which was easier to understand via the the twisting, sinuous form of the Shanghai 14 million in little more than 30 years. It is here sloshing/mass-damper in a highly prominent Timothy Johnson, CTBUH/NBBJ; and James Robinson, Hongkong Land physical items attendees received on-site. Tote Tower as a “back to nature” project. Although that the 660-meter Ping An Finance Center is way, with the ball-shaped device clutched The investment landscape for tall buildings many height and plot-density restrictions, view Member Listing bags were filled to capacity with four the building is the height of sophistication in being built, on a construction site that, on the above the deck in a massive housing, like a varies considerably around the world, as was corridors, and political issues to negotiate when hardbound volumes – the main conference terms of double-skin façade, elevator, and occasion of Wood’s last visit, was “so clean, it felt pearl in the jaws of a great diving bird leaping indicated by the diversity of perspectives in this a tall-building development is on the table. With proceedings containing 116 papers, and three outrigger technology, among many other as if you could eat your lunch off of any from the lake. panel. Mounib Hammoud shed new light on the current rising demand for more office and hotel In Detail books devoted to three major towers feats, at its core it is an attempt to create a horizontal surface,” he said. Kingdom Tower project, which he said would space, Hong Kong needs to reconcile with its 34 Achieving a Six-Star-Rated rising in Shanghai, Suzhou, and Shenzhen – in new template for community spaces, by More detailed information about each of the anchor a residential development that will help mixed feelings about supertalls, said James addition to electronic copies of each session’s making the project’s atria stand in as proxies As demonstrated by the next speaker, Thomas three megatalls whose VIP representatives alleviate Saudi Arabia’s 1.6 million-unit Robinson, Executive Director of Hongkong Land. Power Point presentation. It is safe to say no for the small neighborhood meeting places Tsang, the Ping An project is a tour de force of spoke at the plenary was available in two-day housing shortage. one left Shanghai empty-handed or short on that have been lost with much new complexity, driven by seismic and wind long sessions in project rooms devoted to each ideas. development. Gu referred to the considerations, as well as the massive building – a CTBUH Conference first. Timothy Johnson described the efforts of his Tall Building in Sydney’s “stereoscopic” three-dimensional design of investment and attendant expectations of a client as a design partner at NBBJ, Eton To summarize some of the highlights: the project as being supportive of supporting single occupier. Properties, and its project in the northern Chinese city of Dalian. Here, strategic phasing human connectivity. Dasy 3 Plenary: Towards Sustainable Vertical of residential, retail, and office towers may set a Opening Plenary: The Future Three Tallest “From the start, the owners were determined to Urbanism new model in the developing world, where the Buildings in China “There were already two towers in the vicinity have a high-performance, sustainable building Mun Summ Wong, WOHA; Yang Wu, Bund Finance government is typically heavily involved and Central Business District Jianping Gu, Shanghai Tower Construction & when we started,” Gu said. “We had to pay that epitomized their corporate values,” Tsang Center & Antony Wood, CTBUH / IIT/ Tongji University large developments are done all at once. Development Co., Ltd.; Wai Ming (Thomas) Tsang, particular attention to harmonizing with said. “The focus centered around three main Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center Construction & those buildings. We consider this an issue of areas: an effective vertical transportation The overall theme of the conference, Towards Although one thinks of Hong Kong as the Development Co., Ltd. & Dong Shen, Zhongnan sustainability.” system, an energy-efficient façade and high Sustainable Vertical Urbanism, was driven home quintessential tall building city, in fact it has Mounib Hammoud, new CTBUH Trustee and CEO of Lester Partridge Group indoor air quality.” with particular emphasis during the third day’s Jeddah Economic Co.

52 | Special Report: Shanghai 2014 Conference CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV Special Report: Shanghai 2014 Conference | 53 40 Designing High-Rise Housing: The Singapore Experience Elena Generalova & Viktor Generalov In this global society in which citizenship might transcend“ traditional political borders, skyscraper symbolism is distinctly provincial, a source of jurisdictional pride and power.

” Christopher Michaelson, page 20

CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV Inside | 3 Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel From Block to Blob and Back Again United Network Studio (UN Studio) is a Dutch architecture firm founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, which in the 2000s established offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, partly to accommodate the firm’s increas- ing number of highly detailed and demanding tall building projects on the Asian continent. One of these projects, the Ardmore Residence in Singapore (see Figure 1), was a finalist in this year’s CTBUH Best Tall Building Awards Ben van Berkel program. Van Berkel paused to chat with CTBUH Editor Daniel Safarik on a recent whirlwind visit to the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Interviewee Ben van Berkel, Principal UNStudio We’ve seen a lot of creative projects in have completely accepted them. Then Stadhouderskade 113 Singapore in the last couple of years, and again, you don’t often hear “double-height 1073 AX Amsterdam, The Netherlands t: +31 20 570 2040 I’m wondering what kind of client windows,” and “concrete” in the same f: +31 20 570 2041 commissioned the Ardmore and what sentence. So you must have resolved that e: [email protected] www.unstudio.com made them interested in having such an with some pretty interesting engineering. intricate design? How were they convinced Yes, but with the incredible knowledge of this Ben van Berkel on the morphology of that building? client, I’ve noticed that collaboration is key. We Ben van Berkel is the Co-founder and Principal Architect of UNStudio in Amsterdam and Shanghai. The beauty of that client is their architectural also do everything digitally now – and we test UNStudio is a network of specialists in architecture, background; they have worked with many these things out very early in the design urban development, and infrastructure. Current projects include restructuring the station area of interesting architects like Philip Johnson and process. I do it more and more, where I come Arnhem, the Raffles City mixed-use development Paul Rudolph. Also, four of the brothers of this up with a proposal in the preliminary and in Hangzhou, over 30 stations for the Doha Metro Network in Qatar and the design and restructuring client live in a Paul Rudolph residential schematic design phases, and we test the of the Harbor Ponte Parodi in Genoa. Currently he is building called the Concourse, so they have slenderness of the building or the column- Professor of Conceptual Design at the Staedelschule in Frankfurt am Main, and was recently awarded the developed an incredible interest in free living areas, and see what we can do for Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor’s Chair at Harvard architecture. Also, I like Singapore. When I was the sustainable components of the building. University Graduate School of Design. Central to his teaching is the inclusive approach of architectural there I was fascinated with the city, its culture, For instance, this building is totally open on works integrating virtual and material organization and its regulations. They are quite tough in the side where you have little sunlight, and it’s and engineering constructions. terms of their organizational needs; for instance, landscaping needs to come into the first floor of the building. These requirements are tough, and can make it very challenging to design such an articulated building, but are I’ve never been so ultimately beneficial. “worried about Clearly, a client that had an appreciation of Paul Rudolph would also have an apprecia- individual buildings, tion of sculptured concrete, curvilinear organic shapes, and rough materials. but rather the Exactly, and then of course we came up with the organization of the building based on the collective skyline. [In optimum views we could get within the units. a good skyline] you So the living room area is a column-free space, with an incredibly nice span of more don’t mind that some than 12 meters. Each apartment also has double-height windows with a longitudinally buildings are quite interlocking double-height balcony set into close to each other, the concrete structure. This worked really well. There is still a stigma about tall concrete because they have an buildings in North America, and to some identity as a group. degree in Europe, whereas people in Asia Figure 1. Ardmore Residence, Singapore. ” © UN Studio / Iwan Baan 48 | Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV very much closed on the side where the sun moves around the building. So the building doesn’t get oversaturated with heat, but you also have thermal heat retained into the evening. Another thing that’s nice about the double-height balconies is that they collect wind into the evening. After 5:00 p.m., that really helps to cool down the building.

It was a wonderful project to work on and we Figure 2. Canaletto Apartments, London – neighborhood in the sky concept. © UN Studio only had 1.5 years to build it. The client took a lot of time to develop the project, around three years, but we had very little time to build it. complemented by increased services and young entrepreneurs to be able to buy these amenities. On the other hand, in Singapore, units, and the price structure of units in this So once you began construction there was they are better controlled. There are people building helps with that. There are affordable no going back? that take care of the public spaces, and units and also very expensive units, and they Correct. For that reason I could show you in tenants pay fees to ensure proper all share these types of amenities like detailed drawings that there are 16 modular maintenance. A sense of community is also restaurants, a cinema for families, a gym, a elements for the entire façade structure that generated when long-term tenants agree on pool, and a club. So we took a contemporary could be pulled and twisted in many different new ways to maintain their building. So it’s approach when looking at how we could fill ways. They were repeatedly used in different quite well organized. in the commercial component. areas of the building. In this way, we developed a highly efficient strategy for making quite a It sounds a little bit like the New York co-op What I’ve learned over the years, even when complex building. model. we do a department store, we say to the The advantage that many clients like when client, “Why don’t you think of a department The appearance of the building suggests they buy a high-rise unit is that they have, as a store that looks like a museum?”, because that it is hewn out of a solid piece of rock, community, a say into how they would like to objects in a museum are also fetish objects. but it seems that nothing could be further maintain the building. This concept can be When Andy Warhol talked about his from the truth. Did you use modifiable very beneficial for some projects. fascination with shopping, he talked about formwork, or did you pre-cast the concrete and raise it up? It is one that I am trying to instill in another We precasted it, but it was interesting, because project we are working on in London, called the Japanese contractor that was used had Canaletto (see Figures 2 and 3). It’s another techniques to move up the casting while they high-rise we are doing in the area of Islington, were moving up the building, and they did a which we characterized as a “neighborhood in lot of casting on the spot. They said that it was the sky.” While developing the project, we the quickest way for them to operate. So they thought a lot about context, where, in this moved upward every day, and the crane would case, there are a lot of startup companies. The lift the next piece into place while workers whole area has been an inspiration, as has the completed the previous section. client. They want to include all kinds of crazy amenities, like a restaurant on the ground You mentioned that you like Singapore and floor where people can meet and interact the constraints that it presented. It seems with their neighbors. like a very civilized place. I have seen a statistic that 80% of people in Singapore live How is it different facilitating a community in high-rise public housing, and probably environment in London rather than close to another 10% live in market-rate Singapore? high-rise housing. Why do you think they The thing that’s so nice about the market in have taken so well to high-rise living in London is that it is younger, if more Singapore? commercial. So when I proposed to them the You know, it’s the opposite of high-rise living in idea of a neighborhood in the sky, I presented Europe, where it used to be more common. it as a type of social enterprise that informs Today, to lure tenants, high-rises are how the building could be used. We want the Figure 3. Canaletto Apartments, London. © UN Studio

CTBUH Journal | 2014 Issue IV Talking Tall: Ben van Berkel | 49 that can exist in these places, and this fits in is amazing; when you’re there you don’t mind their story too. that some buildings are quite close to each other, because they have an identity as a I’ve noticed that the shapes of a lot of your group. buildings lack right angles, and you have a lot of organic and curvilinear forms across all Going back to your former question about kinds of different programs, cultures, and geometry; my work is a little bit more cities. Is there a UN Studio “look?” Are you transformative. It’s not so much that the concerned with a style being shared across rectangular form is not present in my work – I buildings and being identifiable, or do you am actually interested in the rectangular form find that these curvilinear solutions are very – but I’m more concerned with how the natural for more conditions than one would rectangular form can move slowly towards a expect? curvilinear form and how rectangular and I think it comes down to tools. In the 1990s curvilinear forms can support each other. I’ve we were always talking about tools. So we once said “maybe we can move from block to Figure 4. Raffles City, Hangzhou. © UN Studio wrote a book once called Move, which talks blob and back again.” And who cares about about the role of the architect and how the the stylistic reference of “block” or “blob?” It’s how after we die, we could all end up in a architect influences the use of new more the transformative aspect of geometries Bloomingdale’s or something. So when techniques, and also how these techniques that are fascinating for me. playing a double-role towards the way we fill will have an effect on the imagination of the our projects in relation to contemporary architect. So that is what we have learned: Some of your buildings appear to be in questions, I answer mostly with cultural new tools generate potential new boundaries motion or in the midst of a transition, frozen in effects and ideas. I answer with new forms of you can shift in a profession. Not in form time, which is kind of an interesting way to living that are related to social behavior when alone, but also in the organization of the think about development in rapidly we design these projects. building. developing places like China. You mentioned previously that you find the restrictiveness of We have gotten to the point now where Speaking more broadly, what do you think Singapore to be a benefit in terms of getting architects are constantly being told that they about the design of tall buildings that needs good architecture built. How do you feel can’t socially engineer solutions. You hear to change? You’ve heard the figures of China about China? things like “we’re not here to solve the world’s urbanizing 250 million people in a dozen China is a little bit more difficult. In China, I problems.” But when there is a brief, how do years, only to be followed and surpassed by wish that the regulations were a bit tougher you match a client with your philosophy India. A lot of high-rise designs are just a sometimes. It’s a bit more complex, because a when it comes to mixing programs, or the continuous extruded floor plan that goes client might be over-organized and have very idea of having neighborhoods in the sky? Or from bottom to top. How can we work against strict reasons for the building having a certain do they come to you knowing what to this at the rate that we need to be building type of organization. So I’ve had to learn over expect? and urbanizing? the years to convince clients, councils, and It really needs to work. I cannot sell something That’s a good question; I think this can only be city departments; [I’ve had] to come up with or conceptualize an organizational structure done by rethinking the concept of the ideas that are convincing. where the client is not fascinated by the idea. high-rise building. Do we have to think of a So I need to really convince them. I really traditional skyscraper concept? Can we find For instance, Raffles City in Hangzhou (see believe in these ideas. I believe that a new ideas? New models? For instance, the Figure 4) is going very well, but it took us an monotonous residential tower is not good for idea of “neighborhoods in the sky”; I think it’s a incredible effort to get the twist in the tower the city, so I really try to convince them of that matter also of how you accept vertical and for the podium to be highly articulated idea. I tell them, “Why don’t you do building architecture in a particular manner. If you look and very open. What the client wanted was a that is recognizable, where people can really at Manhattan, how many interesting vertical social, sustainable project for Hangzhou that look at it and say, ‘Listen, I live in that cluster, buildings do you have there? Not many, would allow people to stay in the location a that’s my neighborhood’?” So you can really maybe a few. But as a skyline, they look quite little longer, but would not require vehicles to tell the client – not only a story – but an beautiful. So I’ve never been so worried about get around. So in this project you have almost argument that can cause them to imagine individual buildings, but rather the collective every program imaginable, in order to allow these places and adopt these beliefs. For skyline. This is where the quality of urban people to stay there as long as a week, which instance, the “neighborhood in the sky” idea planners comes in. In Singapore they do this is quite amazing.  works very well for clients when you talk very well, with planners looking critically at about the different qualities of apartments where high-rises and density can take place. It

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