Dense Living Urban Structures PDF
Dense Living Urban Structures PDF
Dense Living Urban Structures PDF
Sponsored by
Organizing Committee
Academic Secretary
Secretary Assistants
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ISBN 9627757055
Preface
Keynote Addresses
Typical Plan Types of Flexible Housing - Based on the Analysis of Variation Trends 45
Bora LEE, HyunSoo LEE and SooAm KIM
The Data Structure of Unit Analysis for Capacity Design Methodology
Cheng-Tah LIN, Ming-Hung WANG
Urban Housing in New Zealand: Designing for Flexibility in Medium Density Housing 61
David TURNER
Open Building in Health Care Architecture: The Case of the I N 0 Project in Bern,
Switzerland
Stephen KENDAL L
Thought on the Renewal Mode in the Old City in Wuhan: Comparison of studies of
two sample zones in Wuhan and the thought about it
Bo YANG
The Soft Urban Machine: Space-Time and the Production of Urban Place
Stephen READ
How Can We Make Hong Kong's Urban Form More Sustainable? : From Perceptions 2 14
to Reality
Sujata S. GOVADA, Mee Kam NG, and Peter HILLS
Urban Revitalization in Social Transition The Case of West Yuehu Area Conservation 225
and Renewal Project, Ningbo, China
Tariq Mahbub KHAN, Zinnatun NAHID and WeiDONG
Open Space Study of The Industrial Area Along The Grand Canal In Hangzhou 235
Xiaoyu YING
List of Contributors
O l ~ c ~Building
r Intcrnalional ('onfcrcocc. 0clol)cr- 23-20, 1003
PREFACE
In the light of sustainable development, the merits and problems of compact cities are
being investigated in line with concepts of energy, environmental quality and efficiency.
Throughout its history, Hong Kong has developed a unique urban pattern characterized by a
mixture of functions at high density. The significance of urban dynamism remains an undiscovered
treasure underlying the success of Hong Kong. High density implies that a low amount of
undeveloped land is converted to urban development. This is favorable for the maintenance of
local biodiversity and biological resources. A high population density also implies low transport
requirements because of shorter travel distances, and high feasibility of public and non-motorized
modes, both leading to lower energy use. In residential space, high-density dwellings are smaller
than dwellings in low-density areas. This also implies lower energy and materials use for the
construction, adaptation and maintenance of buildings. High density attracts mixed land use. Thus,
residents living in, or close to, the central areas have easy access to the various urban facilities,
economic and cultural opportunities. However, high density also brings many problems. Noise,
pollution, traffic congestion, lack of open communal space, and small living spaces are typical
indications of a low quality of living in high-density cities.
Unlike other industrial cities in modem times, Hong Kong's manufacturing industry ended
after a brief life span of only 30 or 40 years. When mainland China opened its doors in 1979, local
industries moved north to exploit cheaper land and labor. The financial and service sectors were
left to transform Hong Kong into a post-industrial society over the next decade, and with it came a
period of unprecedented economic growth. But at the end of 1997, the Asian economic crisis
tremendously impacted Hong Kong's property market.
Architectural solutions to these issues in Hong Kong are still far from successful. It might
be because traditional architecture and urban design manifestos are actually handicapped when
urban density reaches such a high level. For instance, classical discourse treated architecture as
static monuments erected independently on the ground. Buildings at high density, except a few
very tall ones, cannot function as monuments because they are simply invisible in narrow and dark
streets. Secondly, modernism in architecture is deeply rooted in the classification and segregation
of functions. Yet, high density prefers a highly dynamic mixture of functions providing an
impetus for fine-grained change and growth in urban structure. Thirdly, New Urbanism longs for
pleasant streets and plaza within a human scale, yet in high-rise and high density Hong Kong,
these elements almost evaporate, or change relationships. Other elements, such as elevated
highways, underground passages, and pedestrian bridges connecting air-conditioned atriums
become dominant urban elements.
When buildings become taller and accommodations are elevated in the sky, streets and
squares on the ground tend to loose their traditional scale, shape and activity. When high-rise
buildings are compacted together, organizing concepts such as form, space and function that
modern architecture addresses become less significant, while the interrelations in multiple
directions and levels among the buildings are intensified. When the high-density built complexes
are built in the context of rapid transformation of social, technical equipment, economic systems
and multifold cultural exchanges, the static portion of the built form needs to particularly
accommodating.
Architecture under these conditions needs to be structuring yet open, strong and resilient,
lovable and able to absorb decentralized decision-making. It needs to set the stage for fine-grained
cultivation by many parties not part of the initial design and construction process, and by users.
The buildings need to function as stable, serviced structures and service channels supporting the
intensive flows of users and energy, with diverse and frequent changes of demands and interests.
The goal of design should become a best effort to structure the initial conditions and the dynamics
necessary to stimulate a self-organized evolution. We need architecture without static and isolated
buildings.
With these notes in mind, this conference brought researchers, intellectuals and
practitioners worldwide to Hong Kong to contribute questions and insights, and to share their
experiences on the platform of "Open Building 2003 Hong Kong", bearing in mind that there is no
single disciplinary solution to the urban complexes of the 21 srt century. The papers submitted and
the discussions stimulated help to address several questions:
- What skills and attitudes need to be cultivated - inside and outside the universities - to
allow environmental design professionals to provide sensible guidance under these
circumstances?
- What building strategies, economic models and management systems can be developed
or harnessed to meet these new challenges?
Joint paper by Dr. Stephen Kendall and Stefan Geiser discusses the extent to which open
building and lean construction principles are being applied to the design and construction of a large
medical building, and comments on the rationale for adopting open building methods more
broadly. While a paper by Shih-Hung YANG, Tomonari YASHIRO, Kenji NISHIMOTO, and
Yongji HAN focus on smallest scale, and try to apply the 'Design for Environment' (DfE) idea to a
defined field of architecture in order to improve the resource efficiency for better environmental
performance. They select the bathroom-unit as subject. Haile LI from Chongqing, China introduces
the idea of versatile space to respond the rapid change of social and economical circumstances in
high-density urban areas. Cheng-Tah LIN, Ming-Hung WANG of Taiwan explore a capacity
design methodology aided by CAAD system for the built environment which relies on two
important concepts: the separation of support and infill; and the use of level, the fundamental
concepts in Habraken's theory. In a paper "Typical Plan Types of Flexible Housing" Bora LEE,
HyunSoo LEE and SooAm KIM identified typical plan types for flexible housing based on the
generalized variation trends. Kung-Jen TU presented the 'open building' implementation results in
the Construction and Material Laboratory Facility (CMLF) Pro-iect in Taiwan, which delivered
three benefits: flexible configuration, easy maintenance, and sustainable construction. The housing
industry in the Netherlands is gradually shifting from sellers to a buyers market. Ype CUPERUS
reports on the findings of a study on mass customised housing in the Netherlands and analyzed the
fact that lean Construction principles were translated to be applied on mass customised housing.
On the other hand, in Japan there is growing demand for renovation of the deteriorating housing
estates built in the mass-housing era reported by Kozo KADOWAKI, Seiichi FUKAO and
Tsuyoshi ARAHIRA. Similarly, Li BAO and Ying HE form Nanjing, China, reported an
experiment of application of the Open Building concept of levels on refurbishment of a typical
housing estate in Nanjing. Zhaoru LIU & Zhongyu AN form Shanghai addressed the structural
issues of flexible housing. They attempt to introduce two new building systems, "collecting-
column system" and "cable-strained slab system" which was regarded as an improvement of the
structural flexibility of framework and a modular design leading to high-efficiency construction.
Hanif HOSEINI, Gudni JOHANNESSON and Kjartan GUDMUNDSSON discussed that the use
of multi-floor vertical lightweight building elements offers fast assembly and dismounting and
which can be reused or recycled.
Many papers emphases on density related issues. A thesis by Jing JIANG and Wowo
DING tries to explain the relationship between residential density and living quality through the
investigation in several residential areas. Nancy Margaret SANDERS studied high rise tower in
Shenzhen. Alex AMATO, Richard FREWER and Steven HUMPHREY comparatively assessed
three Hong Kong 40-storey residential tower types. They found out that longevity is important and
the Integer Concept Tower (ICT) based on green design concepts was best perfonner over all the
indicators in the 75-year life assessment. Another Hong Kong paper by Joseph Francis WONG
examines the problems associated with the redevelopment of mega-scale "podium type" building
developments.
Some papers give a broader discussion on the urban problems. Tariq Mahbub KHAN,
Zinnatun NAHID and Wei DONG tried to find a way to preserve the historical identity and
traditional values while improving the living environment to meet the needs of modem inhabitants.
Xiaoyu YING from Honzhou investigates a possibility of re-developing that industrial area into
open space will be examined in this article. Hong Kong issues have been among the hottest topics
even by outsiders. Wei ZHU from Zhejiang pointed out that four types of ecological
transformation in Hong Kong is critically required: from physical space requirements to life quality
requirements; from pollution handling to psychophysilogical requirements; from urban virescence
requirements to ecology serving function; from appearance oriented urban beautification to process
oriented psychophysiological health of the civilian and urban sustainable developments. Finally the
author and Ada WONG, a young graduate of the Department of Architecture (HKU) presented
three experiments with implementing operable flexibility in high density housing in Hong Kong.
Most interesting papers and speeches are still come from distinguished keynote speakers:
Prof. N. John Habraken, Prof. Bao Jiasheng, Dr. W S Wong, Prof. Tomonari Yashiro, Mr. Gary
Chang and Prof. Dietmar Eberle. The latter two presented new approaches of openness with their
large amount of outstanding and edge-cutting design works.
Sincerely thanks to Ms Chen Haiyan for helping me formatting all the papers. Many
thanks to Miss Jessica Junyan He, Ms. Freda Fung, Ms. Shirley Hung, Mr. Y W Kwok, Miss Lily
Chnagyun Jiang and Mr Liang Changqing for their assistant.
JIA Beisi
Associate Professor
Department of Architecture
The University of Hong Kong
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
1 ACHSLENGUT
This project is characterised by a very specific history: B&E were asked to participate in
the planning after the project had already been awarded to a Swiss architecture office. However,
the construction plan for the entire project had been defined by this time. Therefore, the first
construction segment was completed according to previously established wing depth and length
parametres. Finally, a change in the construction plans was agreed on after all. Hence the second
segment is a radically different, much more useful urban structure. They are housing "dots",
compact structures with interior access and projecting balcony zones. The placement of the
buildings is important: it is a composition based on the view of Lake Constance.
Glass sliding elements are located in front of the apartments, some are transparent, some
aren't. This allows for ideal regulation of two things: spacing and interior view problems between
the residential buildings. If, for example, someone slides two such panels in front of the bedroom,
nobody can look inside, the tenant's privacy is protected. On the other hand, the individual
turbulences of use on the balconies that often disturb public spaces are concealed this way. Thus a
clear separation between public and private interests was achieved with these simple means.
The residents make use of the possibilities this faqade solution offers in a very matter-of-
fact fashion. It should be noted that the specific geometric appearance of these residential
buildings is not affected by the individual behavioural patterns of the tenants. They are never really
closed nor ever really open. This was intended from the beginning and it is what makes this
project's architectural design so special. Somehow, it stands up to everyday use with complete
ease.
Figure I Figure 17
7
Figure 3 Figure 4
F i ~ u r e5 Figure 6
2. MEGAHALL
Bauherr I client Beijing Modern Hong Yun Real Estate Dev. Co, Ltd
Planung I planning Baumschlager Eberle Anstalt
Projektleitung I project architect Christian Tabernigg
Mitarbeiter I assistance Stefan Beck, Sabrina Contratto, Marc Fisler, Alexia Monauni,
Marlies Sofia
Haustechnik Konzept I mechanical engineer KellerTechnologies
Grundstiicksflache I site area 10.240 m2
Bebaute Flache ( built up area 4.430 m2
Nutzflache ( floor area 1 00.000 m2
Umbauter Raum I building volume 260.000 m3
Planungsbeginn I commencement of planning Juli 1 July 2002
Baubeginn 1 commencement of work Juni I June 2003
Fertigstellung ( completion Juni I June 2005
Gefordert: drei Hochhauser von grorjer stadtischer Dichte, die an einem neuen
Verkehrsknotenpunkt, am Rand der Innenstadt von Peking errichtet werden. Das Areal
umfaat eine ganze Reihe von Neubauten. Die drei Tiirrne von B&E - hohenmal3ig
differenziert von knapp 100 bis knapp 80 Meter - beinhalten in einer horizontal
geschichteten Zone Shopping und Dienstleistungen, dariiber Wohnungen. Besonderes
Augenmerk wurde der Gebaudetechnologie gewidmet. Peking leidet unvergleichbar
starker unter der Umweitbelastung als jede europaische Stadt. Darauf wurde bei der
Planung besonders geachtet - diese spezifische Qualifikation des Biiros war wohl auch ein
Gmnd fur die Beauftragung von B&E.
Program: three high-rise buildings providing great urban density are to be built for
a new traffic hub at the edge of Beijing's inner city. The space comprises a number of new
buildings. The three B&E towers, of differing heights (approx 100 to 80 metres tall) offer
horizontally layered shopping zones and service areas with apartments above these
sections. Special attention was given to the building equipment and technology. Beijing is
under a much greater environmental strain than any European city. This aspect was given
particular importance during planning - this specific qualification was also presumably the
reason for which B&E was hired.
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9 Figure 10
3. MUNICH RE
Munchener Ruck
(Figure 1 1 -22)
Figure 20
SCHOOL MAEDER
ECOLOGICAL MIDDLE SCHOOL MADER, 1998
(Figure 23-30)
Since a couple of years Mader, originally a poor village close to the border to Switzerland,
is longing to achieve the status of an ,,ecological Community". The urban planning concept
comprises a sequence of public squares and connecting paths. This net, in favour of pedestrian
traffic, becomes more dense around the new center, where one finds all scholastic and cultural
amenities, among them, the community center designed by Baumschlager and Eberle in 1995. The
new building of the ,,Eco-Middle-School" upgraded the center of town tremendously. The
positioning of the two volumes, which are separated above ground, generated not only two new
exterior spaces (public plaza and the school's courtyard) but also defined clear edges.
Both volumes, the above ground four story school building and the flat double-gymnasium
(lowered by one third into the ground), are compact and thus minimize the use of surfaces and
energy. The design orients itself to the close relationships between form, function, economy and
ecology. The on all sides double layer of the facade of the school building consists of a wood and
glass construction, which is wrapped by ventilated, scaled glass panels. Depending upon the
position of the sun, the various conditions of transparency change the appearance of the building:
From dematerialization caused by raking light to becoming a mirror of the surroundings. Extensive
glazing of the facades, in conjunction with a central light well and clerestory windows in the
interior walls made of wood; enable natural lighting of the floors, despite the ground floor area of
approximately 80 by 80 feet. On each regular floor, seven peripheral classrooms group around a
generous, central recess space. Ecological approach, economy and quality of space formed a
synthesis in this building.
Figure 26
Figure 29
5. WOHNEN AM LOHBACH
The first construction phase of a relatively densely set residential project disposed of a
large green area. Next to it lie residential buildings that are heterogeneous in urban and formal
terms and a university area dating back to the sixties.
Economically and ecologically optimised residential construction was required here. Thus
the decision to build cube-like structures with interior access and a projecting balcony zone that
can be closed off from the outside with copper sun protecting elements. The urban project that
results from this concept and its cube-like shape looks similar to a random chess board pattern,
seemingly. In reality the alignment of the individual structures, the views around and through the
project were carefully composed. This was also the case with the spaces between the buildings: the
open spaces - including small gardens in front of the ground level apartments - make it easy to
forget the density of construction.
Figzrre 34 Figzrre 35
The apartments vary greatly. What is important is: the sun protection elements offered are
used continuously by the residents. Hence the copper cubes envisioned by the architects are really
there and the only openings are those created by residents who have their shutters open. This
interplay between (primarily) closed and (partly) open surfaces is extremely appealing.
There is a second important element: the houses may have been optimised as much as
possible on the outside, but the basic principles of residential construction were adhered to
completely. This is especially the case in terms of access, which was made possible by a truly
attractive hall featuring natural light and glass floor paneling that allows light to reach the lower
level and the subterreanean garage.
Finally, there is a third element: all the ecological possibilities allowed by today's
technology were applied to these houses. These include solar energy panels, heat recovery plants
and rain water use. Thus practically everything that can be achieved without high tech - was
-
achieved.
This solution won international awards. The price per square meter ratio is unique. The
residents appreciate this fact.
The Architecture - from Concentrates
Gary CHANG
Architect, Director of EDGE (HK) Ltd.
"Those who jail to re-read are obliged to read the same story everywhere. " - Roland Barthes
"The .stamp o f the deJinitive is avoided. No situation appears intended forever, noJigure suggests
its 'thus not and otherwise. ' This is how architecture, the most binding part of the communal
rhvthm, comes into being here. " - Asja Lacis and Walter Benjamin
THE ARCHITECTURE
Everything follows from this principle: that the intention of the architecture deals not with
its physical dimension but with the matrix of possibilities within. As such it is always a tendency
to the attempt to approximate infinity of the intensity1 density, or the Concentration, that prevails
within ("Concentration" here encompasses both the idea of density that generally refers to the
quantity of events within the physical dimension, and the idea of intensity that points to the
quantity of events within a timeframe).
Succeeding the Change - Choice - Connection - Co-existence (the "4C's" represents
the four categories of events that characterize the intensification phenomena) discussion on the
urban dynamics, Concentration presents a way of describing the intensity1 density that exists
within the architecture. It is an attempt to refocus our discussion from abstract hypotheses and
grandiose strategies to concrete details that create our daily experience, and to our sense of being
in a city. It is about a way of looking at and adapting what is there already.
A Concentrated architecture is one that embodies a high "concentration" of the 4C's: the
natural response to the competition for available resources. There are many details to observe in
the locals and in its various kinds of architecture and structure. The projects and patterns raised in
the present discussion are part of the answer to maximizing what is available for more
possibilities: how to turn the liabilities common to many local structures into assets.
One thing to be seen in the cinematheque is that there is a strong sense of unfinishedness
and fragmentation. The idea behind the project comes from the culture of setup-pulldown adopted
by the typical roadside stalls in the Temple Street, as well as other parts of the Yaumatei
neighnbourhood. It is common sense that the more deeply etched the details are, the more resistant
to removal and changes they will be. Thus we can see the cinematic adaptation of urban elements
like bare concrete walls, appendant plastic and metal structures, additive (and therefore easily
removable) metal window cages coated in protective green paint, all of which can easily be found
in 24-hour evolving urban environment nearby. These typically "intermediate" elements reflect the
attempt to re-present new connotations of the urban neighbourhood, at the same time suggesting a
possible answer to revitalizing the architecture by enhancing its readiness to changes.
Figure I Figure 2
In the Gifu project, we are commissioned to create a non-linear public housing space from
10 randomly chosen apartments within the megastructure. As one among other viable solutions, it
is proposed that a shared urban community between different apartments to create as a closely-knit
configuration for the urban allegory of the village. The circulation routes, storage space and
laundry areas are used as the physical and communal connections. These free zones of undefined
ownership become "baits" for the inhabitants to gain extra space, more light and better ventilation.
By enhancing the idea of sharing resources, this colonization of spaces tends to break the isolation
of social housing and creates various types and sizes of communal space for the inhabitants to
meet one another, hang out, team up and exchange conversation: a modem envision of the
traditional neighbourhood. Such flexibility can also be extended to the idea of subletting and
combining different units in response to the size of the families. On top of the idea of shared
resources, the alternating U-shape units aim at establishing a myriad of possibilities which in turn
increases the Concentration within the structure. Such communal space ultimately leads to the
genuine public space of the housing scheme, blurring the boundary between the private garden and
the public space. As a result, the design as a whole attempt to rethink how housing units and shared
spaces function spatially, and on a macro perspective, how the identity of a locale is defined.
Figure 3 Figure 4
The tiny apartment is made into a machine for compact living. Instead of subdividing the
limited space into different cells, the apartment is designed as one room. All the mundane
necessities of bachelor life - books, CDs, clothing, pictures, stereo, videos - are organized in clear
strata and stacked on a factory shelving system and hidden discreetly behind floating white
curtains. The central space becomes the actual space for living / working / eating / meditating1
sleeping I chatting / dressing 1 reading. Infinite combinations of lighting expand the possible
ambience to be created in a home environment.
The main aperture of the front window offers different "views" to the world beyond -
whether the actual view out of the window, or "through" the large-scale movie screen to the
fantasy world of Hollywood, the real world of news, or the electronic world of Internet. Like a
changeable theatre set, it is a stage for the concentrated lifestyle under an extreme urban situation.
Figure 6
Figure 5
Contemporary issues are addressed in a design, which explores how one piece of furniture
can accommodate the needs of public and personal space in an office. Inspired from the traditional
street market with the appropriation of the mechanism of the cabana, the open and close situation
creates the flexible office room in its minimum size. Each purpose-built, de-mountable module
provides a semi-private enclosure with independent service supports and storage. With an
incorporated workbench, privacy can be achieved by working within the module. When more
interaction is required, the rollout desk can be moved outside the module and serve as an informal
meeting place for co-workers, clients and consultants to gather around. The module thus suggests
a new workstyle where the line between public and private fluctuates. To reduce costs, the five
separate components are pre-fabricated off site in multiplication. Dimensioned to fit in typical
commercial building elevators, they can be quickly assembled on site. Permeable strips of
polycarbonate reduce the solidity of the unit making circulation behind and around less oppressive
than between conventional office cubicles.
Figure 7 Figure 8
If a compact office room takes only 2.4 sqm, a living space may get even smaller. Our
installation in Venice presents the most congested way of living. Each mesh-covered cage,
measured by l m by 2m, is a single room for an individual. It is a container for all his belongings
and even himself locked up entirely. An apartment of 70 sqm packed with some 70 rental cages
forms a closely tied community within. Knowing the fact that some residents have been staying
there for 30 years, this voluntary prison has become the permanent homes for these alienated grass
roots.
Figure 9 Figure 10
Light Hotel, (0.08sqm)
(Figure 1 1 -1 2)
Figure I I Figure 12
Kung Fu Tea Set, Tea & Coffee Tower for Alessi, (0.04sqm)
(Figure 13- 14)
The design of the Kung Fu Tea Set originates from how dim-sums, Chinese hors
d'oeuvres, are arranged and displayed. Baskets of dim-sum are piled up in the middle of the
restaurant, often in a congested situations, like a mind-game as the food inside the baskets are not
fully exposed in view. The whole process of eating becomes a vigorous exercise in fighting
against tight space within the micro-environment of the restaurant, and then of table, in optimal
efficiency of vertical organization and growth. It's all about our notion of a non-visual pragmatism
of Change, Choice, Co-existence and Connection.
Figure 13 Figure 14
The collage of dim-sum baskets is literally transformed to become our Kung Fu Tea Set.
Made of Italian sterling silver and Chinese Red Clay from Yixing, the tea set is composed of a
group of cylindrical units, each of them taking care of one particular element in the traditional
brewing of Chinese Kung Fu tea. Different elements for various functions can be piled up
according to different situations, resembling the same high-density arrangement of the dim-sum
basket towers. This configuration is again a take on the active intervention by the user (drinker) to
meet one's own habit of tea making. While having potentials for growth to include even elements
for other uses, the tea set eventually becomes a totem for the micro domestic landscape.
On its way of leading to an answer to the struggle for space, thinking and acting within the
context of concentrated architecture means accepting and af'firming the limitations and instability
that bring about it. While sourced from the intelligence that is exhibited -in many scenarios of
common sense, the resulting concentration at the same time is a source for creativity that can be
expressed in every area of life and every field of knowledge. As such, architecture is simply one
tool. Interestingly, while the principle of concentrated architecture is developed from the locality,
the same pattern can be repeated globally and goes beyond the idea of architecture itself. The
imagination is set from the ideals that have been affixed on our minds for so long by rationalizing
the manifest of disorder into a plurality of possibilities.
Prospect of Open Building
Professor Jiasheng Bao
The Graduate School of Architecture, Nanjing University
1. INTRODUCTION
I began to study Professor N. John Habraken's S. A. R theory in the end of 1970s.
Fortunately, When I was a visiting scholar of P. R. China to visit Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (M.1.T) in United States and met Professor N. John Habraken in early 1980s. After I
learned and communited quintessence of Housing Design theory from SAR perspective, the Open
Building thought attracts me deeply and becomes my major academic research perspective in.
twenty years after. I continually prospect in this perspective that I study from Open House and
Open Building to Sustainable Development Architecture. We follow principle of theory& practice
and study & teaching to prospect deeply benefits in theoretic study, also, we processe productive
practice and talented education during in this perspective.
In study and practice perspectives, we consistent complete processes from theoretic study
and experiment of housing to study-applicabled and project-promotived at the end of theory-
introspective experiments. During in this process, we prospected supporting housing, high effect of
spatial Housing, steeped type building, high floor supporting housing and eco-architecture that
those prospects were practiced in real engineering. In combination of research and teaching, we
educated lot of students on Master and Doctoral degrees and accomplished research theses on topic
of Open Building thought; meanwhile, those students participated in projects, which are related
Open building thought. Especially, those doctoral dissertations represent many related theses on
Open Building studies, such as " Methodology of Open Building Design Theory", "Openly
Architectural Process" and "Studies on Openable Elementary School Planning and Design" etc.
In order to continue study Open Building, I founded the Center of Open Building Research
& Development (COBRD) in Southeast University, 1992. I established the Graduate School of
Architecture and Center of Open Building in Nanjing University after I leaved Southeast
University in 2000. For smoothly combination between research and practice, I founded Jian Xue
Architecture Institute, Open Building Center of Engineering Design Institute and Nanjing Open
Building Design Consultant company to continue rich study and practice on Open Building.
2. PROSPECT PROCESS
The high effect of spatial housing is a new type of open housing. It succeeds supporting
housing to be a major study in recent ten years. It organizes three-dimensional organism and
compaction for each using space in internal housing. It creates high use effects in a limited area of
internal housing. Furthermore, it changes monotonous space of traditional housing to present
multi-compound space. The High Effect Spatial Housing reaches new perspectives from base of
Supporting Housing theory and practice, it represents in those aspects such as:
I. Design of supporting unit injects more activities for dividual interior space of housing.
It breaks two-dimension plane boundaries into three-dimension spatial orders.
2. Detachable design does not only be a role for platform of divided space but it
combines with interior design of furniture to reduce investment amount, when it
utilizes effective internal space.
3. The design of high effect of spatial housing makes congregate and multi-use methods
to raise effectiveness of spatial monotonous from internal spatial effect of housing
currently. It adopts method of restructure entirety to apply the upper interior space of
housing and set suitable function that function appear often as types of closets.
Various users could select different detachable material, type, color and style for their
favors. The detachable can be divided space and furniture. Also, its design and
placement could be in service range for interior environmental design and internal
decoration. The role between supporting unit and detachable unit provides rich
creations for architect, interior designer and household.
Prospect of high effect of spatial housing is through theoretical study, project design,
model study, experimental housing and applied engineering. After design project completed
and qualified model study, it was called for technological meeting under the support of city
government. Then, we built experimental housing under the assistance from the Nanjing wood
mill, after we were obtained qualification from meeting. After gaining social approval, we
completed demonstrative engineering on designs and constructions in Nanjing, Suzhou,
Tiangjing and Zhengzhou .The practice progress shown as below:
1. Project design.
2. Model study.
a.) The model study of single unit.
b.) The model study of lower floor.
c.) The model study of multi-floors.
d.) The cluster model study.
3. Experimental engineering Experimental housing of high effect spatial of the Nanjing
wood mill.
4. Applied engineering.
2.3. Practice cases
a. High Effect Spatial Housing of Nanjing Daily Newspaper office on Rongzhuang Street.
This project uses original three workplaces to apply design principle of high effect of
spatial housing and methodology to rebuild resident housing. Original factory building
was a framework structure, those floors' high are 3.8m, 4m and 4.2m, the depth is
12m that spatial uses exists rich potentialities. According to the design model of high
effect housing, the factory framework would shift to be supporting unit. The first
work in design progress modifies appropriate supporting unit. Continually, supporting
unit was suitable restructured in second time. According to each area demand of
housing unit, we design one workplace for each housing. Inside space of housing unit
compounds and crosses spatial arrangements that it increases 75% using area. It gains
seventy-five resident housing units after rebuilding three workplaces in this project
that new resident housing project adds another extra fourty-seven units. AS results, it
shows highly effects in this project.
b. Nanjing Xviadatang High Effect Spatial Housing.
This housing adopts 2:3 variated planks method of spatial arrangement. Each unit
owns two workplace, two floor high of major workplace corresponds sub-workplace is
to be three floors that the major workplace high3.6m and sub-workplace high is 2.4m.
The building using area is higher 50 % than ordinary building, building size for two
bedrooms & two living rooms area equals to using effects for four bedroom & four
living rooms.
c. High Effect housing of Zhengzhou Planning Bureau.
This housing uses 4:3variated planks method of spatial arrangement. Each of floors
high is 2.4m and 3.2m, high of room space is dependent on its size. Both fixable using
on floor highI1livingroom and floor low (kitchen and washroom) brings effective
spatial uses in orders.
leader changed their minds, they found us to readjust project in order to adapt new functional
demand. Because we considered uncertainly function when we started to design that building,
therefore, we applied design principle of open building to adopt flexibility design strategy to suit
different office leaders' requirements. As result, they were satisfactions on our designs. During in
design process of this building, we treaded uncertainly space as changeable space (serviced space),
we tried enlarging its size in opened, continued and completed, also, we selected suitable various
functional arrangements between columns and column network. Meanwhile, we treated service
space to be core unit of high level building to centralize arranged at aside or comer in serviced
space, also, we reserved vertical tunnel at appropriate location to satisfy completed and continued
space under required condition of fire emergency. Furthermore, we provided maximum flexibility
and comprisal for building space.
After building was constructed and entered market, building functions major on office
and bank; part of building is continued education. Each user satisfies its fixable functions.
Sustainable development building follow " 3R" principles, which are Reuse, Reduce and
Repetition" and be called characteristic of open building suits. Reuse in means applied sustainable
functions. Therefore, "open building to sustainable development building: is third phase for our
study. We accomplished an eco-resident community study and design in this level. This eco-
resident community follows ecology planning principle and design, all of houses tracks open
housing concept to design also. It includes our prospects on supporting housing, high effect of
spatial housing, stepped type housing and other applied eco-design principles and designs before.
They included vertically ventilative structures, using of underground water, applied solar energy,
solar energy water heater and entirety building.
5. CONCLUSION
1. Open building has great vitalities that it should be an important aspect in the 21" century. It
does not only apply to housing only but for any kinds of architecture, which means it suits
lower, multiple, and high levels buildings. It represents personalized, humanized,
democratized and diversified architectures. Meanwhile, open building develops, extends, and
applies forceful industrialization of architecture. Consequentially, it promotes architectural
developments.
2. Open building is the best style to practice sustainable architecture development. It encourages
and promises sustainable function of architectural uses. Specially, the imformation age causes
creations of new type of architecture in change of living pattern, family office (SOHO) and
others.Ingeniously,conceptsfor creations and origin spaces are flexibilities and movabilities, it
could be various shaped, szied,attituded switches, moreover, it could be office, retailstore,
factory, and spatial combination of living-work. The high effect of spatial building of open
building is the best idea spatial form of the finest building. At same time, high effect of spatial
using of open building results using area is larger than building area that it is a typical building
form on restrained, high effect space and preserve savable land. Therefore, it is the finest form
in sustainable developments.
3. Especially high effect of spatial building would provide an aspect for urban renewal, reform of
old housing. Those old buildings do not revitalize from open building only. At same time, it
benefits protection of architectural culture on extension and development and provide
economical aspect on reform of old building and urban renewal.
4. The development of open building has to trend professional and cooperative perspectives.
Architect should cooperate with merchant to explore new structure system for creating new
structure of supporting unit. Meanwhile. both of them should cooperate and develop new
detachable units for making industrialized, marketable and commercialized productions of
detachable units to provide conveniences on user practice and creation. AS result, it will
continually create powerful, material and technologic bases to extend popular and
developmental open building.
Making Urban Fabric Fine Grained
A Research Agenda
N. John HABRAKEN
Professor of Architecture Emeritus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1. INTRODUCTION
The concept of Open Building implies the separation of the so called 'Base Building' from
the interior 'Fit-Out'. This separation allows each dwelling unit to be designed individually and to
change independent of other units in the same building. The result is a fine grained organization of
the large building. Kendall and Teicher give a comprehensive overview of the Open Building
projects worldwide (Kendall and Teicher 1999). Since then, other projects have been completed.
To explain the concept, two projects are briefly shown. One is relatively recent and the other is one
of the first executed.
The Next21 project in Osaka, ( fig.1) intended to suggest the apartment house of the
future, was experimental in many ways. It is also an Open Building project. Prof. Utida, leader of
the design team, called it a three dimensional urban design. Consistent with that view, thirteen
different architects offices were invited to design the individual dwellings inside the base building
(Utida et.al. 1994.)
The Molenvliet project (fig. 2) was the first base building project in the Netherlands.
Architect Frans van der Werf treated it as part of an urban fabrc that could be continued on an
urban scale, consisting of public and private courtyards formed by the base building and connected
to one another and to the major streets where cars could be parked. In this base building tenants
could design and change their individual units. This process has been supported to this day by the
housing corporation which owns the project. (v.d.Werf and Froyen. 1980)
The Open Building approach can be considered a general model for fine grained urban
fabric in contemporary environment. As such it is worth while to compare this new approach to
the making of architecture in general and consider where professional ways of working need to be
changed.
Figzrre 1. Next21 project Osaka Figure 2. Molenvliet project, Papendrecht
To support this statement, I will mention three aspects where our traditional ideology is in
conflict with the reality of everyday living environment.
4 A RESEARCH AGENDA
The three issues of conflict between environmental reality and professional ideology have
a direct impact on the way we design. There is a common aspect: All three demand that designers
coordinate what they do with others.
Sharing values demands that we have ways to establish what our designs must have in
common: it is the basis for all coordination.
The distribution of design responsibility clearly demands ways in which designers can
define design tasks and in which they can handle the interface: setting clear boundaries within
which they can carry their own responsibilities.
Change and permanence, relates to both sharing of values and the separation of tasks.
Values must be embedded in specific forms with their own life span of longer or shorter duration.
These forms, in turn, assume a distribution of design control compatible with them.
4.2. Capacity
When the separation of base building from fit-out was first proposed by SAR ( the office
of architect's research in the Netherlands) a new interface between designers a new interface was
called for and that is what our methodological research focused on. For instance, the designer of a
base building cannot just show a few floor plans to justify his proposal. He must find out what
range of possible plans - given certain requirements and values - might be possible in the proposed
base building. This is now known as the problem of capacity. When we walk into an empty room,
we may say: "this could be a bedroom, but it might also be a study, or perhaps a play room for the
children". By saying this we indicate the capacity of the room for holding lower level designs. In
the same way an urban designer, who decides about house lots and street widths, will ask himself
what kind of houses could be built if the lots have certain dimensions. Or he may consider what
ways there are to park cars in a given street-width, and how trees might be planted in it. In all
those cases the designer does not determine the lower level design decisions, but must have a fair
idea as to the range of solutions possible within what he proposes.
4.3. Positioning
The physical interface between the base building and the fit-out system need to be
organized too. Modular grids are commonly used to locate the position of columns, walls, floors
and other parts of buildings. Such locations can be subject to agreements and rules. SAR proposed
the establishment of position rules for the placement of parts. To do so we suggested a grid of
alternating narrow and wide bands. The advantage of such band grids is that they allow for easier
and more varied position rules compared to single line grids. The position rules we suggested
were such that elements of the fit-out system would always meet the base building in the narrow
bands of the grid. This constrained the margin of interface to a technically feasible range while
leaving free each party to dimension its own.
4.4. Zones
Positioning objects in space is of prime importance for all environmental designing and it
is once again surprising how little it is discussed in practice if at all, and how underdeveloped our
ways of handling grids are in general. In our research we also made a link between positioning
and the question of capacity. We found that variations of floor plans in a given context are seldom
random, because culture is not random. People seldom will choose, for instance, to make a
bedroom without a window, while bathrooms and kitchens, on the other hand, are often placed in
the middle of a building. This led us to the concept of zones, whereby zones behind facades and
those internal could be distinguished. We also defined zones for public and private use as well as
for inside or outside use. Zones allowed us to equate a base building floor with a particular zoning
distribution and this, in turn, indicated where certain functions of the dwelling might be located.
We found that each dwelling type had its own characteristic zone distribution. With the help of
such zonings and assumptions for positioning of functions, it would be possible to quickly
generate a series of possible 'basic variants' that gave a good idea of the capacity of the base
building for holding dwellings within the assumed values. With zones mediating between the two
levels of intervention, it was possible to efficiently evaluate the relation between floor plan values
and base building capacity and to tinker with either the values or the base building to arrive at a
desired solution.
In a later stage we used the concept of zoning also in urban design. Here the zones
indicated areas to be built or to be left open and capacity of an urban design to hold certain
architectural solutions could be studied by varying either the urban design or the assumed building
typology.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Donald Schon has argued, that each profession, the medical doctor, as much as the
engineer, the lawyer, and the architect, must have a certain artistry to be a good professional.
(Schon 1987.) The architect need not be reminded of that. Nonetheless, if creativity is an essential
ingredient for all professional expertise, it is, by itself, not enough to define a profession's
expertise. A profession needs to have a specific domain of knowledge to be identified by. It also
must have the specific skills needed to intervene successfully in that domain. For the contemporary
architect that domain is everyday environment in its full complexity.
I have mentioned two large areas of inquiry that relate exactly to these two conditions for
true professionalism: one having to do with design methodology, the other with our knowledge of
environmental form. The study and development of methods pertains to the design skills we need
to do our bit in a larger field of interventions. The study of environment as an autonomous and
living organism following its own laws, must provide us the knowledge base on which our design
acts must rest. The two together suggest a domain of knowledge and skills particular to the
architectural design profession.
I have tried to show that research along the lines of the Open Building approach is relevant
for the architectural profession at large. With the appropriate skills and knowledge our profession
will be better equipped for the reality of the large project and the increasing distribution of design
control in contemporary practice. More importantly, it can contribute greatly to the creation of
urban fabric of a fine grained quality which is compatible with the large project, making it more
resilient to change and more responsive to human life.
We are, of course, only scratching the surface of what is to be done. The field is wide
open. We find ourselves an entirely new, and truly architectural research agenda
REFERENCES
Kendall. S., and J. Teicher. 1999. Residential Open Building, London and New York: E.&F.N.
Spon.
Schon, D.A., 1987. Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Utida.Y, and K. Tatsumi, S. Chicazumi, S. Fukao, M. Takada . 1994. Next21, Special issue of SD
(Space Design) No.25. Tokyo: Kajima Institute Publshing.
Van der Werf. F, with H-P Froyen. 1980. Molenvliet Wi1gendonk:Experirnental Housing Project,
Papendrecht, the Netherlands. In: Haward Architectural Review 1, 161-169. Cambridge, MA,
The MIT press.
Open Building in Knowledge Based Economy
Tomonari YASHIRO
Institute oflndustrial Science
Universi@of Tokyo
1. INTRODUCTION
Infill
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- e
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Conventional construction industry
Building
Occupants
Owner
h
Knowledge I Know-how I System
1
Building
Service Provider
Customer
Owner
a
By-products IEnvironmental Impacts
By-products I Environmental impacts
For service provider, building is a device for supplying services. It does not matter for
customers whether the devices are brand new buildings or existing buildings, if the quality of
supplied services is acceptable compared with price. For service provider, the quantity of resource
input to building is a cost for supplying services. Thus, less resource input to devices of services
could bring larger profit to service provider. Business model of service provider has potential to
promote dematerialization of building related economic activities.
The transition from product provider to service provider is revolutionary change in
building industry. Revolution needs driving force. Different from political revolution, the most
effective driving force for industrial revolution is real examples that are successful enough to give
impacts on holistic range of economic entities including fabricators, retailers, professions,
investors, governmental agencies and citizens. This is the motivation why the authors initiated the
new business model development project in domestic industrial contexts.
Manufacturer Traderj
Production
Disposal
,n
Su~ply$ Inverse su~plychain bv Leasinq 8 Rentin
Residents
Re-collection
Figure4 Diagram o f material flow of conventional supply chain and inverse supply chain
by leasing business model
Figure5 Dzagrarn oj re-assembling of leased components
spc
Provision of Packaqed Design professions
Service 4
Construction
Design1 lnstallationl Leasing management
Construction Management
Maintenance IMonitoring 4 Maintenance
Contractual management
customer
Core source of added value in leasing business is good quality infill components as well as
integrated and coordinated finance, information, design and management. Here 'all-in-one' is
significant criteria for better customers' satisfaction, while very few firms and organization can
involve whole range of required resources to all-in-one service. The model of alliance organization
emerges where a kind of SPC (Special Purpose Company) stands on the center of alliance. For
customer, SPC is a single responsible body in terms design of infill, delivery and installation of
'devices', maintenance and upgrading (if requested) and so on, while SPC outsource necessary
resources from circles of alliance of firms, organizations, investors, and professions. Core function
of SPC is integration and coordination.
Leased
lnfill Components
The demonstration is giving impacts on not only coventional building sectors, but on local
authorities, urban designers, policy makers, investors and banking facilities, building owners and
general public, because the stakeholders feel the following potential of the approach;
building which is less attractive for conventional investors can be regenerated using
project finance approach because the new business model is a enabler to separate
fainancial stakeholders of infill and those of base building
the space generated by new business model can be flexible and adaptable to changing
requirements that reduce the risk for various stakeholders over time
new business model could be the facilitator of mix-used compact urban district that
enhance sustainable community by which various fusion of knowledge and creation of
something could be genarated because of incresing opportunity of meeting different
people.
5. CONCLUDING COMMENTS
The development of new business model with the concept of 'service provider' are now
becoming industrial deriving force to realize the potential of open building approach in the context
of the shift from product based economy to knowledge based economy.
If the benefit of open building approach with new emerging business model could be
demonstrated, various stakeholders could have clear understanding what open building approach
could realize and what should be done to enhance the potential in local contexts. There have been
number of 'chicken and eggs' debates in terms of dissemination of open building approach such as
'legal barriers constrains dissemination'. However, the research project illustrated in the paper
suggests that the demonstration of benefit of open building generate holistic and concurrent
approach by inducing various stakeholders beyond the trap of 'chicken and egg'. The development
of new business model based on new industrial paradigms is the possible driving force for creating
next generation of open building approach in knowledge based economy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The research project presented in the paper is support by 'Subsidy to innovative
technology development' from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology, Japanese government.
REFERENCES
P. Hawken, et.al., 2000, Natural Capitalism: Creating the next industrial evolution, Little, Brown and
Company
Lifset, R., 2000, Moving from Product to services, Journal of lndustrial Eclology, Vo.4 no. 1, pp 1-pp2
Ryan, C., 2000, Dematerializing Consumption through Service Substitution is a Design Challenge,
Journal of Industrial Eclology, Vo.4 no. 1, pp3-pp6
Yashiro, T., 2000. From product provider to service provider - Relevant industrial change for
sustainable building implementation f international conference sustainable building 2000, 22-25
October 2000, Maastricht, The Netherlands, Aeneas Technical publishers (ISBN: 90-75365-36-5),
pp79-8 1
Yashiro, T. and Murata, T., 200 1. "Life Cycle Value Index" for Industry Ecology in Housing. Proc. of
Second International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing
(EcoDesign 200 l), IEEE Computer Society, pp892-pp894
Yashiro, T and Nishimoto, K., 2002, Leasing of infill components - New business model development
for dematerialization of building related industry, Proc.of International Symposium of Sustainable
Building 2002, Oslo.
PANEL I: OPEN BUILDING DESIGN
Urban Housing in New Zealand: Designing for Flexibility in Medium Density 61-67
Housing
David TURNER
Versatile Space: The Trend to Multi-functional Space And Design Strategy 68-75
Haile LI
Preliminary research on the infill design for environmental performance: Case 96- 105
study on bathroom-unit products
Shih-Hung YANG, Tomonari YASHIRO, Kenji NISHIMOTO, and Yongii HAN
Open Building in Health Care Architecture: The Case of the I N 0 Project in Bern, 106-1 14
Switzerland
Stephen KENDALL
Typical Plan Types of Flexible Housing
Based on the Analysis of Variation Trends
Bora LEE and HyunSoo LEE
Department of Housing & Interior Design,
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
SooAm KIM
Building Standard and System Group, Building Research Division,
Korea Institute of Construction Technology
Abstract: This research aims at suggesting suitable plantypes for flexible housing based the
distinctive characteristics of the flexible aparttnent unit plans in Korea identified through the
diachronic analysis of the variation trends. This study performs space analysis using the Space
Syntax Model by quantifying the interrelationships among the spatial units each of which are
designed to satisfy specific needs of residents. In this paper, 256 flexible unit plans are
investigated to analyze the variation trends in flexible housing unit design. This study also
identifies typical plan types for flexible housing based on the generalized variation trends.
Keywords: Flexible unit planning, Variation trends, Space Syntax Model, Typical plan types
1. INTRODUCTION
Residential needs frequently change according to the occupants' life cycles and their
various life styles. However, standardized and mass-produced conventional housings are not
flexible enough to satisfy residents' such demands. One of the ways to satisfy dynamic residential
needs is to explore a flexible housing concept. Prefabrication may be considered for this purpose.
Constructing an entire house through prefabrication is ideal but it practically is not feasible
because of high construction cost and increased maintenance efforts. It is therefore necessary to
analyze unit plan variation trends to identify multiple resident's needs to adapt the spaces in a
house, accordingly. To identify more economical and rational residential unit plan variations, it is
indispensable to know the set of spaces needed to be frequently adapted by the residents.
The major goal of this research is to generalize the direction for the flexible floor planning
based on the adaptation tendency in contemporary Korean residential unit plans.
Significant numbers of cases are explored to analyze the trends in residential floor plan
variations. The flexible apartment housing units studied in this research are limited to the interior
spaces designed to be reorganized or the ones having at least more than one spatially controllable
area between a bedroom and the other. These spaces are normally constructed with bearing wall
structure, bearing wall plus column structure, beam and column structure, or flat slab structure for
the division, removal or shifting of spaces with non-bearing wall, sliding door, or furniture-type
wall. From the perspective of geographical distribution and construction year (the first year of
actual dwelling), the investigated flexible unit plans have been constructed or will be constructed
around Seoul metropolitan area during 1991 - 2005 period. Those housing units selected are
introducing various flexible floor-planning features. As a result, total 256 cases are collected for
the survey from various sources such as apartment floor plan brochures, catalogues, and web sites
of the leading Korean construction companies.
Flexible types, characteristics, and design trends are extracted from the collected cases
based on a group of selection criteria such as area, front bay number, and the year of construction.
As for area criterion, 60m1, 85m2, 102m2, 135m1, 165m2,and 180m2or more are considered. This
research compared and analyzed the integration values for both before and after the floor plan
variations along with the calculations of the frequencies and percentages of such variations. As a
consequence, this research was able to produce a set of generalized typical plan types insightful for
the flexible housing in the future.
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R-R
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Bedroom and Living room
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3.3. Relational Analysis of the Flexible Floor Types by Area and Bay
One of the characteristic features of the concurrent Korean residential unit plans is that
there is a preferred typical unit proportion which usually is a rectangular form whose width is
wider than its depth. The reason for this is that the construction companies focus on specific floor
plans to attract customers by providing unique apartment units which have many bays (the number
of bedrooms or living rooms adjacent to the front balcony) because more bays suggests better view
and more daylight from outside. Hence, the preference profile shown by the frequencies for the
different number of rooms close to front bay is more distinctive than that differentiated by the area
since the major way of performing flexible planning is to transform the rooms adjacent to the front
bay in most flexible apartment housing projects investigated (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Flexible Unit Planning Distributions Based on Area (le3) and Front Bay (right)
Frequency analysis of the flexible spaces classified by the area shows that the variation
between a bedroom and a kitchen or the variation between a bedroom and a living room addresses
4 cases each and those cases appeared mostly as 60m2 type. 5 out of 7cases of 85m2 type are
coupled with the variation between a bedroom and a living room. Variations happen not just
between a bedroom and a living room; they are also performed between a bedroom and a kitchen
and are implemented for the design of 3 bedrooms of 3LDK or for making a bedroom larger
among a living room, a kitchen, or a dinning room of 2LDK.
The variation that happens between a bedroom and a living room addresses 34 (61.8%) out
of 55 cases of 102m2 type and the variation between a bedroom and another bedroom is
represented in 14 cases. As the size of the bedroom adjacent to front area decreases due to a
limited front area in 4 LDK, the choice of variation among 4 LDK, a large living room and 3 LDK,
or a large bedroom and 3 LDK is occurred.
Each of R, L type and R, R type takes 33 out of 94 cases in 135m2category; R, R, L type
takes 21 cases; R, R type takes 31 cases (43.7%); R, L type takes 24 cases; R, R, L type takes 6
among 71 cases that are classified as 1651-11' type; R, R type and R, L type take 7 among 17 cases
of over 180m2type.
For the floor unit plan having more than 135m2, it is important to make a large living
room, however, it seems that the bedroom size is important matter ensuring more than 3 bedrooms.
In general, as the area increases, the variation between a kitchen and a bedroom, the variation
between a living room and the bedroom adjacent to the living room, and then the variation
between a bedroom and an adjacent bedroom appear. It is found that the variation is directed to
primarily control the size of the bedroom (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Diagrammatized Flexible Unit Plan Types Based on Area
As for the relationship between flexible unit types and the number of bays, the flexible
planning between a bedroom and a living room generally happens in 3 bays, and the flexible
planning between a bedroom and the other bedrooms marks the maximum frequency in 4 bays.
There is also a variation among bedrooms and a living room in 4 bays (Figure 4).
Variation between
I ! a-;
LMI
public spaces
[(spaces after integration offlexible unit plan - spaces before integration offlexible unit plan)]
XIOO%
As a space changes in flexible apartment unit guided by the formula described above, the
results of integration values calculated for various flexible floor plans can be shown as Figure 6. In
this figure, R-L-FUR-K indicates that the plan has variations among front side bedroom, living
room, and another bedroom plus the variations between rear side bedroom and kitchen. R-L-R/RK
is the same as R-L-FUR-K except the one unified space created through removing a non-bearing
wall between the bedroom and the kitchen, RK. In this representation, slash (I) signifies the
division of a variation case.
As for the apartment units that modify interior partitions, the integration value generally
decreases by removing partitions, namely, the residents' approaches to each room or space become
easy.
As for the flexible planning characterized by the variation between bedroom and living
room which has emerged since 1991, integration value difference is about 5% for most variations
between bedroom and living room.
However, as time passes, the partitions among bedroom, living room, and another
bedroom were disappearing to enlarge living room and the partition between kitchen and the
bedroom next to the kitchen was removed for making the kitchen bigger in type RLRIRK. With
this trend, the maximum integration value difference became 20% in flexible unit planning and it
has continuously increased until now. As for the relationship between front bay and integration
value, front bay makes integration value difference increased.
Similar to the relationship between front bay and flexible space examined above, the more
the number of variable bay increases, the more flexible unit planning methods become. Thus, the
integration value differences get large.
Generally, integration value has difference based on the number and the types of spaces
such as private or public flexible spaces. In other words, the number and type of a flexible space
control integration.
Figure 6 Changes in Global Integration Value
As the ways of making flexible plans and the number of spaces that come from such
operations increase, it became possible to experience various spatial cognitions even within
restricted housing units. At the same time, there has been little change for the integration value
differences throughout time dimension while such differences are obvious depending on the
changes in flexible unit plan types and the front bay.
I n mmm
'. ,
As one of the outcomes of this research, the characteristics of Korean flexible apartment
housing can be described that it is a generally tendency to change interior walls to achieve unit
plan variation(s) while maintaining the overall shape of existing apartment unit.
It turned out to be that a strong conceptual background for systematic flexible unit
planning does not exist. There also is little attention to the un-varied (fixed) spaces. Generally, unit
variation is presented as optional space layouts when occupants move into a new apartment house
but that cannot fully accommodate the changes and the varieties of life during the entire occupancy
period.
1. Based on the survey, 14 types of flexible spaces can be suggested.
2. Based on the frequency analysis, the migration of variation types for the surveyed
flexible floor plans can be categorized into the variation from R, L type to R, R type and
that from R, R type to R, R, L type.
3. Flexible planning types have a definite configuration in relation with front bay rather
than area.
4. Since 2000, diversified types of variable floor plan systems have emerged and they have
been developed as complex types which are connected to the back and front of a unit
plan. Among these various flexible unit plans and diversified types of spatial
organization, the mainstream are the types that have been conceived and evolved from
the flexible unit planning operated between private and public spaces such as bedroom
and living room.
5. The change of Space Syntax value caused by variable planning shows an increase. As
for the tendency of variable planning based on Space Syntax, the integration value was
changed by about 5% in the early of 1990 and recently the maximum of the change
value for <R, L, FUR, K> type is about 20%.
Based on the result, to correspond to the need for resource saving and to provide various
spatial cognitions with residents, a typical flexible plan type tends to have:
For example, in <R, L, FUR, K> type, the number of spaces affected by the variation,
placed with non-bearing wall, is two, the variation is the type between private space (bedroom)
and public space (living room and kitchen) and the global integration value is the highest of all
variation types. Therefore, this type makes it possible to recognize more diversified spatial
cognitions than others. Namely, this type could be more desirable to design a flexible unit plan
than others in the future.
The research result presents both stimulating and useful information applicable to the other
flexible housing unit plan design and construction. We believe the quantitative analysis using
Space Syntax Model is also insightful to offer a set of numerical data for the development of better
flexible housing unit plans.
REFERENCES
HyunSoo LEE. 1996. Design Principles for Flexible House Plan Corresponding to Resource
Saving, The Korean Housing Association. Vol. 1.
SooAm KIM. 1992. A Study on the Architectural Planning of the Flexible Unit Plan in Apartment
Housing, ph. D. Thesis: Hanyang Univ.
Bora LEE. 2002. A Study on the Flexible Unit Planning according to the Family Life-cycle in
Apartment Housing, Master's Thesis: Chonbuk National Univ.
Abstract: The capacity design methodology for the built environment relies on two important
concepts: the separation of support and infill; and the use of levels. Unit analysis is to explore
the valid arrangements and dimensions of units. According to the methodology, it is the tool
to find the probable form of infill. These units could be filled in a support structure, which is
the spatial form derived from a specific type. For example, in building plan level, the units
could be bedroom, kitchen, living room, and courtyard of the 'San-Ho-Yuan' type, one kind of
the Chinese traditional vernacular houses. In urban tissue level, the units may include row
houses, detached houses, apartment, green, and access to the house. Capacity design method
explores the variations of a type with the flexibility of infill and support. These analytic
operations define the core of a method-specific design assistant: a CAAD system in which the
methodology is embedded into its design process. Each analysis comprises several operations
that depend on the specific content at each level. As the first step toward building this
method-specific CAAD system, the data structure for a generic unit analysis that is applicable
at the different environmental levels will be proposed.
1. INTRODUCTION
The capacity design methodology for the built environment relies on two important
concepts:
The separation of support and infill; and
The use of levels.
The concepts are taken from Open Building, a design theory and method developed in
Holland in the early 1960s. Originally known as the SAR methodology, it is characterized as being
a rigorous way of dealing with the issues of design flexibility and design variations.
A central problem in spatial design is one of determining the capacity of a proposed
structure to accommodate its lower level configurations, for example, the relationships between a
room and its hmiture; a house and its rooms; a block and the houses that constitute the block, and
so on. As a disciplined way of exploring this problem, a capacity methodology has been developed
in which is defined a set of unified analyses that are generally applicable to design at all physical
levels.
These include:
(1) Type analysis specifies the common spatial feature of a specific built form and provides the
knowledge base for the methodology. It defines the design domains when applying the
specific method. Type refers to the spatial form rather than the functionality. Thus, the
Chinese traditional vernacular house, 'San-Ho-Yuan', is a type at the building plan level;
I 1ir I);I~;I Sfr~~rtrlrr
of I nil anal;,\h for ( apttcil;, I)cb\igr~ \Icrhodolog\
equally, the Islamic urban fabric is a type at the urban tissue level. For our environmental
design system, type analysis is the first step for the following analyses.
(2) Unit analysis explores valid arrangements and dimensions of a specific form for the type
chosen.
(3) Zoning and sector analyses perform studies for a series of proposed lengths and widths in
accommodating different unit layouts.
(4) Structure analysis examines valid locations of structural elements for floor plan variations.
(5) Facility analysis tests the capacity of the structure with respect to the layout of the supply
systems.
These six analytic operations define the core of a method-specific design assistant: a
CAAD system in which the methodology is embedded into its design process. Table 1 shows the
relations between the six operations and the concepts of support and infill. Each analysis
comprises several operations that depend on the specific content at each level. As the first step
toward building this method-specific CAAD system, operations for a generic unit analysis that is
applicable at the different environmental levels will be proposed.
2. TYPE
The idea of type in capacity design methodology includes three viewpoints (Wang et al.
200 1 ):
(1) Type is a cultural product, a result of social agreements, which reflect collective values.
For example, a house form should support family ethics as well as activities of local
economy.
(2) Type is a spatial structure. For example, there are space units, like living room, kitchen,
bedrooms, and courtyard in one type of house, which are arranged by specific spatial
relations that give the structure to the building type.
(3) The third point sees type as an image characterized by some features shared by the instance
buildings of the type. Type is about commonality, not individuality.
The observations of type define the infill units and the support structures, which are the ground to
explore the potential configuration for flexibility by the methodology (Figure 1).
From the object viewpoint, a type is composed of one of more units, and support (Figure 2).
Likewise, a unit is one of the arrangements of elements that are developed according to the
scenario which establishing the spatial relations.
I Ilt. 1)al:l Strecturc of I nit \i\ li)r ( i ~ p a ~ i ll) jo # i g ~\let
;III:I~> i hodology
I Level
I+
Building Plansl-l
Urban Tissue.. . Representing in Type Capacity Design Variations of Type
Level
drawlnfill( )
, I..' I
Unit
Level
-------- Type is composed of one of more units,
and support (not shown). And, the unit is
one of the arrangements of elements that
are developed according to the scenario.
4
t Element
Level Predicate
The aggregation of units makes up the infill. For instance, in building plan level, the units
could be bedroom, kitchen, living room, and courtyard of the 'San-Ho-Yuan' type, one kind of the
Chinese traditional vernacular houses. The purpose of unit analysis is to find the valid dimensions
of infill of a specific type. Similarly, the unit consists of several elements and the spatial relations
between them. For example, in building level, the bedroom is one of the units. In the bedroom,
there are several articles of furniture, which are arranged by spatial relations, like 'nearby',
'opposite to', and 'adjacent', etc. Such relations are derived from functional requirements of the
space unit. Therefore, the selected elements with corresponding relations will decide the
dimensions of the unit.
3.1. Element Identification
The first step of unit analysis is element identification. The elements could be physical
objects, like furniture, as well as space, like Public Park. In building elevation level, the elements
include even the reference lines relating to human body scale for fenestration. We use an element
table of the unit to store the information which including the dimensions and an indicator to the
drawing file (Figure 3).
KI Predicate
bed closet ........
66
I Constraint Relation
I
I
adjacent
have to
There are one or more predicates in a scenario. b might
neutral
opposite
Predicate: {element (n) .. element (n), constrain, relation} avoid
overlap
the (n) indicates the amount of the element align
elements
element element
(building)
0
(building)
0
(building)
un~t.bedroom I
, T31 I I1 -
elements:
Q -- --
r-,) -
- -
&I I I I
0 I -0 I > L' 0
-
(unit)
var-I var-2 ........
r L-
link to the drawing file
files
,--'
/ Variation
send the variation data to table
generate layout
do1getElement /or search & fetch
. getscenarlo
makevariations
A
Scenario
table of elements in one unit
-
elem-1 elern-2 ........
k Id -
--
Predicate
spec-1
-
I
(element)
spec-n
Drawing
I
The table of variations of one unit will be established to store the valid dimensions, which
were produced at the previous stage (Figure 6).
I h t ~I1;it:r Slractlrrr of Itnit :r~i:tl?sisfor ( apacit? 1)csigli \lclt~odolog?
After finishing the analysis of every unit, the information will be put into a table of units
of one type. The tables that were created during the analytic operations are used to be the working
buffers to keep the unit objects and the drawing files being generic.
4. CONCLUSION
As the first step toward building the method-specific CAAD system, a design assistant,
this research aims at the data structure of infill for different environmental levels. In order to
construct a helpful assistant that knows the design operations of the specific methodology, the
following three major missions need the further discussions in detail.
(1) To build a designer friendly interface, the state machine models which model the
behavioral of a system in response to internal or external events should be considered
from the designer's viewpoints rather than the automation of system.
(2) The data structure of support, which includes the spatial form, i.e. zone and sector, as
well as physical objects is the other decisive character of this design methodology for
testing the capacity.
(3) The ways to modify or alter the parameters and assignments of the system by the
designer's decisions are important as well as to develop a set of generic algorithms for
different environmental levels.
REFERENCES
Habraken, 1V. J. 1971. Supports: An Alternative to Mass Housing, London, England: The
Architectural Press.
Habraken, N. J. 1998. The Structure of the Ordinary, Cambridge, United States: The MIT Press
Wang, M.H. 1991. The Design of an Expert Assistant to the Capacity Design Methodology,
Proceedings of the IV-ICCCBE '91 Conference, Tokyo
Wang, M.H. 1993. Capacit~,Design: Theory and Methods, Tainan, Taiwan: The HD Press.
(Chinese)
Wang, M.H. et al. 2001. Factor), Villa: The Emergence of A Type, Taipei, Taiwan: The Garden
City Publishing Ltd.
Urban Housing in New Zealand:
Designing for Flexibility in Medium Density Housing
David TURNER
School o f Architecture
Unitec Institute of Technology Auckland New Zealand
Abstract: New Zealand, and the city of Auckland in particular, are experiencing a wave of
medium density housing. This is encouraged by regional planning strategies to increase urban
densities in traditionally low density areas, in response to recent and predicted rates of
population growth. The response to the demand for this housing form, it is argued, is
influenced in particular by the existing small scale construction industry in New Zealand, and
by the impact on designers of the 1992 Resource Management Act. Paradoxically, in cities
where social traditions are based on a low density suburban environment, characterised by
high levels of car ownership and poor local amenity provision, there also exists a relatively
high level of opportunity for 'customising' architecture. The paper argues that the latter is the
least recognised, and perhaps the most significant omission from the design brief for a typical
higher density development. After exploring the continuing relevance of housing research and
experience of developing mass housing in the Netherlands, the paper focuses on three
Auckland housing developments to illustrate the typically configurative and formalist
approach to architecture influencing these developments.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. The Context for new 'Mass' Housing in Auckland
Research in the field of urban housing, in particular regarding design criteria for higher
density urban housing is a relatively new discovery for the New Zealand building industry.
New Zealand has never had to face the task of re-housing an existing large urban
population, nor have we needed to re-order our cities to absorb mass immigration from a large
rural population.
Of the main urban centres, only Auckland has a population of more than one million
people. However, with recent high levels of growth in the city, mass housing has become an issue
that has begun to introduce architects, planning authorities and the construction industry to some
of the realities of designing and building houses in relatively large numbers. Population growth in
Auckland has averaged 2.5% per year for the last 25 years, a rate that is expected to continue, to
double the size of the city to approximately 2 million people during the next 40 years (Williams
1998). Auckland's growth rate exceeds that of New Zealand as a whole, and also exceeds growth
rates in all other urban centres.
The Auckland Regional Council has responded to predictions of continuing high growth
by adopting strategic policies that now limit peripheral development, primarily of housing, and
which require 70% of new housing to be located within the existing city boundary. The new
policies dictate higher densities generally in the city, to raise average net residential density in the
suburbs from 7 dwellings per hectare to about 12 - 15 dph. The proposals for parts of Auckland
identified as Strategic Growth Areas encourage developments at medium density, approximately
35 - 45 dph, and allow higher densities of up to 150 dph, at various node points and along
transportation routes throughout the connurbation.
Medium and higher density housing is defined in this context as 'mass housing' in the
sense that the client is anonymous, and housing in which designers and builders are dealing with
the 'architecture of large numbers'. At varying levels of density, urban housing is a well-
established typology in other countries, but it is a new and radically different proposition to most
NZ architects, and almost unknown to our building industry.
Housing research in Britain, together with the comprehensive critique following the
collapse of the Ronan Point tower in 1966 is also an important path to consider. In the UK, the
decline in state directed housing from about 1980 carries with it warnings in so far as the absence
of formal standards for design, and their replacement by an assumption of an "intelligent" market
place, has created a great divergence of design quality. The most recent evidence of variability in
housing design in the UK is found in the current report of the Commission for Architecture and the
Built Environment on the value of housing design and layout. (CABE 2003). We may also look to
Australia for models that have immediate relevance to our house building traditions, as well as our
climate, and the emergence of a post colonial suburban culture.
For the perception that the architecture of large numbers is, in the first place, a human and
theoretical problem, rather than a technical and functional one, the research initiated in Holland in
the 1960s needs to be considered in more detail.
Habraken's original proposition, from the publication of "Supports" through to the work
of the SAR in the 1980s can now be seen to embrace a more comprehensive idea of architecture in
the urban context. His belief, that "the problem (of housing) lies ... with the circumstances that
lead to architecture," and his conviction that housing "is not about form, but about the process that
leads to the act of dwelling", continues to have relevance in the Auckland process of change.
(Bosma 2000 p.105). When Habraken made this statement it is unlikely that problems of the
design of urban housing in a low density Australasian city were part of his thinking.
A medium density model that offers the opportunity to change, improve, enlarge or
reconfigure, and thus, to validate the act of dwelling is elusive. The Beaumont Quarter
development is a typical example of the new model for housing in Auckland. (Figure 1) The
architects are the Netherlands based Studio 333. The main contractor is not a house-building
company, and the project involves 78 houses and apartments at a density of 80 dph. in a central
city location. A second phase of the development, not yet scheduled for construction consists of a
further 80 dwellings.
This project is a combination of apartments, townhouses, and livelwork units with a small
allocation of commercial space (Figure 2) in a conventional spatial arrangement. Parking is partly
accommodated in an underground garage with 30% provided adjacent to houses. All units except 6
of the apartments are entered from the public street or footpath.
It is clear that the architecture is firmly fixed in modernist design of the early 20thC., with
minimal gestures towards traditions of domestic architecture in New Zealand (Figure 2). An
emphasis on security, seldom an issue in the suburbs, is also clear: this seems to be a statement of
reassurance to owners, as much as a deterrent to intruders. External spaces are fixed by the layout,
public space, and small but adequate private yards and patios. Neither buildings nor site layout
appear to offer the possibility of changing the configuration of the unit, which would, in any event,
also be opposed by the management of the development.
A second example is the redevelopment of industrial land at Ambrico Place, adjacent to
one of the suburban shopping centres at New Lynn, where approximately 400 houses have been
approved in 9 separate sub-divisions, the largest of which is 80 townhouses on the south-east
comer of the site. (Figure 3). This part of the development was completed in 2000, has a net
residential density of 37 dph, some public open space, a footpath system arranged with the
roadways, and a majority of two storey units with an extra floor at strategic points of the layout.
Parking is immediately adjacent to the house entry in all cases. All sub-divisions on this site are
designed to the same density including two smaller projects (Figure 4) by different developers. As
in the case of the first scheme illustrated, and despite taking account of lower density in this
development, neither site planning nor unit designs provide significant or planned opportunity for
alterations, partly because the conceptual design imposes a finite identity on each part of the sub-
division.
The third development at Caspian Close. New Lynn, built in 1995, consists of 36 identical
3 bed-roomed units built around a small cul de sac close to the town centre (Figure 5). All houses
are on separate sites, similar to an ordinary suburban layout, but at a density of 33 dph. the
development qualifies as medium density at the lower end of the scale. The development has no
management body. The houses (Figure 6) are reminiscent of the simple cabins of early
settlements, and also resemble the Levittown developments in the USA. In a conventional
critique, there will be questions relating to many issues of design, including the principles of the
site layout, 'front' door positions, and the formal qualities of architecture regarded as necessary for
urban housing.
For these reasons this project does not meet the medium density housing advisory
standards of the City Planning Department, but it holds self-evident promise of improvements by
the owners themselves (Figure 7). An extension on the public side of the unit in this image is
already under construction, and other modifications are observed in the replacement of doors,
additions of fences, and enclosure of some car ports. The development appears to provide a
framework for change; it is in fact conspicuously devoid of 'architecture' and without changes
imported by the occupants it will continue to be so.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Medium density housing will be normalised as a housing choice amongst Auckland's next
one million citizens, as a result of planning strategies already in place. The research process has a
significant role in the analysis and commentary on the developing body of experience gained from
the first manifestations of higher density housing design. Invited to comment on the tenant's
modifications to his first large scale housing project at Pessac, Le Corbusier admitted that "it is
always life that is right and the architect who is wrong." (Boudon, 1972). The tradition of
incremental renewal, which is identified above as an established and vital force in New Zealand's
housing culture, is not only a function of the opportunity afforded by timber construction, low
density, and a benign climate, but is based on the desire to participate in the act of dwelling.
The architect's neutral role in the ordinary architecture of urban housing, clarified by the
work of Habraken and the SAR, will be to provide the framework that does not anticipate, and the
critique that does not condemn. Further research in this field will attempt to define such a
framework related to density and construction systems, and also examine alternative management
process in order to develop an open system for New Zealand cities.
REFERENCES
Abstract: This paper introduces the idea of versatile space to respond the rapid change of social
and economical circumstances in high-density urban areas. The origins of versatile space are
illuminated. And the measures to facilitate versatile space are reached by analyzing the factors
involved in the function-space relation.
1. INTRODUCTION
With the rapid change of social and economical circumstances in high-density urban areas,
the requirements of urban and building space are changed quickly. In their life spans, the urban
and building structures must accommodate change and adjustment, and be prepared for conversion
into different functions without rebuilding the structure because of the limited space resources and
high cost. Thus versatile space has its role to make a solution.
2. VERSATILE SPACE
3.2. Commercialization
The development of architecture is always affected by economic factors. As the fast
change of the market, it becomes very difficult to predict the requirement of the potential user for a
space. Buildings that designed as commodities have to respond to the change simultaneously.
That's where versatile space is needed.
3.3. Digitization
In the digitized society, cities based on information technology are no longer constrained
by forms, and cities might develop towards low rise and dispersed structure. Because of the fast
and convenient information transportation, some functions used to require a large space are
dispersed, which makes the space be able to accommodate various dispersed functions. Banks,
used to occupy prominent buildings in the city, are changed into ATMs on the streets. The process
of digitization eliminates space and time, and makes function more adaptable. Versatile space is
becoming possible.
4.1. Adaptability
Adaptability is the potential of a system to harmonize with the environment. The
adaptability of a space is the potential to change or adjust the elements constructing the space to
respond the changing environment.
Unitary space could not accommodate new functions by maintaining its own characters,
and it could not provide the possibility to change or adjust some part of it. A unitary space loses its
value when hnction changes.
Versatile space, which is more adaptable than unitary space, could accommodate new
functions with or without changing.
4.3. Communication
Modernism emphasizes function zoning. The communication between functions is
inconvenient as different functions occurred in different spaces. Versatile space contains different
functions, the communication between which is promoted.
In the open office with low partitions, employees from different sections work in the same
space, communication is more convenient than in conventional separated office rooms. The public
space in a community or in a building would be more attractive when the space is designed as a
versatile space, as various activities are facilitated.
4.4. Humanization
Rationalism, which promotes rationality while demotes contingency, is the rule western
architects followed all the way through Classicalism, Revivalism, Functionalism to Modernism.
But Rationalism regards human as machine and ignored the nature of humanbeings.
As versatile space could be occupied in various ways, the creation of human is largely
encouraged and people could make the space the way he likes. Versatile space makes it possible
for different functions occurring in the same space to encourage undesigned communication,
therefore make the space more vivid and interesting, more humanized, and more organic.
5. STRATEGIES
To analyze the factors of a space reacting with function could provide strategies to
facilitate the possibility of change. Function has certain relation with three factors of a space: size,
shape and quality (Peng Yigang 1983). And for the function occurs in a series of spaces, linkage
between them plays an important role.
5.1. Size
To contain certain function, a space requires a certain size. And to contain various
functions, the size of a space should be proper for all of the functions.
Versatile space contains functions requiring similar size. A proper size and the guidance of
versatile space design could be found out by listing the size each hnction requiring. Take an
ordinary apartment for example, a room with the size of 15-200 is not only proper to be a living-
room but also a master bedroom. So, this room has the character of a versatile space. The size of a
space in a residential area facilitating activities of both old people for practicing Taiji and children
for playing also makes the space versatile.
The spaces mentioned above don't require size change to contain different functions.
Sometimes the size of a space might need to be changed to do so. Smaller office rooms could be
shaped by adding some partitions to an open office. And in an apartment, two smaller bedrooms
could be formed by adding a wall in the middle of a specially designed bigger one.
5.2. Shape
A space also needs to have some certain shape to contain certain function. Ancient Greek
theatres are fan-shaped, ancient Roman arenas are elliptic, and the rooms for practicing musical
instruments in a school are trapeziform.
Versatile space could satisfy functions requiring similar shapes without changing itself. A
mezzo shape should be chosen to make a space versatile. The hall in a cinema or a theatre requires
similar shape. But it's still different because of their visual an auditory characters: cinema hall is
longer while theatre hall wider. If a hall in a community center is expected to be both a cinema and
a theatre, a mezzo long-and-wide proportion should be chosen to make the space versatile.
Versatile space also could change its shape to contain different functions. The request for
shape both before and after change should be considered in the design process. There is still an
example in office building. The wall between two office rooms is movable. With the wall, the
shapes of the two rooms are proper for official business. Without the wall, the shape of the united
room is suitable for a long table to make a meeting room.
5.3. Quality
Quality is another important factor of space-function relation. The quality of a space
concerns lighting, ventilation, sunshine, temperature and so on.
Versatile space contains functions requiring similar space qualities. For functions of office
business, dwelling, dining and so on, if the quality of a space is proper for one of them, it's
suitable for the others.
Versatile space could also change some of its qualities to content different functions. A
bedroom and a living room may have different request for natural light. To make a room versatile,
the outer wall could be designed to be able to adjust natural light.
5.4. Linkage
Some function occurs in a single space, while some needs a series of spaces. Different
function may require different linkage of the spaces. Versatile space could accommodate different
functions by changing the linkage of a series of spaces. There are different ways to partition a big
building plan: partitioning the plan into closed rooms connecting by a corridor for office business,
or partitioning the plan into a series of rooms connecting one by one for exhibition. As the linkage
is different, the function is different. To provide the possibility of linkage change is the way to
make a space versatile.
6. MEASURES
6.1. Neutralization
Neutralization means a space is designed for some different functions not a particular one.
Neutralised space could contain any one of the considered functions without any change. The size,
shape, quality and linkage of space all could be designed neutralised. By analyzing the considered
functions, a table could be formed to choose proper parameters to be the design guidance. Take a
space in an office building for instance, the functions considered include formal meeting for 10
persons, offering the employees lunch and coffee space, resting and communication. A table is
formed according to these functions. (Table 1)
Factors Formal Meeting for 10 Lunch and Coffee Space Resting and Communication
Size
Shape Rectangle No particular request No particular request
Quality Natural or artificial lighting Natural lighting and ventilation Natural lighting and ventilation
Nice outside view
Linkage Connecting to the public space Connecting to the public space Connecting to the public space
and the service room and the outdoor space
A design guidance for the space could be reached by analyzing the table: areal5 sq. m.,
net height 3m, rectangle, natural ventilation and lighting, connecting to the public space and
service room, with a nice view and access to the outdoor space.
6.2. Homogenization
Homogenization means in some particular range, the space has the same or similar
characters, facilitating the exchange of functions.
The spaces of traditional Chinese architecture are typical homogenized spaces. A room
supported by wood frame is the fundamental unit of traditional Chinese architecture. These
-
fundamental units make uu buildings of similar size and
shape, and courtyards of various sizes connect these
buildings together to make the urban fabric. Each room is a
similar rectangle space facing the courtyard. Only the
locality is different. Thus the room in traditional Chinese
building is not named after function but locality.
The domino system promoted by Le Corbusier
might be the beginning of modem homogenized space. The
spaces, formed by regular column matrix, have the similar
or same quality. It is possible to partition the space in
various ways.
If the domino system plan is big enough, the quality
of spaces inside would be different: the spaces near the
outer wall may have good quality of natural lighting and
ventilation, while the rest don't have that quality. The
concept of void would be useful to maintain a large plan
homogenized. To create void is to make some holes in a
large plan. Central Beheer designed by Herman Hertzberger
is a good example for void. The structure of the building is
formed by the main frame of 9mX9m and secondary frame
of stripes 3m by width. Courtyards are created within the
structure to make every point in the plan fell the nature. So
there are unnumbered possibilities to arrange functions.
Void also could be introduced to high-rise
buildings. T.R. Hamzah & Yeang make some aerial
Figure 2 Plan o f Central Beheer gardensin ecological high-rise building to facilitate the
access to nature in higher parts as the ground floor.
The spaces in high-rise building are also homogenized.
6.3. Multi-linkage
Multi-linkage refers that there are different ways to link the
spaces involved. Multi-linkage makes versatile space in two
situations: the linkage between spaces is changed to facilitate new
nA functions, or the space has convenient linkage to other spaces to
make easy access to encourage various activities.
To change the linkage, some physical change should be
made, but the change could be restricted in a small extend. Take a
room in an apartment for example. The small room between two
bigger ones could open doors on three of the walls. Open the door to
the bedroom, the small room turns into a walk-in closet; open to the
living room, a studio; and open to the corridor, a small bedroom.
The linkage to three spaces makes the small room a versatile space.
Conventional linkage to the other spaces makes a public
space versatile. Because of the conventional linkage to the other
parts of the building and the treads in it, the hall of Apollo School in
Amsterdam is very attractive for the children. The most important
one in the linkages is the access to nature. Sunshine and fresh air
encourage children's activities.
Figure 3 Multi-linkage o f a
room
7. CONCLUSION
The implications of versatile space are significant. Versatile space makes a solution to
design building and structure adaptable to respond the rapid change of social and economical
circumstances in high-density areas.
The theory of versatile space is originated from the doubt of some principles of
modernism, such as function-zoning and form follows ,function. And it is also originated from
commercialization and digitization. Commercialization requires timely changing of the spaces
according to the market, and digitization makes function more adaptable to the space.
Size, shape, quality and linkage are the basic factors involved in space-function relation.
Based on the analyses of the factors, measures to facilitate a versatile space emerge:
Neutralization, (A space is designed for some different functions not a particular one.)
Homogenization, (In some particular range, the space has the same or similar characters.)
Multi-linkage, (There are different ways to link the spaces involved.)
Hierarchical levels, (The levels of a structure is designed to work in a hierarchical way.)
REFERENCE
Stephen Kendall 2002 The Building and Fit-out: Principles for 21.'' Century Building
Maintenance and Management
http://www.bsu.edu/cap/programsfbfi/OpenBuilding/openbuilding.htm
Stephen Kendall 2002 An Open Building Industry: Making Agile Buildings That Achieve
Performance For Clients
http://www.bsu.edu/cap/programsfbfi/OpenBuilding/openbuilding.htm
On Housing Flexibility and Expandability:
A Combined Design and Construction System
Jin-Ho PARK and Jack SINDENER
School of Architecture
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Abstract: This paper focuses on housing flexibility and expandability in the generation of
housing design and variations, particularly in the work of Rudolph M. Schindler. His ideas
for modular planning and construction were developed during the depression of the 19301s,at
an appropriate time to help meet the needs for low-cost and adaptable shelter in the United
States. One of Schindler's un-built housing designs, the so-called Schindler Shelter, is
described as a prototype applicable to discussions today. Schindler's integrated design and
construction system is described for its role in the development of the Schindler Shelter. The
paper concludes with an interactive computer model, based upon the studies and analyses of
the Schindler Shelter, for flexible and expandable housing designs. The model may be unique
as a basis for offering a supplementary option in combination with existing network
capabilities, allowing homebuyers to change, modify, and manipulate the layout of preset
floor plans, in real-time on the Internet.
Keywords: housing flexibility, Schindler, panel-post construction, and user interface model
1. INTRODUCTION
The aim of both homebuilders and homebuyers has always been that of a balance between
mass-customization housing and individualized privately designed homes. To this end, architects
and homebuilders have sought to develop strategies and methodologies that allow minimal
prototypes to adapt to changing needs over time (Habraken 1976). There have been some fertile
periods in the United States when flexible and expandable housing designs were developed to
facilitate simple changes and additions to the original basic units. Such a time was depression-era
California.
One of the finest prototypes to come out of California, one of R.M. Schindler's un-built
housing units, is the so-called Schindler Shelter. This prototype is the subject of the discussion
below. The project is a prime example of flexibility and expandability, since it illustrates how a
variety of designs may be produced as an outcome of using a combined design and construction
system.
In 1933, Schindler advocated a housing system that involved into an integrated
construction system and systematic design strategies. For Schindler, compositional method and
construction systems are closely related: the compositional method is a vehicle to organize space
and space forms. The construction system is a technical support to realize the space form, "an
integral part of the conception of a building." Both functioned as indispensable components of his
'Space Architecture' throughout his lifelong practice. Schindler writes, "I have tried to experiment
always with new materials and techniques." The development of new construction methods was
essential for Schindler because conventional or standard construction systems were, at times, not
always suitable for the execution of the new concept of space architecture. Schindler was always
technically innovative, pushing methods of construction beyond conventional wisdom. These ideas
are clearly reflected in his housing design.
Schindler developed the Schindler Shelter project from 1933 to 1942 although it was never
built. The project was intended to provide urban dwellers with an opportunity to attain economic
security as well as comfortable suburban shelter within somewhat limited means. Schindler
presented a concept, which addressed flexibility of the floor plan, expandability for the changing
needs of a growing family, minimum maintenance, low cost, and new construction methods (Smith
2001). In the concept Schindler intended to demonstrate a variety of optimal space layouts and
multiple unit orientations, with the integration of both systematic composition and construction
techniques. Although the development of the project spanned more than ten years, and a series of
shelter plans underwent a variety of spatial transformations, they all share common compositional
principles and construction techniques. Schindler created four basic types of shelter plans for Shell
Construction [Fig. 11 and another four basic schemes using Panel Post Construction [Fig. 21.
*---;%
--- - ,4,i{f,>*,%
'la -1
Figure I The Schindler Shelter with the Shell Construction system, four diffrent prototypes, including 3, 4,
4% and 5 room tjpes.
Although the designs appear different, the two construction systems share fundamental
principles in floor plan organization. First, each unit is arranged with a central hall. The kitchen,
bathroom and laundry are grouped as a unit to concentrate the plumbing system into a single wall.
By grouping in this way, supply lines, waste branches and soil pipes are simple and short, so that
plumbing stack will be saved. This centralized plumbing system allows economic maintenance
access for cleaning and repairing. The laundry area is provided in an open porch, affording an
excellent means of open-air drying. The remaining rooms are distributed along closet partitions:
one for the living room and another two for bedrooms. The main entrance to the house is adjacent
to the living room. A door in the living room and child's room is made to be accessible to the
garden. Finally, the garage is a separate unit, which can be added to any side of the house. The
garage is large enough to serve as a workshop and storage room. Garage doorways can front the
street or side of the house, allowing different types of driveways. The rooftop of the garage
provides space for sunbathing.
Figure 2 The Schindler Shelter with the Panel Post Construction svstern, four different prototypes
Figure 3 R. M. Schindler, Partial section/component model of the Panel Post Construction System
80
3. JAVA APPLET HOUSING MODEL
The housing industry has begun to harness the benefits of information technology through
the numerous building industry manufacturers that maintain a web presence, the value of e-
commerce transacted on the web, and the amount of marketing dollars spent on the web. Web
marketing experts expect this number to grow rapidly as both sellers and buyers realize how much
detailed information is available to them online. The Internet becomes the place where
homebuyers first look to buy and sell their homes. Thus, e-commerce becomes an undeniable
current and future venue for the housing industry.
Although there has been phenomenal growth in commercial presence of the housing
industry on the Internet, exploitation of online user interactive housing design capabilities in the
housing industry is still in their infancy. Currently, therefore, we are developing a user interface
housing online model employing a Java Applet technology that allows users to modify and change
unit plans for their needs from a distance rather than manufacturers offering preset or fixed designs
on the Internet. It will also provide a new paradigm to directly contact to homebuilders and
customers. This process will also accelerate and improve the pre-construction design processes.
The Java applet is the graphical component of a user interface in a web browser. Basically,
a java-enabled model can be built on Java's applet technology that allows users to explore new
designs in the Web browser. It provides graphical user-oriented interface components for
displaying and interacting, designing with an object-oriented model loaded in the applet. The
following figure shows a snap shot of our implementation of a Java based interface for dynamic
retrieval of a set of housing design in plan.
4. CONCLUSIONS
R. M. Schindler's work in the early part of the 20th Century has been shown to have
applicability today, in the development of usable housing prototypes, which can demonstrate
flexibility and expandability. More than many such prototypes, his are comprehensive, containing
both design and construction methods in a unified manner, conscious always of achieving spatial
grace at modest cost.
The Schindler Shelter prototype, with its many variations, is particularly suited to the new
form of delivery of housing options to consumers, that of the Internet. In these studies, we have
introduced an interactive model system. This system is currently being developed as a 2D and 3D
interactive system where a 3D real-time model that is designed and displayed on the user's screen,
using real-time rather than a pre-built Java 3D model, is stored on the server. When the users'
designs and changes are completed in the 2D model, 3D Java models are automatically created on
the user's screen.
The data for making 3D housing prototypes have been carefully prepared in accordance
with the basic unit typology of Schindler and its variation capabilities. On the basis of the Java-
based interface floor plans, a user can retrieve a variety of the 3D models depending on how the
user manipulates the given data selection. In addition, the 2D and 3D models will be integrated
with a multitude of spatial referenced data, including materials, colors, texture, etc. Further
investigation will set up an information database that will provide all the detailed information and
options for the network user. The ongoing research also includes setting up information database
model where the net clients can transmit the entire inventory, the ordering, the shipping, the
payments, and so on. The 2D and 3D model will be integrated with a multitude of spatial
referenced data.
Schindler himself, part of a generation of California architects with European roots,
working in a city where romantic craftsman bungalows were often themselves built from
prefabricated kits bought from catalogues, would likely be pleased to find his work alive and
accessible to ordinary people in a new technological format.
REFERENCES
Goss, L. 1933. "The Garrett plastered House - A Frameless, Reinforced Unit," Progressive
Contractor, July 1933.
Habraken N.J. et al. 1976. Variations: The Systematic Design of Supports, Cambridge: The MIT
Laboratory of Architecture and Planning.
McCoy, E. 1960. Five California Architects, Reinhold Book Corporation, reprinted in 1987, Los
Angeles: Hennesey & Ingalls, Inc.
Samitz, A. 1988. R.M. Schindler, architect (1887-1953): a pupil of Otto Wagner, between
international style and space architecture, New York: Rizzoli.
Schindler, R.M. 1946. "Reference Frames in Space," Architect and Engineer, Vol. 165, pp. 10,40,
44-45.
Smith, E, et al. 2001. The Architecture of R.M. Schindler. Los Angeles: The Museum of
Contemporary Art.
Starr, K. 1996. Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California, New York: Oxford
University Press.
thc Slodificd Cruciform T'orrer Bloclt
L ) M c I I I I I ~ in Shenzliea: Re-ir~l~ahiting
Dwelling in Shenzhen:
Re-inhabiting the Modified Cruciform Tower Block
Abstract: The ubiquitous "new town" speculative cruciform tower block, proliferating
throughout south China, and specifically through the greater New Territories-Shenzhen
continuum, is often criticized for its inflexible organization and for lacking the tangible,
experiential qualities that humanize the densest parts of old Hong Kong and Kowloon. The
Dwelling in Shenzhen Project offers a micro-strategy for intervention and spatial re-
engagement within the specific type. The project acknowledges the economic and material
reality of speculative high-rise building while engaging traditions of craft, culture and place
making. It also acknowledges the societal embraces of high technology and fluctuating
narratives of home through material innovation and appliances of contemplation/convenience in
the vertical habitat of the tower.
This paper will discuss a project developed for two traveling executives,
multinational "floaters", living and working part time in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone of
the PRC as a base to conduct business in China. The Project addresses the migratory and
drifting nature of people and place in China, shifts conventions of social hierarchy in the
domestic realm, seeks means of inter-Asia economic exchange vis-a-vis construction and craft,
proposes a measured response and critique of banal development practices, maintains a
contemporary dialogue with traditions and cultural memory, and ultimately challenges the way
the region builds.
taller-density.
[Verticality Stats + Density Stats = Hybrid Stats for the Phenomenon of Taller-Density]
(Fig. I)
When a place of unsurpassed taller-density also hosts another critical situation - the
extreme of constant and dizzying economic-driven transformation and expansion - then the
prospects of this conference of "opening the building" and puncturing the box (which in Hong
Kong and Shenzhen's prolific residential cruciform tower is in fact 'life-in-a-box') might call for
approaches of diverse modes of immediate incision operating at a source which is refracted
everywhere in the atmosphere of airborne vertical urbanism. It calls for and excites the possibility
of the micro project, the small intervention, or the domestic inversion that slices through the
floating terrain of the cruciform box-unit to allow glimmers of light and beauty to radiate from the
spatial and phenomenal paradox of taller-density. And it evokes the challenge of making the taller-
dense city, like the dense city, more radiant and more irnrnediate.(Fig.2)
The cruciform high rise, a repetitive and extruded shape that might be induced to aspire
toward a new horizon on the terrain of urban parallax, is the predominant paradox within taller-
denseness that offers internal sites of vertical and horizontal incising not foreseen by its
developers. One such 'site' within the ubiquitous type is the vertical air passage used to fulfill code
requirements for basic ventilation of bathrooms, kitchens, and maid's rooms, and typically
decorated with a strangely beautiful tangle of plumbing lines and air conditioning equipment.
(Fig.22) It is a light well and a breezeway animated with clotheslines and the sounds and odors of
cooking. Usually seen as the unprivileged, utilitarian zone for second class citizens - housewives,
amahs, and maids - the service slot offers opportunities increasingly celebrated by a younger
generation of inhabitants who are opening up their living spaces and seeking dissolutions of the
formalities of Eastern modes of dwelling without the loss of cultural identity. Traditionally bleak,
isolated, and under-represented in the planning of the unit, this urban spatial incision can re-
emerge as fluid in-between space, weaving the internal private narrative of the unit to the shared
and deep infrastructural logic of the building site and community within, rendering the act of
dwelling in the taller-dense context more immediate, more experiential, and less alienating.
In this micro-project, our contribution to puncturing the box actually represents something
like halfofse~~eral millionth of the infinitely repetitive sites of the cruciform tower block dwelling
in the greater Hong Kong-Shenzhen region. In multiple clusters rising more than 50 stories, with
eight dwelling units on a floor, a single cruciform complex such as Park Central has a few
thousand of these micro-sites. Hong Kong and Shenzhen have millions and they are really all
exactly the same. The New Territorieslshenzhen continuum is something like the 2200-acre
underground fungus Armillaria ostoyae in Oregon, the largest known living thing." The fungus is
technically a clone, like the cruciform tower, extending from a single individual. Like the fungus,
the New Territorieslshenzhen continuum constitutes a single continuous site-organism. Few
people would ever notice the fungus organism. It is the same for the vertical sprawl continuum. It
escapes our notice because it spreads out and lacks the phenomenal immediacy and human scale of
more familiar forms of density.
This lack of continuity in Hong Kong and Shenzhen's new town Cartesian-urbanism
attracts criticism for lacking the more familiar kind of beauty of denser parts of old Hong Kong
and Kowloon. Density there is understood in itself as being beautiful, diverse, complex, intricate,
and immediate. Taller-density is not as obviously so. Abutments, connections, and layers of
multiple activities that render meaningful human associations are lacking. Millions of people live
together yet apart in a perceptually sparse-density. It has a kind of paradoxical congested
emptiness that is yet to be tapped.
Figure 1 : Measuring Vertical Density Figure 2; NPM'Territory - Spaces in-Between 6-v Author
by Author + JD Carling
2. CONTEXT: SPEC~LATI~N+PRCILIFERATION+PROPAGANDA
The relentlessly uniform housing context in Hong Kong over the last two decades has
evolved out of a tripartite combination of speculation on the cruciform tower economic model;
prolijeration of the cruciform typological model; and advertising propaganda relating to the
cruciform tower and podium-city lifestyle.
Border Billboards
Crossing the border to Shenzhen, the advertising stays the same, yet seriously changes its
significance in a very different condition of humanity on the Chinese side of the border. Pamphlets
handed out in the train station and billboards lining the river as you approach the SEZ (Fig. 6)
belie the realities instantly facing you on streets and inside buildings. In Shenzhen, the shiny new
cruciform tower block really is for the privileged few, it actually does provide, for the moment at
least, an oasis from the desperate life around it, and signifies in a very profound way a yearning for
not just material things but for vertical refuge from crime, congestion, sickness, and heat.
Figure 6: Property billboards on the Shenzhen side o f Lo Wu border-bridge
Yoho Irony
Back in Hong Kong there is an ambitious advertising campaign called Yoho (young home) Town
that takes desperate measures to convince a newly wary wave of home seekers that they are
actually getting a new lifestyle in the compendium habitat of the cruciform tower and the planned
podium city that it sits on. The ad campaign is all over Hong Kong, stamped on the tram, on the
Internet, and in brochures in trendy restaurants. The images are fun and style-conscious, telling
you that Yoho Town is totally different for Hong Kong, and will have you living in a fresh new
way. Flip to the site, building, and unit plans as well as the renderings and models of the
development and it is 100% status-quo compendium cruciform tower habitat.(Fig.7,8)
Figure 7: Yoho advertising campaign selling a new way of living. Figure 8: Yoho status quo
3. ORIGINS
When looked at in relation to east and west, an interesting history surrounds the perception
of the tower type. Although it doesn't lessen the overt fraudulence of the advertising or the fatigue
of the tower's repetition, it sheds light on how a fixed type can be vastly re-interpreted in different
cultures. Both criticize it for being compartmentalized and inflexible and for neglecting the
pedestrian ground plane. But in contrast with the United States, Hong Kong does not associate it
with stigmatizing social and economic status. Rather, these sprawling vertical monoliths are
representative of high standards of living and achievement. In the densely populated regions of
Hong Kong and Shenzhen, they also offer real solutions to environmental land use issues and
economies. Although criticized from beyond as homogenous vertical sprawl, they are also simply
called home by millions of people and offer them amenities, conveniences and access to light,
fresh air and very beautiful (although vertiginous and random) views. (Fig. 10)
Figure 9: 1960's housing of'the ground. Figure 10: Today housing qf the skv: vertiginous and random.
-
One such marooned Cartesian complex was Co-op City in the Bronx (Fig. 13) criticized for
being cold, dehumanizing and disassociated with life beyond its perimeter. In addition to its
infamy as a monomaniacal imposition of heartless rationalism, the isolated high-rise residential
compound is in general also widely held responsible for stigmatizing social status, crime, poverty,
~: the \loditicd ( ~-urit'o~-~n
l)\+clling in S t ~ c n t l t c ~lic-i~ihal)ilirrg I ct\\cr Illocli
and gangs in its application to large-scale low-income housing in the US. In the 1970's many were
found to be in a state of total cultural isolation and physical ruin. This could not be further from
the case in Hong Kong, where Le Corbusier's dream is in full bloom (minus the recent classical
decorative adjustments to roof and podium).
Even when they were developed in close proximity to vital urban centers, Cartesian tower
block complexes were found to be fundamentally flawed. The Riverside development, built on
reclaimed land in East Manhattan in 1974, is similar in many ways to high-rise residential
strategies in Hong Kong. A cluster of six modified Cartesian towers (a bit more like pinwheels in
form) "suffered from a spiritual and functional detachment from the adjacent cornm~nity"~'to an
extent that great river views and other attributes could not mend. (Fig. 14)
Things change, however, and one wonders if the fraudulence and the emptiness of the
Hong Kong high-rise cruciform tower block will now also catch up to the generations being raised
in it. A culture of huge negative equity in homes now anchors this generation, like never before, to
their property, and forces an opportunity to construct a sense of social belonging in a fractured
time."" And instead of seeing the egalitarian side of the type, we might also begin to ask the same
questions of it as we do of repetitive suburban sprawl in other parts of the world. In questioning
sprawl, Steven Holl asks, "is sprawl a spontaneous spreading of democracy or the political
accumulation of unprecedented ignorance?"""'
The voice among Hong Kong architecture students is mixed - sometimes complacent,
sometimes passionate about re-thinking modes of dwelling for the next generation. But rarely
does one see a project based on the type, unless it is a criticism or a transformation of it. Often
student proposals bear no association to the type or even to the high rise as a residential solution.
Instead they prefer to scrape the ground, intertwine in free form with infrastructure, recall the
human scale of gallery slabs and villages, or propose adaptations of industrial buildings.
Nonetheless, the fatigued form is far from being obsolete. It still serves necessities of economy,
land use and environmental efficiency. And while the time is ripe for housing innovation and
variation, there is also much 'room' (millions of' them, that is) for infiltrating multitudinous
existing units and investing them with lasting meaning for the generations of Chinese people that
will define home as a cloned module in a cloned tower set upon a planned podium landscape.
5. ANCHORING SHENZHEN
adrift. Most inhabitants of the chaotic and always desperate border-town are what Rem Koolhaas
callsfloating, "a migrant condition held by two-thirds of Shenzhen's population, who do not have
jobs, legal status, or homes in the SEZ.. .forming mobile reservoirs of flexible labor." '"
freedoms. It is this nothingness that the planners of the SEZ's seek today. Only the tabula rasa can
enable possibilities otherwise hindered by the traditional obligations of cities and architecture to be
stable. Conceived as a vast, ideological no-man's-land, the Zone establishes a disruptive presence
- a sudden enhancement of the cultural desert." (Mihai Craciun, 2001)""
6. DWELLING IN SHENZHEN
Shenzhen's multinational entrepreneurs, floaters, and temporary business class
deliberately seek out this fertile wasteland and it's business promises, buying and renting
residential units and adapting them to livelwork hybrids for their traveling staff and clients staying
intermittently in the SEZ. In the case of our project, the owners are part of the fibre-optic
technology division of Sumitomo, a multinational Japanese corporation. The Dwelling in Shenzhen
Project offers a strategy for "infiltrating the box", for intervention and re-development within such
buildings that acknowledges the simple economic and material reality of speculative high-rise
building while engaging traditions of craft, work culture and place making in the vertical habitat of
the tower.
The project described below also posits that anchoring need not be done in a way that
reconstitutes a lost past or another place's present. It can occur in a way that acknowledges
transnationality, migration, and "floating" as a meaningful, uncharted and tangible expression for
the domestic realm of the tower, and that finds iconic design alternatives through adaptable forms
1)wclling in S h c n ~ h r n :He-inhabiting thc \Iodified Crucifbrni I ' o ~ ~ cBlock
r
and inherent tall-density phenomena. The project offers three strategies - physical as well as
theoretical - for doing so: hosting innovation; adapting program; and infiltrating the box.
(Fig. 15,16,17)
Fig. 15: Site in Shenzhen, SEZ Fig. 16: Tower diagram bv author Fig. 1 7: Unit layout: Before/@er
6.1. Hosting Innovation through the Micro-project: Construction, Craft, and Detail
The project's approach to construction phasing builds on our design team's cross-cultural
familiarity with Indonesia and China to stimulate economic and artistic collaboration between two
types of construction industryx"': on the one hand, rich and deeply indigenous cottage industries in
local and not-so-local villages in Southeast Asia in need of modernization; on the other hand, a
fast-paced, dollar-driven efficiency in China that is rapidly losing concern for quality and artistry.
In the context of an incessant re-building and in the drive toward optimum speed and efficiency in
the cruciform itself, the notion of craft in the region has been sidelined. "Phenomenal architecture
calls for both the stone and the feather.""" The project proposes that new interior construction be
carried out in dual management modes that seek to rectify within the given type, the craft problem
that is inherent to its own evolution.
Preparing the concrete shell (The Stones) (Fig. 18) involves casting new concrete walls
and window plinths and carrying out the exacting task of chiseling reveals in preparation for
insertion of a kit of elements fabricated off-site in craft villages. The task seeks to qualify the shell
in its most essential and reductive form as a hollow, and thus re-opened, book of human
habitation.
Figzrre 20: Modified Unit Plan Figure 21: Concrete & mosaic tile jloor finish
6.3. Infiltrating the Box: Flexible Adaptations Between East and West
People are beginning to seek dissolutions of the formalities of Eastern modes of dwelling
without the loss of cultural identity. Through flexible interchanges of public and private, open and
closed, formal and informal, the unit's service spaces -traditionally bleak, isolated, and under-
represented in the planning of the unit -are attended to as fluid space, woven into the spatial
narrative of the unit. Entering immediately into the informal space of the living room, the previous
formal entry hall is eradicated, and a celebration of arrival is achieved instead with visual and axial
relationships through the dwelling. The previous live-in maid's quarters, relegated as usual to a
dark closet-sized storage space off the kitchen, and not necessary for live-work clients, is relocated
and re-programmed as a triangulated sleeping alcove with a suspended, fold-back bed that can
alternatively serve as a study space. (Fig.20)
The building's vertical service slot (Fig.22) offers opportunities not recognized by
developers, but increasingly celebrated by a new generation of inhabitants. The primary space of
interaction between neighbors within the tower block, this zone calls for vision and projection that
architecturalizes the boundary between the private and the collective.(Fig.23) Reaching out and
into this space gives a gift of dignity to the humble zones of a "luxury" development that shifts the
conventions of social hierarchy in the domestic realm, reconnects inhabitants to their neighbors,
and ultimately challenges the way buildings here are constructed.(Fig.24).
Interior space in the taller-dense context might aim to be less finite and isolated, acting
more as a seam between inside and outside; between sunrise and sunset; on the path of north
breeze; of an Internet connection to another place; or a collapsed, residual in-between territory on a
drive toward transparency. Windows oriented indiscriminately toward random views are part of
the inherently flawed insistence of the cruciform. Through new articulations of aperture
(constructed through tectonic, plug-in, occupiable window plinths) ill-considered views,
adjacencies, solar orientations, and ventilation are critiqued, addressed and re-qualified. The
detached condition of a dwelling, adrift in the airborne terrain of tall-density that gives up anchors
of the ground in exchange for light, air, and views, should not lead to diminished expectations for
tangible experiences of place and site. By dragging the natural environment in, no matter how
intangible at such altitude, and pushing the domestic environment outward, we hope to make an
elusive context of sky, color, vapor, and light, more phenomenal and more connected to vertical
living.
Fig.22: Light in the service slot. b.v author Fig.23: Relationships across slot Fig. 24: Zkebanaprojection.
The implications of working within a given type, previously understood as inflexible and
fixed, in order to transfigure the quality and meaning of life and connection to place in China, are
broad based and significant. We have approached this small intervention as a template to
understand a new kind of urban space with a mind toward theoretical design applications for
1)nelling in S h ~ n r b c n :He-inhabiting the \lodif'ietl <'rocilbrmT o ~ \ e rl % l o ~ l i
"opening up" one of the most prolific and inflexible buildings types. Every individual small-scale
design intervention meets resistance from clients and contractors. It is hoped that the
underpinnings of the project will be understood as having applications at comprehensive scales
and will lead to further investigations on the transformation of housing in the East.
REFERENCES
Coullinane, Sharon and Kevin. 2003. "City Profile Hong Kong". In Cities, vo1.20, No.4 2003. 279-
288. Great Britain: Pergamon.
Craciun, Mihai. 2001. "Ideology Shenzhen". In Haward Design School Project on the City: Great
Leap Forward. Koln: Taschen.
Durso, Lisa. 2000. "Largest Living Thing". Newhouse News Service, www.newhouse.com.
Koolhaas, Rem. 1994. Delirious New York. New York: Monacelli Press, Inc.
Koolhaas, Rem. 2001. Haward Design School Project on the City: Great Leap Forward. Koln:
Taschen.
O'Donnell, Mary Ann. 2001. "Becoming Hong Kong, Razing Baoan, Preserving Xin'an: an
Ethnographic Account of Urbanization in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone." In Cultural
Studies 15 (314). Taylor & Francis Ltd.
ENDNOTES
SWiMcau, Sanders Wang MacLeod intl consortium for architecture & urbanism.
"" Steven Holl, "The Stone and the Feather", Parallax, p252.
Preliminary rewarch on thc in fill de\ig~lfor tkn\iror~mrhntol
pcrfornl;lr~ce:C'aw stu(1~o n bathroom-
onit prodtrcts
Abstract: The contents of this paper is that we try to apply the 'Design for Environment'
(DfE) idea to a defined field of architecture in order to improve the resource efficiency for
better environmental performance. In this study, we select the bathroom-unit as subject,
whose manufacturing process is similar to that of the general manufacturing industries, and
conduct the following research.
At first, considering the features of components and the life cycle of the
bathroom-unit, we devise an evaluation tool of resource efficiency for bathroom-units. Next,
covering three types of Japanese typical bathroom units, we gain an understanding of the
condition by applying the evaluation tool, and analyze the issue of resource efficiency. At last,
to stand on the above-mentioned issues, we suggest an improvement design plan in order to
enhance the resource efficiency of bathroom-units.
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the research
In recent years, as a measure to environmental issues, it has become an important
assignment to re-consider the process of 'manufacturing' from an environmental point of view.
Nowadays, research on 'Design for Environment' has been making progress from the car industry
to electronic product industries. At present, we have come to a stage of putting the concepts into
practical application. On the other hand, it has always been pointed out that construction activities
cause damage to the environment. For that reason it is necessary to build a measure, which takes
environment issues into consideration particularly from the design point of view in the
architectural so that we can improve the present condition.
When we look at the component feature of a building from the building system point of
view, a building is a set of skeleton and infill. What is different form the former order-made
production features of building components, which is equivalent to the infill, is that it has more
similarity to the general manufacture industry's mass production? This paper has studied design
planning to improve environmental performance and its evaluation. We set the scope of the
research on the parts base, which has a similar manufacturing process to other industries and take a
look at the environmental performance of bathroom-units.
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h m sumundngs
The n u m k r n f t o r a l m o t ~ n= The n u m b r o f m o t b n fbr
demoxbn X J o n t a w s X T h e n u m k r o r b n t p o n l s
Anakze the hgh num her a t t e ~c a b u h t n g
the skeleton, so it has high joint levels with the building elements themselves. Wallboards have
many interfaces around, which are not only the walls and joint-materials, but it also faces to the
floorboard, ceiling, and fittings in various ways, and equipments such as lighting, bathtub, mixed
water-tap, storage also face to the surface of the walls resulting in a high joint level. These results
from the evaluation of the degree of joints and the following aspect of dismantling show us that it
influences the easiness of dismantling for reusing these resources.
D. Dismantling ability at site:
Dismantling building elements from the floor require the highest number of motions, and
we also learned that walls and fittings require the second highest number of motions. Especially,
dismantling the floor is influenced highly by surrounding conditions that it is impossible to
dismantle the floor until other dismantling processes have been finished. Some ways of
composition make it impossible to dismantle from the inside of the bathroom after it is put on
place and into operation. As long as the walls are not tom down or until the dismantling of the
outer room dividers and the skeleton is finished, it is often impossible to dismantle the wall. From
the evaluation result mentioned above, it is understood that dismantling the bathroom-unit
products are deeply influenced by not only the number of motion but also the components
themselves and the surroundings.
E. Dismantling ability to the material level:
This refers to the dismantling from the member level to the material level of bathroom-
units.
It is learned that the complexity of dismantling is much higher in the process of
dismantling panels with composite component materials to the mono component level. Also, it is
learned at this stage when silicon or sticker tapes are attached to the surface, that the larger the area
is, the larger the complexity of dismantling gets.
The condition of the materials after dismantling, in this study, each feed-backed material
has been evaluated on the possibility for recycling with reference to the degree of "judging
condition" and of "surface condition" The result of the evaluation is that when composite-
component members are used abundantly, there are many surfaces with glues attached that it is
impossible to be reused. In general, there is only a limited number of surface conditions without
impurities after dismantling the bathroom-unit, which means there are also few volumes that give
incentive to be recycled. As mentioned above, there are so many different kinds of resin materials
that it is hard to classify them. The above situation became clear from the evaluation and analysis
of this stage.
F. Evaluation of the ratio of recycling possibility and final disposal:
The highest recycling possibility has type 3 (84.09%), and most parts have thermal recycle
ability (as resin is used abundantly). The ratio of the recycling possibility for type 1 is 38.18%, of
which the thermal recycling makes up for about 76% of the total amount of recycling possibility.
Type 2 is the lowest in its recycling possibility, and only 9.4% of the total weight can be recycled.
usmg mono materials mstead of usng usng mono maternk nstead of usmg
com ~ o s i t ematernk lo1 w ,ilk composite matemk 101 Ik3i.n
b) Improving the method of jointing :Change the method of jointing for walls from outer
screw locking to fitting methods. Change the method of jointing pipes from the ordinal
glued method to the spiral method.
n n n n n ~
c) Reducing the kinds of material used : As there are many kinds of plastic material used,
concentrate them to ABS resin and concentrate soft elastic to EPDM elastic.
d) Setting the way of reusing resources: "Pre-recycle building system" is a concept in which
it is possible to reuse the component materials from the product design stage. By applying
this concept, we devise design improvements for the recycling system.
D e s k n rn ethod Contents
Design in pmvern e n t for rn a t e r k l s u b s t h t b n for panels :: u s n g ABS ~ s h
them a l l e c y c k rn a t e r k l a s corn ponent rn aterials
Design in pmvern e n t for rn aterhlsubstitutbn for panels,etc :u s n g stanless
rn a t e r k l ~ c y c k a s corn ponent rn ateridk
.
620 m m .
L-
.
.. -....., ,,
The
5.3 Investigating resource efficiency in design improvement plans
A rn ount of f n a l
A&.nnenl
"up"a"L
I
I
153.048 1
I
61.823% 1
I
0 I
I
0% I
I
0 I
I
0% I
Totalw e k h t 1 247.559 1 100% 1 200.082 ( 100% 1 475.542 1 100%
As shown in the evaluation result of the above chart, which shows the result of the design
improvement, improved plans of type I to type 3 have reached the maximum (100%) of the amount
of recycling for both thermal recycling material recycling. However, each type of design
improvement for material recycling results in composite-component members and resin mono-
component members, which are used generally, being substituted for stainless steel materials, so,
IVcliminar? rescarclr c ~ r i( I 1 1 1 infill design for cn\irorlment;ll pcrlorni;~ncc:('aw \tud> on t)itlhroo~n-
rr~iitpr-oti11cl5
consequently the weight has gone far beyond the basic plan. In order to put priority to material
recycling, we must put material weight raisings higher than stated in the basic plan at the
producing stage.
6 . CONCLUDING COMMENT
REFERENCES
K.Nishimoto, T.Yashiro, "Preliminary study on reuse and recycling system of off-site made
building products", The 161hSymposium on Building Construction and Management of Projects,
A.I.J., Tokyo, JAPAN, July.2000,p. 89-94.
T.Yoshida and others "Research on the reason for building demolition, Proceedings", The 8"'
Building Producing and Management Symposium, A.I.J., Tokyo , JAPAN 1992
Open l311ildingin I l c a l ~ h('are irchitorturc: 1 hc ('asc of thc I h O IVojcot in I3c.rn. '+~itlcl-land
Stefan Geiser
Canton Bern Building Department
Abstract: Located in Bern, the Inselspital is one of the oldest medical centers in Switzerland.
It is a comprehensive university hospital whose physical facilities are managed by the Canton
Bern Building Department. Several years ago, the hospital identified a need for a major
renovation and new construction program. Based on an evaluation of past procurement
methods that revealed their inability to prepare facilities with needed capacity for continual
change, a decision was made to completely alter the methods it had used in the past. This led
to a detailed "open building" planning process that produced a plan for a three-step
competition for the new project - the I N 0 - based on a distinction of decision levels. Each
level corresponds to an expected period of optimum performance. The "Primary System"
(base building) is intended for a 100-year performance period, the "Secondary System" (fit-
out) for 20 years, and the "Tertiary System" (hospital equipment) for 5-10 years. The project
is now under construction and is to be completed in 2007. As a result of this project, the
Canton Building Department has decided to implement open building in its future projects.
This paper reports on the project planning and its implementation-in-progress. The
paper discusses the extent to which open building and lean construction principles are being
applied to the design and construction of this large medical building, and comments on the
rationale for adopting these methods more broadly.
1. INTRODUCTION
drawn from such studies would certainly be broadly applicable, since the transformations being
effected at this medical center are not unique (Templemanns Plat 1990),
2. THE I N 0 PROJECT
The Inselspital is a teaching hospital in Bern for intensive care, emergency and surgery
(Building Futures Institute, 2002). It is a large, complex and changing campus and is itself a small
city. It has streets and pedestrian networks, a utility infrastructure, open spaces, and individual
buildings following a (changing) set of design standards. Some are now being physically
connected to afford comfort during inclement weather for patients, caregivers, faculty and students
moving from place to place. The campus, like Bern, is spreading out and filling-in at the same
time. Buildings are also demolished and replaced by newer ones. A number of buildings on the
campus have undergone renovation and interior reworking in which large expenditures are made
for conversion of uses and upgrading of cabling, heating and air conditioning and other modem
conveniences.
The new I N 0 building is pioneering. With the Canton Bern Building Department and the
hospital administration, a decision was made to construct a large new medical facility on the
campus. The story of this project is worth recounting since it represents the decision of a large
client and its facility planners to alter the methods it had been using for decades, in order to obtain
a new facility to meet the future with more assurance.
For several years, the facilities planning group of the Canton Bern building department,
responsible for this major primary health care facility, tried to fix a program of uses so that a
Open Iluilding in Ilealth ('are 2rchitect11rc: 1 he C'asr ol' the I\O Projccl in Bcrn, SM it~crlancl
design team could produce construction documents for the addition. Each year, a series of events
occurred that prevented them from fixing the program: new medical procedures were introduced, a
new head of surgery was hired with new staffing, space and equipment requirements, a change in
the market for services occurred, new regulations were introduced, the pediatric facility was
scheduled to be expanded, and so on.
As a result of these continuing changes to the program, the facilities group found it
impossible to get the addition they needed. To solve the problem, they decided to adopt an
entirely new planning process. The client's demand for long-term utility value in the addition to
their facility defined the most important aspect of the new design and decision process: the ability
to assure optimized adaptability in the face of changes in technical, social and political
circumstances.
Figure 3: ~ o ooff 1"' Phase Figure 4: Interior view Figtlre.5: Double skin facade
The project is now under construction. Figure 1 above shows a typical floor plate of the
I N 0 primary system - 80mx90m. The column grid is approximately 8.4 m x 8.4m, with a 1.2m
planning grid. Inside each grid cell is a 3.6m x 3.6m square part of the concrete slab that can be
opened as needed to provide light, vertical circulation, or vertical mechanical services. This square
in the slab has no reinforcing in it, making its removal easy. Figure 2 shows the building in cross
section, also showing the gently sloping roof following the slope of the hillside where the building
is located.
Figure 3 shows the roof of the first phase of the primary system, with roof monitors and
the basis for the future "green" roof. Figure 4 shows the empty space of the primary system,
before installation of the secondary system. Figure 5 shows the curved double skin envelope.
Behind the glass are operable wooden windows.
Open U ~ l i l d i n gin Ilealth ('are Architeclurc: I'hc ('me of the I%O Project i n 112crn. S n i l ~ e r l a n c l
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION
System Level I System Level 2 System Level 3
Pnmpry system. Rxsd .Secondary aysbcrn, edjlestabk Terlmry system, Renble Composite system
S~telog~st~ll Intenor well8 Fumlrum
Brnld~ngenwbpe Flmr mvering Mechancal WulP
S t ~ c t u wsystem Ce~lngs Hospital supplies
lnlwlor wits
L,-,,,,------d J L---------,,,J
The primary system determines the whole structure of the hospital and gives conditions for
the development of the following systems. The interfaces are exactly defined. The independence of
lower level (secondary and tertiary) systems is as large as possible.
O p e r ~Uuilding in Ilealth ('are .4rchitecturc: The Caw of the 1hO Proicct in Bern. S n i t ~ e r l a n d
An independent competition for design consulting services was held for each system. A
panel of independent jurors was invited and paid to review and select the firm who would be
awarded the contract for services of each level, separately. The RFP called for strict adherence to
Swiss environmental building principles, and each submission was required to demonstrate how it
would "fit" into the conditions given by the previous design decisions. For example, the primary
system was already under construction when the architect for the secondary system was hired.
Given the flexibility inherent in the primary system's design, certain vertical shafts could be
opened up as needed.
For the secondary system, submissions were required of firms submitting proposals to
demonstrate - with drawings - how, for example, its proposed fit-out system could be deployed
according to a range of programmatic scenarios within the given base building (already under
construction).
This process - a radical departure from conventional procurement in hospitals but not in
office buildings and shopping centers - was adopted to assure that the building would not be
designed in the obsolete functionalist approach.
The I N 0 project's management is divided into three major system levels that consist of
distinct and separate (but nevertheless interconnected) "decision bundles".
Figure 7 shows the structuring of the project management in the Canton Bern Building
Department. Team 0 is the organizing team of managers. Their work is to coordinate both the
design and construction activities. The other teams (1, 2 and 3) each have their respective level of
decision-making.
"levels' or open building approach, but both are compatible if they are organized in accord with
life cycle principles (Tajima et a1 2001).
An open building strategy organizes the project in terms of the anticipated duration of
value of a cluster of subsystems. It does so to avoid waste, to optimize boundary conditions, and to
prepare the facility for long-term manageability in concert with anticipated changes.
These are also the principles advocated by lean construction (Lean Construction Institute
2003), a production management based approach to project delivery, a new way to design and
build capital facilities. Lean production management has caused a revolution in manufacturing
design, supply and assembly. Applied to construction, Lean changes the way work is done
throughout the delivery process. Lean links the objectives of the production system-maximize
value and minimize waste-to specific techniques and applies them in a new project delivery
process. Lean Construction is particularly useful on complex, uncertain and quick projects. New
consulting companies adopting lean and "open building" methods now challenge the belief that
there must always be a trade between time, cost, and quality (Slaughter 2003).
4. CONCLUSIONS
As John Habraken (1998) Stewart Brand (1994) and others help us to see, the built
environment is not static. Transformation is everywhere, operating at various time scales and at
various "levels". We would be surprised if things were otherwise, and not only that, we would be
out of work. It is, after all, the work of architects and other designers to help reach agreements
about what should be built - thus changing the face of the built field.
But to a large extent our working methods are not yet congruent with this reality. We are
only slowly recognizing transformation and stability as twin realities. Our teaching, our design and
construction practices and our analytical and accounting tools are not yet sufficiently organized in
recognition of this. Product manufacturing is much more advanced. Lean construction recognizes
this reality, as does some pioneering engineering research.
Medical facilities in the past two decades in many countries have begun to experience the
drawbacks of functionalist theory and practice, but have no clear alternatives. Design and
construction service providers are stumbling their way across mine fields of complexity,
competing paradigms, changing requirements and difficult cost and quality control problems.
Hospital administrations are facing difficult staffing problems including shortages of nurses,
doctors who are increasingly demanding, liability issues and a changing client base including
increasing numbers of elderly patients.
In these circumstances, hospital administrators are beginning to "pick the low-hanging
fruit" in moving toward more "open-ended facilities. Guided by new architectural and
engineering theory, some medical facilities are seriously reexamining the functionalist paradigms.
But most have not yet tackled some of the big issues, with good reason. Conventional wisdom tells
us not to move too far out in front - it is risky there. The power of vested interests is strong, and
conventions are powerful. Perhaps John Maynard Keynes was right, however, in saying that "the
power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas"
(Galbraith 1977). For the sake of our future and the quality and accommodation capacity of our
building stock, let us hope he is right.
Opcrr Builtling it1 tfcalth C arc \rchitcrture: I hc C a\c of'tl~cIRO I'rojert i r ~Bern. Snil/r.t-land
REFERENCES
Brand, Stewart. 1994. How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They are Built. Viking, New
York.
Morris, A.E.J. 1979. History of Urban Form Before the Industrial Revolution. George Godwin
Ltd. London.
Galbraith, John Kenneth. 1977. The Age o f Uncertainty. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Habraken, N. John. 1998. The Structure of the Ordinary: Form and Control in the Built
Environment. (edited by Jonathan Teicher). MIT Press, Cambridge.
Kendall, Stephen, Teicher, Jonathan. 1999 Residential Open Building. Spon, London.
TAJIMA Eiji, TSUNODA Zenzaburou and KOMATSU Yukio. Feb. 2001. The Study About the
Technique of the Computation of the Life Cycle Renewal Expenses in Case of Facility
Management. Journal of Architectural. Planning and.Environmental Engineering. no. 540, p.243.
Templemanns Plat, Herman. 1990. Towards a Flexible Stock of Buildings: The problem of Cost
Calculations for Buildings in the Long Run". Proceedings, CIB World Congress, New Zealand.
Panel 11: Ecologic~rlIlerign a ~ I.ivir~g
~ d E~i\irorin~e~it
Other Urbanisms and New Public Space: Emerging Notions of Place and the 124-133
Public Realm in Greater Hong Kong
Robert M MACLEOD
Abstract: The paper analyzes the Shunde Biguiyuan phenomena from the following
viewpoints: sociology, economics and political system in order to answer the following
questions: why did Shunde Biguiyuan, the oldest and largest suburban residential community
on the Pearl River Delta, locate particularly in Beijiao town? What was the significance of the
community at that time? Why did it become localized and why is it coming down now?
1. BIGUIYUAN PHENOMENA
Bigui Phoenix City earned the highest sale's record in the Golden Week of May 2002.
From Shunde Biguiyuan to Bigui Phoenix City, Biguiyuan obviously has come out of Shunde and
walked into Guangzhou.Now Panyu has been changed into a borough in Guangzhou, and Shunde
into a borough in Foshan.
As time went by, along with the changes in the social environment, the composition of
residents in Shunde Bigzriyuan also changed. People from Hong Kong prefered to buy houses in
Shenzhen or Guangzhou, and people from Canton have had more choices in PRD. Shunde
Biguiyuan started to lose its advantage as the first large suburban community. Local people didn't
accept some of the outsiders. The composition of the residents has become more and more
complex today. The developer has had to change focus from building villas to apartments and from
building apartments to higher buildings. The real estate market has turned to focus more and more
on the local people in Shunde.
Why was Shunde Biguiyuan located in Beijiao but not anywhere nearer to Guangzhou?
Why did the market accept it positively at the beginning?
Who were the buyers?
What did they want to buy?
Why did it turn out to be out of fashion later on?
What is the future of Shzrnde Biguiyuan?
Figure 1. When the market economy didn't Figure 2. Shunde Biguiyuan 's heterogeneity has
work in Beijiao, Beijiao was stea& and close impacted Beijiao. Though it is located in
like an atom. The town center was the core of Beijiao, it is like an electron escaping from
politics, economy, and culture. Beijiao, which has changed to become an ion.
The balanceable structure has been broken.
Figure 3. As time goes by, the environment has Figure 4. The ideal village-town structure:
also changed. Shunde Biguiyuan becomes Every part of the town can have all kinds of
localized. Other parts of Beijiao also have exchanges with external in politics, economy,
changed according to the urbanization of information and so on. However they should be
Bejiao. united by the same culture, religion, and custom
in order to maintain cohesion and unity.
Beijiao is not administration. The relationships among residents, developer and town are based on
the contract relationship because they are equal units. So Shunde Biguiytlan is heterogeneous
compared with traditional villages. Second, most of the residents in Shunde Biguiyuan are not local
people, but are from megacities such as Hong Kong and Guangzhou. They have no attributive
feeling to the town. Also their registered permanent residenceships do not belong to Beijiao. So
Shunde Biguiyuan is a centrifugal community to Beijiao. It escapes from Beijiao like an electron.
The steady village-town structure has been broken. At this point, the village-town structure of
Beijiao is centripetal mostly (Illustrated in Figure 2).
When many communities, such as Shunde Biguiyuan, have appeared in a town, a mostly
centrifugal village-town structure will come into being. For example, in some cases in Panyu,
there are too many centrifugal communities in a town, so the town centers start to shrink away. At
last, Panyu has turned into a borough in Guangzhou, a part of Guangzhou, for many residents in
these communities come from Guangzhou.
Beijiao is different from those towns in Panyu. The living standard has been improved in
these years. More and more local people are richer than before. They are able to buy houses in
Shunde Biguiyuan. At the same time, more and more superior communities have attracted buyers
from Hong Kong and Guangzhou. They are more affordable and closer to Guangzhou. Shunde
Biguiyuan has lost its predominance. It becomes localized gradually and has a closer relationship
with the town center. Also, other communities in town were changed by similar external impacts.
(Illustrated in Figure 3)
Today the urbanization of PRD is so rapid. It's impossible for the towns to maintain
centripetal and close structure if they want to develop. The centrifugal structure such as in
Panyu will lose the identification of "TOWN", and lose its cohesion. If a town wants to improve
itself steadily, it must establish an open structure. Every community in town can have various
kinds of exchanges with the outside, such as the exchanges of politics, economics, and
information. But the town itself should have some factors to hold it together; for example, it needs
to share the same culture, religion and customs. (Illustrated in Figure 4)
Shunde Biguiyuan as a heterogeneous community does not belong to Beijiao, even though
it is located in Beijiao. Most of the residents in Shunde Biguiyuan come from megacities such as
Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Their culture and life style are different from those of the town.
Shunde Biguiyuan is an urban community. This phenomenon can be described as: Megacities
invade small towns. Suburbanization of megacities has brought impacts to the small towns nearby.
These impacts appear in economy, culture, society and so on. In the latest town planning of
Beijiao, the government of Beijiao has strived to avoid calculating the land of Shunde Biguiyuan
into the land balance table. The land of Shunde Biguiyuan now is calculated as independent land.
The megacities' invasion into small towns may have two results: One is the invaded part will be
localized, such as Beijiao; the other is the invasion will have expanded until the town turns into a
part of megacity, such as Panyu.
Disrunce
Figure 5. 1-megacity center; 2-megacity fringe; 3-townfringe near to megacity (such as Bijiang
and Sangui); Csmall city center (such as Shunde); 5-small city fringe.
was Beijiao. He could get the land much easier than others in order to reduce the prime
cost with the loosest policy at that time.
We can compare the profit and the political cost in Figure 5. According to the common
relationship between location and land price, the further from the city center, the lower is the land
price. But the political cost is different. With the urban-rural duality system, the planning policy
and land use policy between urban and rural or megacity and town are different. Commonly, the
official statute in the megacity center will be carried out strictly, but in small towns it will be
carried out in a looser fashion. The urban fringe's policy is more flexible than the urban center. In
the rural areas and towns the conventions and the social relationship will influence the
administration of the town greatly. The arrangement of the political cost from high to low is
megacity center, small city center, megacity fringe and town fringe. By comparing the profit curve
and the political cost curve, we can draw a conclusion: The location between the megacity fringe
and the town fringe is the point that someone can gain the largest benefit from the difference
between profit and political cost. So the developer who wants to get the most benefit would choose
the land at the megacity fringe in a small town. Bijiang and Sangui are at the fringe of Guangzhou
in Beijiao town; that's why Biguiyuan succeeded.
There are three factors affecting the total economic cost: building cost, land cost and
traffic cost (Illustrated in Figure 6). Though Shunde Biguiyuan's traffic cost was a little higher than
Guangzhou's, its land cost and building cost were much lower. Putting all the costs together to
analyze the difference of total economic cost between Guangzhou and Beijiao, it was much
cheaper for the developer to exploit a large community in Beijiao than in Guangzhou. That's why
Shunde Biguiyuan emerged in Beijiao.
t Guangzhou
Beijiao
Building cost
Building cost
4. CONCLUSION
Shunde Biguiyuan's success is due to the following reasons:
1. Obtaining the land use ownership before the strict land control and planning control
acted on the megacity fringe
2. Meeting the needs of some consumers who were firstly rich and wanted to have a better
living condition that could match their outstanding social status
3. Freeing itself from the loose political system, breaking away from the planned
economy, and pursuing the largest benefit according to the law of the market, may be an anomaly,
but it seems to be reasonable in the market economy
4. Establishing private Biguiyuan School in the community to solve the financial problem
long before the government's inhibition acted.
Today's Shunde Biguiyuan is localized and coming down. It is due to the following
reasons:
1. After the government built up the strict land use system and town planning system, it
was difficult for developers to obtain land via given connection. Their projects had to be examined
and approved at every level of government. The political cost had increased
2. According to the maturity of land market and land price system, the land price in the
megacity fringe has been balanced with other locations
3. The real estate market has been opened up. Many cities and towns have established real
estate. Some developers began to copy the model of Biguiyuan. Some of them even did better. In
the suburbs, the competitive real estate market has formed. The success and decline of Shunde
Biguiyuan inflect that the real estate market in PRD has become more and more mature and
regulated.
REFERENCES
Wu Qiyan. 2001. Research on The Division of Living Space in Megacities, Beijing,
P.R.China: Science Press.
Liu Hongwei. 2002. Urban Land Use and Control: Research Based on Guangzhou,
Guangzhou, P.R.China: Cantonese People Press.
Zhao Min, and Lin Hua. 2002. Research on The Norm of Public Service Facilities in
Residential Communities. In Urban Planning Journal, ~ 0 . 2 6 1 1 2 2000.
'~ 72-75. Shanghai:
Tongji University
Robert M. MACLEOD
School of Architecture
University of Florida
Abstract: Development practices in Greater Hong Kong over the past two decades
have led to numerous densely populated new towns throughout the New Territories.
Other than formal development diagrams and transportation patterns, these new
urban centers typically lack a lucid urban and spatial logic. This paper proposes to
review the circumstances of such development, analyze other conditions of hyper-
development and propose urban infrastructure strategies that both critique and
respond to current development practices.
1. VERTICAL SPRAWL
The past twenty years has seen an unruly propagation of tall building structures coupled
with a modest vision for infrastructure and urban space throughout Honk Kong's New Territories
(NT). This intensified construction presents an extraordinary opportunity to seek new strategies
for town building and urban place making.
Yet, such opportunities have been undermined by the manic nature of the development
process. Driven by obsessive efficiency and preying upon the desire for social status granted by
home ownership in the New Territories, developments emerge with astonishing expediency. There
exists no sense of architectural invention at either the scale of infrastructure or building. The
development yields an ironic placelessness that can best be described as a form of "vertical
sprawl".
Numbers tell the tale. Density statistics reveal the extraordinary concentrations of people
in greater Hong Kong. The 1999 population statistics of Hong Kong (Demographia, 2000)
describe a population density of 16,102 persons per square mile. Hong Kong Island's density is
over 45,000 persons per square mile and Kowloon's a staggering 1 17,778 persons per square mile.
And while the New Territories average only 8788 persons per square mile, within the NT, the city
of Kwai Tsing (with a population approaching half a million) has a density of 56,750 persons per
square mile. Obviously the development patterns throughout the NT rely upon dense
concentrations of populations scattered throughout the rugged landscape.
In comparison, urban densities around the world (reflecting the combination of core
populations and outlying suburban areas) follow a narrow range with Los Angeles at 7 100/sq mi,
Toronto 6800, San Francisco 6100 and New York 5300. This can be contrasted with the
population density for Manhattan's Upper East and West Sides, both approximately two square
miles in area, and over 109,000 and 98,000 persons per square mile respectively.
Roland Barthes tells the story of writer Guy de Maupassant who decries the overbearing
presence of the Eiffel Tower throughout Paris. Unable to escape its omnipresence, he resigns
himself to being able to elude the powerful tower only through habitation. "It's the only place in
Paris, where I don't have to see it," declared the author (Barthes, 1979). And indeed, while within
the tower one cannot see the tower. It disappears from the Parisian cityscape and his idyllic Paris
is restored to its pre-Eiffel urbanism.
And what of the ubiquitous housing towers marking the landscape of Hong Kong's New
Territories? Inescapable as they are, habitation offers only the briefest respite, for each tower
gazes upon another: near mirror images, somberly towering and reflecting the assembly of one
another floor by floor by floor, tile by tile by tile. Escape is available only in the surreal moment
of visual collapse, wherein the field of towers folds and intertwines to form a virtual wall of
building. Gone are the voids between and amongst the buildings; replaced by layers of hyper
buildings encircling one another and celebrating the ecstasy of density. Finally, a painterly scene
emerges: a beautiful and surreal vertical tapestry of concrete and color and form (figure 1,2).
Density in Hong Kong's New Territories has a particularly arresting presence, however,
for it also provides a landscape preservation strategy. The undeveloped 40% of Hong Kong that
exists in the form of country parks and untouched natural landscape creates a stunning backdrop
for the dense, developed urban areas. And unlike Manhattan, where the view and immediate
presence of Central Park, the Hudson River and the East River is a highly privileged circumstance,
the weaving of rugged greenery with dozens of high-rise towers is commonplace in the New
Territories.
Envisioned as largely self-sufficient communities offering dense, compact living / working
arrangements, the towns of the New Territories have emerged as commuter communities, with
some 55% of residents working in Hong Kong, Kowloon, and elsewhere (Hong Kong Census and
\ \ c w P~rhlicSpacc:
O t l ~ e rI , ~ - h a n i \ n ~and
I-nlcrging hotions of Placc and tht f'uhlic He;rlni in (;rcate~*[long Kong
3. SHIFTING TYPOLOGIES
An empirical observation renders the New Territories as very much a work in progress. At
present we see a shift in building typology. Early housing towers are essentially mono-functional
and address the ground plane abruptly and with little urban sensitivity. The building's base might
house an institutional program - a school or administrative offices - but remains largely
undifferentiated and tends not to "charge" or "program" the ground plane. The common space
between buildings is ostensibly "left over", demarcated by symbolic entry gates and articulated by
a romanticized landscape and associated "follies" (a boat-shaped seating resting within a shallow
pond; quasi-traditional pavilions and bridges, etc). This said, such public spaces are not
unpopular. Indeed, quite the opposite, for there is a lively social life, particularly on weekends, as
families promenade and groups gather to socialize (figure 3,4).
Figure 3: plaza in King Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan 0 Figure 4: entry gate to Kim Lam Estate
The tall housing prototype, as executed in greater Hong Kong, primarily favors the
centralized cruciform block type, although there are numerous variations and hybrids, including
pinwheel and triangulated plans. Single and double loaded bar buildings favor mid-rise structures
with exterior corridors and other plan forms such as H and C-shaped figures make sense in low to
mid-rise buildings when a traditional, figural and spatial urban fabric is being built.
The tower, as developed in the NT is essentially an a-spatial figure. Scale and singularity
relegate the tower to pure object. Even a series of towers do not so much construct as dominate
space. It's sense of spatiality - and potential for constructing public space - most reliably resides
in multiplicity and juxtaposition with architecture of other scales and functions. One can review
the vertical guidelines developed and so seductively illustrated by Hugh Ferris for 1930s New
York, to see how the sculpting of space vis-a-vis rules of development can yield a hospitable (and
in the case of Manhattan, a light and air-filled) pedestrian realm.
story tower. The base (podium) of the building houses an array of functions: public, private,
commercial, utilitarian. Atop this base sits a series of towers. The podium lifts the residential
towers above the noise and chaos of the street, offers views if they exist, and establishes an
interface between the public and private realms. The podium is anywhere from two to seven floors
tall and forms an urban block, gives definition to the street and creates a pedestrian space. The
simplest podium buildings offer lightly programmed ground planes with two or three floors given
over to a parking garage and/or retail and commercial space.
More complex podiums are more highly programmed and house everything from bus
stations to wet markets to shopping malls and often all of the above. The street presence of these
buildings varies from porous, dynamic commercial edges to opaque faceless facades masking
mechanical systems and offering nothing to the pedestrian realm (figure 5).
The most recent generation of podium buildings celebrates the public I private interface
with elaborately programmed exterior leisure spaces for its residents. Aside from multiple
swimming pools, tennis courts and game rooms, the podium offers access for service vehicles and
taxis. The access to this realm of the podium is as highly controlled as the immaculately cultivated
landscapes of palm trees and topiary (figure 6). This realm is of the quasi-public variety: public to
the homeowners and private from the street and the cityltown at large.
Figure 5: podium building deJines the street Figure 6: the cultivated landscape atop the podium
There emerges in this public spectacle an undeniable and beautiful authenticity. Both
inspired and ironic, this temporary social re-programming of the Hong Kong Bank suggests the
possibility of reconsidering the logic of public spatial infrastructure in high-density residential
developments throughout Hong Kong.
There are several interesting possibilities for reconsidering the role of infrastructure and
public space through architectural form and program. Following are examples of projects that
suggest strategies for rethinking density, space and form. These should be understood as strategies
rather than literal solutions.
Figure 9: Koolhaas/OM. CCTV Building in Beijing Figure 10: Steven HoN-Sj~atialRetaining Bar
spaces at various levels in the buildings. The proposal creates relatively intimate space at the
bridged thresholds between the structures, suggests an urban space by forming a perforated L-
shape in plan, and addresses safety/egress issues of concern in tall, heavily populated structures
(figure 13, 14).
figure 13: towers linked to form vertical fabric figure 14: public gardens throughout the towers
Figure 15: towers yield a figural ground plane Figure 16: circulation through an undulating urban
landscape
where privacy becomes place; and where the humanity of the street and the ground are interwoven
with the cool abstraction of the tower. Therein lies another urbanism.
REFERENCES
Alexander, Christopher, et al. 1977. A Pattern Language. New York: Oxford University Press.
Barthes, Roland. 1997 (1979). The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies. Berkeley and Los
Angeles: University of California Press.
Baudelaire, Charles. 1970 (1869). Paris Spleen. New York: New Directions Books.
Cullinane, Kevin and Cullinane, Sharon. 2003. City Profile Hong Kong, Cities 20(4), 279-288.
Ferriss, Hugh. 1998 (1929). The Metropolis of Tomorrow. New York: Princeton Architectural
Press
Koolhaas, et al. 2001. Great Leap Forward (Project on the City I). Koln, Germany: Taschen
GmbH.
Lee, Julian. 2000. "Filipino Maid's Act of Resistance", ANU Reporter 29(7).
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC). 2003. "New World Trade Center Design
Concepts". www.renewnyc.org/plan.
O'Donnell, Mary Ann. 2001. Becoming Hong Kong, Cultural Studies 15(3/4), 419-443.
Healthy High-rise: Ventilation Issues and Innovations
William SEMPLE
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Abstract: Over the past several years many issues have come to light that have highlighted the
need for improved ventilation in multi unit residential buildings (MURB's). High-rise
buildings, for example, are all too often connected with poor indoor air quality. When looking
at this issue from the perspective of urbanism and the trend to increasing the density of our
urban centres, there is a dramatic need to address the ventilation issue in MURB's. To enhance
the success of the 'Open Living' concept, solutions that improve the possibility for the future
adaptations of the use of space in buildings need to be developed.
Recent research by CMHC has shown that many existing ventilation systems do not
perform as intended due to two main factors: lack of envelope air tightness and the strong stack
effect in tall buildings. As a result, the extent of ventilation in suites ranges from over-
ventilated to under ventilated, with units often receiving stale ventilation air from other parts of
the building during the heating season when windows are closed.
In response to the growing recognition of the need for improved ventilation in homes,
the federal government department Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and several Canadian
manufacturers have teamed up to develop a new category of products that efficiently provide
residential space heating, water heating and ventilation with heat recovery for low rise
residential buildings under the trade name of eKOCOMFORT. The great versatility of the
eKOCOMFORT system, demonstrated in the early testing of the product, initiated a move by
the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to begin testing of this new product in
high-rise applications.
This paper looks at the issue of ventilation in high-rise residential buildings, examining
the advanced combination heating and ventilation system and the potential for application of
this system in the high-rise residential market.
INTRODUCTION
Many issues have come to light over the past several years that have highlighted the need
for improved ventilation in multi unit residential buildings (MLIRB's). High-rise buildings, for
example, are all too often connected with poor indoor air quality. When looking at this issue from
the perspective of urbanism and the trend to increasing the density o f our urban centres, there is a
dramatic need to address the ventilation issue in MURB's. T o enhance the success of the 'Open
Living' concept, solutions that improve the possibility for the future adaptations o f the use o f space
in buildings need to be developed.
In Canada, ventilation in high-rise MURB's is delivered through corridor air systems. In
these systems, corridors are pressurized to supply air to individual residential units, relying in on
gaps around and the operation of the entrance doors to each unit to deliver air to the unit. Research
at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has consistently demonstrated that this system
does not work. Compounding this, a s construction of building envelopes improves in air tightness,
the amount o f fresh air entering units will decrease, resulting in a further reduction in indoor air
quality.
2. THE PROBLEM
Most high-rise residential buildings are not equipped with mechanical ventilation systems,
which supply air to occupants. The typical corridor pressurization systems are installed to control
the transfer of odours between suites and provide makeup air to replace air exhausted by kitchen
and bathroom exhaust fans. The design assumes that ventilation air for occupants will be supplied
by natural ventilation through operating windows, by infiltration through the building enveloped,
and in some cases by makeup air provided by the corridor pressurization system.
Recent research by CMHC has shown that these corridor pressurization systems do not
perform as intended due to two main factors: lack of envelope air tightness and the strong stack
effect in tall buildings. As a result, the extent of ventilation in suites ranges from over-ventilated
to under ventilated, with units often receiving stale ventilation air from other parts of the building
during the heating season when windows are closed.
Excessive infiltration rates, due to wind and stack induced infiltration through leaks in the
building envelope and between floors, are also common. Common locations where excessive
ventilation occurs include lower suites subjected to high stack pressures on cold winter days, and
windward facing suites on windy days. Insufficient ventilation rates commonly occur on upper
floors and on leeward facing suites die to inhibited or reversed ventilation airflow.
A number of other problems are also common in high-rise residential mechanical
ventilation systems. In many instances, exhaust fans are not capable of moving a sufficient
amount of air, and frequently their operation is so noisy that occupants do not use them. Back
drafts and noise can also result in occupant tampering with the exhaust vent in order to reduce the
noise problem, often with the result of significantly reducing its operating capacity.
Finally, the energy costs associated with inefficient fan operation and re-heating of
ventilation air are significant in many buildings. Recovery of heat from air exhausted from the
building is rare.
3. A NEW PRODUCT
In response to the growing recognition of the need for improved ventilation in homes, the
federal government department Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and several Canadian
manufacturers have teamed up to develop a new category of products that efficiently provide
residential space heating, water heating and ventilation with heat recovery under the trade name of
eKOCOMFORT.
Continuous ventilation with heat recovery is required to improve indoor air quality for
home occupants. In the 1980's, Canada developed an energy-efficient housing program with
better insulated and air sealed homes that had continuous ventilation. This lead to the development
of the Canadian Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) industry, an industry that now provides HRV's
for both domestic and export markets. While HRV's have become more widespread in their use,
the HRV market share has been limited by the costs associated with production, distribution,
installation and operation. By integrating the HRV functions into heating products, there is
potential to reduce all of these costs. The eKOCOMFORT Project was developed to speed the
development and deployment of such products.
The key technical innovation is the integration of a wide number of components into a
factory engineered system with a single warrantee (rather than a number of components that are
put together in the field with individually warrantees). Advanced controls are required to optimize
the products when they are fulfilling more than one function simultaneously. Many components
have not previously been part of a rated package and have had to be upgraded to improve
efficiency and capacity in order to meet the performance specifications. In comparison to a typical
installation of existing equipment, integrating ventilation into the space heating product has
I lealth? Iligh-rive: \'entilation Iv~ut.4and leno\ ation4
enabled the electrical cost of providing and distributing fresh air to be cut by a factor of more than
five.
The concurrent development of multiple products and infrastructure has reduced
manufacturer risk and enabled each manufacturing group to proceed. Each of the manufacturing
teams view the other teams commercializing the same type of product as a benefit as it legitimizes
their product in the marketplace. It has also speeded up the creation of testing and standards that
allow the products to be deployed in various jurisdictions. As each of the manufacturing groups
has based their product on different base technologies, they have been willing to help each other
overcome specific technical and logistical problems. In other words, they see traditional
equipment as the main competition rather than each other. The approach has also enabled
government to reduce its' risk as no one manufacturing group is vital to the success of the project.
Five manufacturing teams are each commercializing a product that meets the same set of minimum
performance specifications for these functions.
Water
lnslantaneous Flowmeter
water heater
more even temperatures to be delivered throughout the suite. In addition to comfort, this can
reduce the airflow into the suite through the exterior walls and from the adjacent suites or common
areas. With an increasing awareness and concern over indoor air quality and ventilation, it seems
to be clear that improvements in this area can be most effectively gained with a system that
supplies air directly to each suite.
To make this type of system to work most effectively, construction details that maximize
the air tightness of the individual suite need to be carried out. There are several details that can
contribute to how well a system like this performs. In some cases, an airtight separation of
individual floors can be carried out. This will minimize the pressure difference across exterior
walls giving each floor a reduced gradient design condition and providing the opportunity to heat
and ventilate each floor individually. In other cases individual suites can be compartmentalized
and ventilated by individual units. This technique can reduce or eliminate problems such as odour
migration from adjacent units or other problems such as inadequate exhaust flow. In addition this
can provide each suite with the opportunity to have separate metering and individual control of
their systems. When designing for future flexibility in the use of buildings, careful considerations
need to be given to this issue.
An additional motivation for the development of controlled ventilation systems is the
potential for reducing energy consumption. In high-rise residential buildings, central systems can
be designed to transfer heat through glycol heat loops. For individual suites, reduced energy
consumption and improved ventilation can be attained through the use of air-to-air heat recovery
units.
A three-speed fan operating continuously at a one speed is the main circulation fan for this
unit. The fan operating speed (low, medium or high) is selected manually at the thermostat. The
selected speed is maintained and does not change unless it is manually reset by the occupant.
tlcaltllr Iliglr-risc: Ventiliklion Issues and Isrno\:ktitrr~$
The exhaust fan is a two-speed fan that provides ongoing ventilation by operating
continuously at low speed. The switch to high-speed operation can occur either manually or
automatically. A manual wall switch allows the occupant to switch the fan to high speed, while a
dehumidistat automatically switches the fan into high speed during showers or other high humidity
periods in the residential unit, automatically returning the fan to low speed when the humidity
drops to an acceptable level. There is no interconnection between the main circulation fan and the
exhaust fan.
To verify and understand more about the performance of this new system field tests were
carried out to measure the ventilation performance, and operating characteristics of three installed
VSC systems. Testing included carrying out an assessment of the ventilation air quantities
delivered under various operating and pressure conditions, electricity consumption of the VSC fan-
motor sets, air-tightness testing of the suites and hallways in and around where the VSC's are
installed, and depressurization testing of suites.
EXHAUST
EXHAUST
EXHAUS1
OUTDOOR
intentional openings (i.e.: range hood exhaust, clothes dryer exhaust, and bathroom
exhaust) were sealed.
Characterizing Air Pressure Regimes. This test was carried out to characterize the effects
of operating the various exhaust fans in the suite on the air pressure within the suite and
the impact of this on adjacent suites. Depressurization in the test suite was measured
relative to outdoors as well as relative to the two adjacent suites on the same floor. A
depressurization test was also carried out to assess combustion appliance spillage
potential.
Characterizing Corridor Air Leakage. This test was carried out to characterize the air
leakage area of an entire corridor and the percentage of that leakage area attributable to the
cracks around the doors to the suites.
VSC Energy Consumption. Measurements were taken of the electricity consumption of the
VSC and the corridor ventilation fan to determine the potential for energy use reductions
through in the provision of in-suite ventilation as compared to central ventilation.
4. TEST FINDINGS
entering the suite during typical operation will run through the heat exchanger, significantly
meeting about 26% of the ventilation air heating requirements.
The open building concept provides a number of new challenges for designers and
builders. In addition to adapting structures to allow for future changes in use of buildings, the
mechanical systems now used in high-rise buildings provide their own limitations and challenges.
With eKOCOMFORT, the potential for providing heat, hot water and good ventilation, with a
system that is compact and adaptable will soon be available.
New issues continually add to these challenges. For example, the recent SARS epidemic
has raised fundamental questions regarding the potential for isolating individual units in high-rise
dwellings to prevent the spread of potentially contagious infections. In the ever-increasing density
of our urban populations, this issue may have a considerable impact on the future design of multi
unit residential buildings.
In response to the SARS outbreak in Toronto, CMHC researchers examined the challenges
of containment, initially developing the following recommendations based on the group's
knowledge of air movement and ventilation in high-rise buildings:
For quarantined zmits:
Seal the corridor door
Contact with the corridor needs to be strictly prohibited.
Increase the pressurization of the corridor to prevent air being drawn into the corridor
from the quarantined unit
Depressurize the quarantined unit through a combination of continuously running the
bathroom and exhaust fans, and providing additional ventilation into the unit.
Additional ventilation can be provided passively through the use of windows and
doors, or actively by using a fan to increase the flow of air from the window and/or
door opening into the quarantined unit.
For non-quarantined units
Install fans to pressurize the units by bringing in additional air.
For the building
Replace and maintain the seals on all entrance doorways into the building.
Turn off the 24-hour time clock used for the ventilation of the building in order to
maintain constant air pressure in the corridors.
When faced with our own questions as to how well these would work, we had no
definitive answers. Should this situation happen during the winter months when windows remain
closed, the potential for managing the situation seemed far more tentative. Clearly these are seen
as band-aid solutions to the larger issue of the need for improved ventilation for high-rise
buildings. Our work continues.
Ilcalth! Iligh-riw: \ entilation I \ c u t \ and Ilrno\i~tions
REFERENCES:
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2003, Field Testing ofan Integrated Ventilation-
Space Conditioning System for Apartments. Draft Report, CMHC, Ottawa
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2001, Healthy High-Rise: A Guide to Innovation in
the Design and Construction of High-Rise Residential Buildings, CMHC. Ottawa
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, The eKOCOMFORT Field Assessment Program:
Project Initiation Report, 2003, CMHC, Ottawa
Abstract: This article mainly discusses the necessity and approach of the urban ecological
transformation. Post-industry feature of Hong Kong requires ecological transformation in urban
construction. Now four types of ecological transformation is critically required: from physical
space requirements to life quality requirements; from pollution handling to psychophysilogical
requirements; from urban virescence requirements to ecology serving function; from
appearance oriented urban beautification to process oriented psychophysiological health of the
civilian and urban sustainable developments. To promote urban ecological transformation is to
drive the urban industry from product economy to service economy; urban sight from
monotonous physical sight to multiplex ecological sight; urban culture from plunderage culture
claiming man can conquer nature to harmonic culture claiming man and nature are synergetic.
Ecological transformation includes mindware, software, and hardware transformation: a)
transformation of idea and objective; b) transformation of planning and design; c )
transformation of technique and material.
None of them can be dispensed with for the three. The aim of ecological construction of the city is
designed and manages with the ecology through the ecological planning, ecology, Assemble into
an ecosystem with strong vitality single living beings link, physics link, the economic link and
social link, Lead hands from technological innovation, system reform and behavior, regulate
systematic structure and function, Bringing about an coordinated development in society,
economy, natural, material, energy, the information one are utilized high-efficiently, Technology
and natural integration, people's creativity and productivity get the full play of the maximum , The
life supports systematically the physical and mental health of the function and resident get the
protection of the maximum , Economy, ecology and culture have with lasting, healthy
development, promote the comprehensive utilization of resources, synthesis of synthesis
renovating and people of the environment developing; The goal of urban ecological construction
of our country includes: lromote the agricultural economy of the tradition to the resource type,
high-efficient transferring of ecological economy continuously of the knowledge type and network
type, Regard ecological industry as a dragon's head and drive the rapid development of the
regional economy ; 2Promote the ecological environment regional and in urban and rural areas
developing to the sustainable ecosystem of afforesting, epurating, beautifying, ization, Good
ecological foundation is built for social economic development; 3Promote urban and rural
residents' tradition producing, life style and values are good to the environment, the harmony,
society harmonious ecological culture that resources are high-efficient, systematic make the
transition, The ecology social builder of cultivating one generation educatedly, having lofty ideals,
high quality.
The urban ecological construction of our country needs four kinds of ecology badly to
make the transition: Make the transition from space demand of physics to the quality demand of
life; The demand of managing makes the transition to the physiology and psychological need from
polluting; Make the transition from city afforestation demand to the ecological service function;
Beautify the transferring to physically and mentally healthy and urban sustainable development of
resident which faces the course from the city of image of facing. Drive the ecological transferring
of the city to just promote the urban industry moving towards service economy from the economy
of the products, The city landscape moves towards the diversified ecological landscape from the
physics landscape of a quality, The city culture moves towards the intergrowth culture which
people unify of day from culture of robbing that man is the master of his own fate, Realize the
urban sustainable development under the socialist market economy condition with Chinese
characteristics. At present, the upsurge of a ecological urban construction is rising in our country.
Actually, it are all's ecology" city where the natural and humane ecology combine that any lives in
the city, Only some city ecology is rational, some city ecology is unreasonable. It is for each in not
only inhabited regions take shelter from rain for shady human habitat that keep out the cold, its for
mankind, geographical environment (geography, hydrology, weather), suppression environment(
flow at energies at materials), Living beings environment( the helpful, harmful living beings),
social environment( service facility and level), economic environment( obtain employment on the
environment, house property market) and culture environment Ecological relation that( the
continuity, sign nature of history). The main task of environmental construction to want and
regulate their natural ecology and humane ecology basic ecological relation who key element
askseses human settlements city, Including water( the water yield, quality of water, floods, water
conservancy); The fire( energy, canning be worth, atmosphere, meteorological phenomena); The
soil ( soil, land, landscape, geography); The wood( vegetation, crop and other lives organisms);
Ecological key element naturally, such as gold( mineral products, nutrition thing, the products and
I<cological 71rni~rlorriii~tiori mcthotl in l l o ~ l gK o n g
of the u r l ~ a nplii~lr~ing
wasted product flow),etc. and population( quantity, quality, supplying, demand); Manpower ( the
labour, intelligence); Humanity( technology, system, culture); The heart( the value, faith, ethics,
morals); Mankind's ecological key elements, such as popularity( purchasing power, effect of
gathering, environment),etc.. The ecological transferring of environmental construction of urban
human settlements includes heart one (Mindware). software (Software) transferring with the
hardware (flardware).
design of the building, entrust to the building with life vigor: Make the building have a local
culture characteristic, meet local natural conditions: Fully embody nature, delighting, insulating
against heat, refrigeration, afforesting, beautifying and other ecological project principle
requisition on structure of the buildings ; 2.The energy optimizes the ecological project: Finish
canning utilize solar energy, living beings renewable energy as the building energy fully, Reduce
the consumption to the mineral energy; It regards heat supply of solar energy, refrigeration and
dynamical system as main goals living beings consider and regard solar energy as the
supplementary energies of heat supply. 3.The ecological project of building materials industry:
The environmental construction material points the quality of renewable quality, localization, easy
of the source of construction material mainly; The construction material produces and use the
minimization of environmental impact in the project; And melting harmlessly to health. The
construction material is to the security of building itself, energy-conserving quality, economic,
designed adaptability, etc. to the internal and external environment. 4.The intelligent system
engineering of ecology: It mean mainly by ecological principle and information the
communication system of inhabiting districts of technical designses whether it is natural ecology
and mankind, Intelligent integrated service networks, such as control system. security system and
service system, etc. But design the ecological intelligence systems of different grade according to
different level of consumption. 5.And water go back and at system, make water resource get
abundant, rational use type sewage disposal circulation; It changes still water into and work up
water stagnant water at running water, sewage at net ink, waste waters for the favorable water;
6.The ecological project of the landscape: Appearance sign nature of the building and construction
of the ecological space: Afforest at colour spaces and building, Animals and plants habitats and
bio-diversities construction, Water scene and other artificial the peculiar qualities s. It embodies
region characteristic fully locality ecological landscapes naturally, and native country historical
cultures melt style and features building, Hold the color alone; 7.The ecological project of the
room: Light on inside buildings, the warm, the wet, a angry control, inside environment and the
comfortableness, harmless natures of facilities, the convenient nature, economic and an ecological
rationality (inside to beautify, afforestation, natural the embodiment, offal optimum design to
punish facilities of qualities); 8.The land resumes and give the ecological project a new lease of
life: Introduce city agriculture and courtyard economy, roof, middle level and stand surface build
colour solid space green in construction in ecological districts, Producing or ecological service
function of original living beings of taking up the land to the building to a certain extent resume,
The production economic benefits to the system are compensated.
These new building ecological technology have offered the opportunity for the ecological
transferring question of the environment of urban human settlements. How about be rational and
effective application they, make at city ecology when making the transition can most heavy
degrees play its due role their, It is a problem urgently waiting to be solved in the future.
Hong Kong as behind industry one era cities kind, it is the key industry in itses. Old
development model biased to give the human settlements of city environments of Hong Kong
bring a great deal of negative effects unavoidably, The ecological transferring of the environment
of human settlements of city is the important way to reduce and even dispelling these negative
effects completely. Hope that a series of concrete goal and action in making the transition in
ecology that this text puts forward can offer certain reference value for improving the human
settlements environment in the future of Hong Kong, This is the meaning of this text too.
Ecological Fl'ra~~sforn~alitrn
o f t h c urban plar~~ring
nlethoci in [ l o n g Kong
PANEL 111: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND
URBAN RENEWAL
The Soft Urban Machine: Space-Time and the Production of Urban Place
Stephen READ
How Can We Make Hong Kong's Urban Form More Sustainable? : From
Perceptions to Reality
Sujata S. GOVADA, Mee Kam NG, and Peter HILLS
Open Space Study of The Industrial Area Along The Grand Canal In
Hangzhou
Xiaoyu YING
i ~ a dI rhsn licoc\+al
Panel Ill: S ~ ~ + t a i n a bI)c\clop~nc~nl
lc
\ ( o r n p a r a t h c S u c t a i n a h i l i l \ccescr~ienl oI'Standard l l o l l \ i n g I Z l ~ c h ci n 1101ig K o n g and I'ropoccd
Integcr ('onccpt l o n e r t l t c r n t ~ t i \c
Abstract: This study is a comparative assessment of the relative sustainability of three Hong
Kong 40-storey residential tower types: a Housing Authority "standard" Harmony Block
(HAB), a private sector housing block (PSB), and the Integer Concept Tower (ICT). In this
study, Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing are combined to measure two of the
three accepted environmental aspects of sustainability: economics and environment. Social
impacts were excluded because of a present lack of data and established consensus of which
social indicators are relevant and the relative weighting between each of these and between
the economic and environmental impacts measured. An internationally recognised
methodology specially tailored to Hong Kong's construction industry was devised for this
study. The results show that longevity is important and the ICT becomes the best performer
over all the indicators in the 75-year life assessment. The results also show that the
operational regime is significant for all buildings. Energy efficiency is clearly important and
strategies to reduce demand and increase supply from renewable energy sources should be
examined. The repair and maintenance regime is also very significant indicating that varying
and improving how the building is run and maintained could greatly minimise the overall life
cycle impacts.
Keywords: Hong Kong, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC),
Sustainability
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper reports the progress of the first of two related studies: the first is complete and
the second is approximately two thirds complete. Both studies endeavour to establish an
internationally recognised methodology to undertake comparative assessments of the relative
'sustainability' of buildings and civil engineering projects. The Methodology devised to achieve
this, must be specifically tailored to Hong Kong's Construction Industry, and thereafter must be
made applicable to the broader South East Asia Region. Hong Kong and the South China region
are strongly driven by costs so, in this context, Life Cycle Costing (LCC) must be included in any
assessment, together with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In both studies, two of the three
recognised environmental aspects of sustainability are measured: economics and environment. The
third, the social impact, has been excluded because of a present lack of data, the difficulty in
setting the scope of such a study, and setting recognised and appropriate 'yardsticks' within Hong
Kong to measure social indicators. The intention is to focus on social indicators in future work.
% ('trolpar;~ti\cSuct:~ir~al,ilit! ~ ~ c t ~ \ \ n iol't:~rlrl:trd
~-~iI I i o ~ ~ c i l tI!locl\c
l: ill Iloltg Kong i~ntlI'roportbtl
Intcgcr ( oriccpt I over +.ltt~r~~:~ti\v
The study compared the environmental and cost performance of the following three 40-
storey residential tower types: a housing authority "standard" Harmony Block (HAB), a private
sector housing block (PSB), and the Integer Concept Tower (ICT) (50-year and 75-year life).
The ICT is a speculation, designed to demonstrate how future Hong Kong high-rise
housing (40 storeys) might be configured and constructed. It was the result of research and design
undertaken by the Integer Partners with input from some of Hong Kong's leading construction
consultants. It forms one of the major themes of the exhibition on the future of Housing in Hong
Kong at the Integer Pavilion. It has initiated a construction industry research and development
group that focuses on construction related sustainability issues. This group is composed of
representatives from the Integer "Partners" as well as from leading university departments'
involved in construction, interested in advancing sustainable construction.
The study has shown, the overall energy performance of the ICT lies between the HAB
(0.22 M J / ~ CFA/annum/occupant)
' and the PSB (1.16 MJlm' CFA/annum/occupant) with 0.95
M J / CFA/annum/occupant
~ ~ over 75-year life, and when amortized over 75-year life its rate per
annum is best with 563 M J / ~ CFAIannum
' (versus 709 for HAB and 750 for PSB). The annual
rate per occupant of embodied energy is extremely efficient in the HAB. The best performing
building type for the waste indicator is the ICT, over the 50 and 75-year life with respectively
19.45 and 12.51 dm3/m2 CFAIannum (against 20.84 for HAB and 23.37 for PSB). The results
show that the ICT is the overall best performing building with 129 and 107 CO2 kg/m2CFAIannum
over 50 and 75-year life respectively, but the most striking aspect of the results is the
predominance of the operational CO' emissions. Interestingly the cost indicator appears to mirror
the energy results.
Longevity is important and the ICT becomes the best performer over all the indicators in
the 75-year life assessment. The presumption here is that it will, in reality have a 75-year life
because of the intrinsic flexibility of its frame construction, where as the inherent inflexibility of
the other two building types will limit their life spans. The operational regime is significant for all
buildings and energy efficiency is clearly important. Thus strategies to reduce energy demand and
increase the supply of all energy types from renewable energy generation sources should be
examined. The repair and maintenance regime is also very significant indicating that varying and
improving how the building is run and maintained could greatly reduce the overall life cycle
impacts. The Integer Concept Tower is definitely worthy of further investigation.
The outcome is a combined LCAILCC decision making tool specially for assessment of
the New Harmony Block (Option 2). The integration of LCA and LCC methodology is based on
quantitative assessment and therefore is more accurate than the qualitative building environmental
assessment method currently available that are often based on check-box assessment methods,
such as Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method (HK-BEAM) and BRE's
Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM). Building designers can therefore evaluate
precisely and objectively the relative sustainability and cost effectiveness of their material
selections from a whole life-cycle perspective. The life cycle perspective includes all stages such
as raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, construction, operation, and
maintenance, disposal and recycling.
The LCAILCC decision making tool measures and quantifies the following ten
environmental impacts for each life-cycle stage:
Energy (GJ)
Resource depletion (tonnes)
Water consumption (cubic metres)
Waste (tonnes)
Climate change (tonnes C 0 2 eq.)
Acid rain (kg SO2 eq.)
Photochemical smog (kg ethane eq.)
Ozone depletion (kg CFC-I I eq.)
Toxicity to humans (kg Tox eq.)
Toxicity to ecosystems (kg Tox eq.)
A CSornparati\eSu\tainabilit? Ar5e5smrnt of Standard Ilooring Blocks in Ilong Kong and Proposed
Integer ('onccpt 'Io~verAlternati\e
"For each category of impact, characterization will be taken to define the contribution of
an environmental burden (intervention) to the impact. The purpose of this is to translate different
inventory inputs into directly comparable impact indicators. For example, characterization would
provide an estimate of the relative human toxicity between lead and zinc. One burden which makes
a contribution which is considered to have a contribution to that impact, or 'potency', of 1.
Other burdens are considered with a potency factor relative to that. Alternatively, the burden can
be characterized by measuring it in a particular unit, such as cubic meters of water. The
characterization process follows international practices in the characterization of inventory data for
their potency with the different impact categories.
The characterized impact will then be normalized. The purpose is to express impact
indicator data in a way that can be compared among impact categories. The procedures
normalized the characterized results by dividing by selected reference values, which can be:
The total emissions or resource use for region that may be local, regional or global
The total emissions or resource use for an area on a per capita basis" (Howard,
Edwards & Anderson, 1999).
The normalized impact should be weighted before comparisons can be made between
different specifications. If the potential impacts for two different impact categories are equally
large after normalization, the weighting process which reflects the perceived relative seriousness to
each impact category is used to assess the difference between each impact. The assessment is
based on workshops carried out in October 2002 that canvassed the views of a wide range of Hong
Kong's construction industry representatives who ranked the relative seriousness of the ten impact
categories. The weighted impacts are totalled and form a unitised Hong Kong Environ-Point, an
environmental impact indicator for the combined LCAILCC study.
below.
Finally very good local cost data were available throughout the building life cycle and thus
the study was able to create building life-cycle models for each building type. Thus the
assessment took into account all the buildings' full life cycle, from the manufacture of the building
components and elements from raw materials, through the construction and operational life of the
buildings and finally to the end of the buildings' lives. Assumptions had to be made of course
about the maintenance regime of the Integer Tower.
This methodology is in accordance with the sensitivity analysis established by previous work
(AMATO, 1996). The other noteworthy point is the significance of the operational energy figures,
in relation to the initial and repair and maintenance figures, it is about equal to the total of both the
construction of the building in the first place and repairing the building fabric during its life.
However it would seem that the repair and maintenance regime (R&MR) of all the
housing blocks is considerable, over 30% more than the construction of the building in the first
place for the HAB and while the R&MR for the ICT is only approximately 25% of the initial
figure very interestingly it is almost 50% more for the PSB. The question that emerges is why the
R&MR values should be so much in comparison with the initial values. This and explanations of
why the proportional figures (from 25% - 50%) should also vary considerably over the range of
building types will be analysed comparatively with other international work in the future but have
yet to be carried out and will occur at the end of this study.
Finally the buildings have very different occupancies and so at the end of each parameter
the annual rateper occupant is shown. Clearly the HAB emerges as being extremely efficient in
this respect and the Housing Authority can take some pride in this achievement. However this
does provoke a long-term concern about people's aspirations to future standards and whether the
desire for greater space and consumptions standards will inexorably drive the occupants now
housed in the HAB to demand a 'consumption level' that is more similar to those enjoyed in the
PSB. If this view is taken the ICT over 75 years does seem to offer the best long term solution.
Similar results were obtained for waste, see Table 2, where again the quantity of steel was
significant as this time the steel frame was recycled and reduced the total quantity of waste going
to landfill. It should be remembered that at present the waste figures are calculated by volume and
not mass and greater differences might emerge between the Integer Concept Tower and the
existing concrete housing blocks as the mass of steel is more than concrete.
It appears that the best performing building type for the waste indicator is the ICT, over
the 50 and 75-year life. It has been assumed that all the metals for all the buildings will be
recycled and because there is a considerably greater tonnage of metals (structural steel) in the ICT,
this has had the effect of considerably boosting the amount recycled and thus reduced the amount
going to landfill. Also the effect of amortizing the building over another 50% more of its life
again considerably reduces the rate per annum, a peculiar concept perhaps, as a building is not
demolished in yearly stages, but is applicable on a larger citywide scale.
\i Comparatise Su\lainahilit~Al~es+niclltof Stantlard Iloosing Blocks in Hong Kong and Propowd
Integer ('oncrpt '1 ewer /\ltcrnarivr
"Carbon dioxide values were unable to be reliably calculated for the demolition process,
as the energy consumption and fuel mix attributable to the transport of waste material to disposal
sites was found to be extremely variable for the examples investigated. However COz emission
resultant from the demolition process are likely to be of a similar order as those for energy i.e. very
much smaller when compared with the initial and overall life-cycle totals.
Here again the figures presented in Table 3 show the ICT is the overall best performing
building but the most striking aspect of the above results is the predominance of the operational
COz emissions.
Table 4 Cost figures for various life cycle stages
Interestingly the cost indicator, as shown in Table 4, appears to mirror the energy results.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Longevity is important and the ICT becomes the best performer over all the indicators
in the 75-year life assessment. The presumption here is that it will have a 75-year life
because of its intrinsic flexibility of its frame construction. Whether this same
.\ <'oniparati\c Su5tainabilit 4\\c\\mcnt of Standard Iiou\ing Block\ i a I l o ~ Kong
~ g and Propowd
lotcgt>r('onecpt 1 o.crrr ,.\ltcr~tati\c
flexibility and thus extension of overall building life can also be achieved in reality by
the other two standard blocks is out with the scope of this study. But redundancy is
seldom caused by the basic constructional materials losing their functional integrity
and nearly always to do with the economics of flexibility. As Hong Kong's GDP
increases it is very likely that tenants once content with space standards that would be
considered in many other countries to be small may well demandldesire greater
habitable floor area. If this cannot be achieved by the refurbishment of buildings due
to the inherent inflexibility of say load bearing cross-wall type construction then
building design ought to be changed to facilitatelmaximise flexibility.
A process of benchmarking of the complete range of Hong Kong's building types
ought now to be undertaken so that best practice standards can become design targets.
The operational regime is significant for all the buildings and energy efficiency is
clearly important and strategies to reduce demand and supply with energy generated
renewably should be examined.
The repair and maintenance regime is also very significant indicating that varying and
improving how the building is run and maintained could potentially considerably
reduce the overall life cycle impacts.
The Integer Concept Tower is definitely worthy of further investigation.
The models can now be interrogated to review a whole series of design questions. For
example:-
* At what point would the inclusion of photo voltaic faqade cladding be cost
effective or conversely, how much would the price of energy have to rise
to make its inclusion paid for in say 10 years.
A similar question could be posed for insulation.
If the layout (plan form) of the buildings were rationalise what would be
the consequence.
Perhaps the largest question to be raised in Hong Kong's construction
sector at present is the extent and potential of the use of precast elements.
Here a range of alternatives can be explored and the proposals optimised.
The first study is now almost complete, the bulk of the work being the creation of the
building models. However the following points are a direct outcome from the first
study and these have yet to be initiated:-
* The operational energy and C 0 2 model requires greater validation. The
figures that have been derived are correct, but there now remains the task
of establishing a representative range of results that reflect the range of
lifestyles of the different types of tenants, sizes of families etc. It is also
desirable to have a better understanding of future energy demand and
supply trends, and especially of the significance of how energy demand is
affected by energy cost.
The current practice of recycling materials in Hong Kong needs further
understanding so that the end-of-life waste stream to landfill can be more
accurately calculated.
A sensitivity analysis needs to be carried out using a range of methods to
assess the benefit of future recyclability of materials, especially steel.
This has been shown to make a significant difference to the comparative
analysis of concrete and steel frame alternatives.
Following this is to bring forward the debate about whether recycled and
reused construction materials are going to make a significant contribution
to minimising the flow of waste.
A C omparathe Snstainabilit) A\sCs\rne~rtoPStantlard Iluuring Block\ i ~ rllong Kong aod I'ropoced
I~ltegcrC'oncept 7 owrr Alternath e
REFERENCES
Amato, A. 1996. A Comparative Environmental Appraisal of Alternative Framing
Systems for Offices. Oxford Brookes University, U.K.
Chen, T. Y., Burnett, J., & Chau, C. K. 2001.Analysis of embodied energy use in the residential
building of Hong Kong, Energy, Volume 26,Issue 4,Pages 323-340.
http://~~~.~~iencedirect.com/science/article/B6V2S-42RORYM-
April 2001.
1/2/9b3936a8847084f680dd079e7b493442,
Howard, N., Edwards, S., & Anderson, J. 1999. BRE Methodology for Environmental
Profiles of Construction Materials, Components and Buildings. London: BRE.
I'liought 011the Henowa1 \lode i l l the Old (.it! in \\ uhan:
('omp;~ri\ooof \tndic\ of two \ample /one\ in \\ ulrau sntl tllc thought i ~ t ~ oitu t
Abstract: The old city in Wuhan is densely placed with low and mid-rise buildings, especially
in the former concessions. The preservation of its historical features and the call for rapid
development seem to be a contradictory issue that never conciliate. The "Yongqing zone" and
the "Yiyuan zone", both famous concessions in Wuhan, picked up a completely different
developing mode. The former followed the "format" manner while the latter arranged
"workshop" (public participation) after preliminary investigations. It was the first time in
Wuhan to address the issue with the "bottom-up" method. Making a comparison between these
two sample zones and probing deeper into the problems of old city renewal in Wuhan, the
paper arrives at the conclusion that a "bottom-up" developing mode with a "small-scalenn
"step-by-step" upgrading method is an alternative solution in Wuhan. A series of systems
should be set up for public participation and renewal assessment. Also, the paper proposes
some practice measures to address the problem.
1. INTRODUCTION
In the new millennium, with the economy booming in Wuhan, rapid development calls for
large amount of land provision. By the year 2000, the registered real estate developers in Wuhan
reached 571, accompanied by the amount of dismantled houses rose year after year (Table 1).
Large-scale old city renewal in Wuhan goes on at high gear.
163
l'l~oughtoa t l ~ rKcnewal hlodc in tile Olcl C it! ill Cl u h a ~ ~ :
('ompilrison of 5tudius of two sample rorlcr in Wul~aliarlcl the fl~oughti~boutif
Wuhan carried out its plan of protection of the features of the old city in its master plan
from 1996 to 2000, but there are many problems in the operation and implementation approaches.
The author has participated in two projects of design in the old city zone in 2002. However, the
patterns of practice were completely different. One of the projects - the "Yongqing zone"
followed the "top-down" pattern with a "format" practicing style (Figure I), while the latter - t h e
"Yiyuan zone" picked up a "bottom-up" one. Through thorough investigation and taking in the
"public participation" method, we got statistic figures that will lead to a sound way out in the real
practice.'21
Figure 2 Aerial Kew oJ'Tongfeng Community (Eyuan Zone) (Investigated in the Research)
(Photographer: Gong Jian)
['I The research project -"Reconstruction of Community: Study on Type&Form of the old City Renewal of Wuhan",
assigned by Wuhan Urban Planning &Research Institute and cooperated with School of Architecture and Urban Planning
of Huazhong University of Science &Technology began in December 2002, in both zones at the same time.
A linong is a small walled residential community with rows of townhouses (a variety of the courtyard house)
accessible through lanes between the rows.
14] Reconstruction of Community in the Downtown Areas of Wuhan City
School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Huazhong University of Science and Technology. 2002.6
I'hooght on the Rcnc\+ol \lode in the Old C i t ~in FF ehan:
('omparison ot'\ti~dic\of t w o saniplc l o n e \ in M l l l i a ~ant1
~ tile tliooght ;~holltit
~~
I
PUBLIC FACILITIES NEEDED
' I CHEN Ming and DAI Shenzhi. 2003. The Residents' Participation and the Sustainable Development in Old Urban
Housing Areas. The 3rd China Urban Housing Conference. Hong Kong. PI32
['I CHEN Ming and DAI Shenzhi. 2003. The Residents' Participation and the Sustainable Development in Old Urban
Housing Areas. The 3rd China Urban Housing Conference. Hong Kong. P133
165
I l i o i i ~ h t011 1 1 1 ~Rcric.\\i~l\lotlit ill tlrc Oltl C it\ in 5 i uh:le:
( o~iioariwrlof 9 1 1 1 d i ~ 401' [NO \a~npIlc/one$ in L\ u l i i ~ u~rtl
i~ tlte tlro~~ght
;it)(~utit
It has been proved that a powerful community organization-a none profit organization
(NPO) is absolutely necessary in the establishment of a community. Taking the community under
investigation as an example, as the tip of the administration system, "Neighborhood Committee" is
questioned on its representation illegality for its "top-down" administrative features.
"Neighborhood Committee" cannot play its due role of renovation tasks and it is more likely to
lead none-structure of the community. In another word, the "reconstruction of community" is in
essence the "reconstruction of modem community organization". Democratic self-governing and
public participation are the premise in community development and its maturation.
2.6 Manage to Enable the Residents to Go Back to Their Original Places and Decide
the Compensation Level According to the Market.
Only 23.8 percent of the residents accepted the proposal of monetary reimbursement and
60 percent of them chose to have the houses at the very site rebuilt (Table 3). For one thing, they
did not want to give up the convenience they now enjoy, for another, it was perhaps more
important, that they would probably be the greatest losers in this "contract", for, according to the
previous experience in "Yiyuan zone", the residents got only a compensation of 1290RMB per
square meter, with the average price nearby already reaching as high as 2200RMB.
The inclinations of remaining at the original places or returning after renovation should be
taken as the basic rights of the residents, which represent the equality of the society. It is the main
standing point and the fundamental principle to respect and protect the very right in the
reconstruction of community. Deciding the compensation level according to the market and
enlarging the ratio of low-cost, small and middle-sized economical houses are two main counter
measures. Table 3 Assortments of the Residents' Wills on "Dismantle" (Statistic from Questionnaire)
['I Pen Jianbo. 2002.12. Investigation on Outdoor Activities of the Community Residents in Wuhan.
Graduate Thesis of Osaka University.
' I Deserted Streets in a Jammed Town. 2003. The Gated Community in Chinese Cities and Its Solution
Journal of Urban Design, Vol. 8,45-66. Cafax Publishing. P56
I'liought on the Her~ewsl\lode i n the Old C iQ i n I\uhan:
Comp;~risonot'$tutlie$ ot' t w o $ample /ones in Wuh;111ancl the thought bout it
Figure 7 Aerial view o f a unique Linong residential quarter in Hankow Friendship Street
3.1 The Government Should Set Up a Series of Grades of the Old City
Correspondingly With Its Renewal Methods. The Criterions will be Multiple
and Advance Gradually in Due Order.
The renewal and rehabilitation projects have close relationship with the urban
development and it is a process on change. The idea of "once and for all" is not realistic. It is
suggested that some measures as practiced in "historical zone" in China be tried. That is, to set the
houses into 3 types as "conservation", "rehabilitation", and "redevelopment" and treat them
respectively.
3.3 The Old City in Wuhan Has Great Cultural and Potential Economical Values, It
Acts as Catalyze of the City Development.
Wuhan was awarded the honor of "Cultural and Historical City" by the state government
in 1986 for its long history of the built city, full of historical sites as well as the widespread
historical and revolution heritages. Especially the "Linong" residential houses contribute a lot to
the formation of the living-culture of Wuhan city after years of evolution.
The most valuable feature of Wuhan old city is the former concessions. The layout of the
concessions go parallel to the Yangtze River on the north riverside and it has changed the spatial
structure of Hankou the basic layout of the city as a whole: from along the riverside of the
Hanjiang River to evolve parallel to the riverside of the Yangtze ~ i v e r ' ' ~The
' . "Joining-in" of new
element and the "Chinese-Westem combination" architectural style are the spatial features of the
city. It is recommended that the development of the concession zones and the current landscape
project of "2 rivers'"] - 4 riversides Landscape Development" be considered comprehensively
and the present situation of developing the surface layer of the rivers be change (Figure 8).
L
Figure 8 Landscape Development of lhe Yangtze Riverside in Wuhan
(It r n q be combined with the development of the old city.)
L91 Hankou: One of the 3 towns in Wuhan, which lies in the north side of the Yangtze River
[''IDuanyu: Research on the Urban Planning of the Concessions in Hankou (1 861-1927). 200214. Page49 Graduate
thesis of Huazhong University of Science and Technology
["I Two rivers mean the Yangtze River and the Hanjiang River
*l'hought on tlie Renewal \lode in the Oltl City in \+uhan:
('olrlpari~orof studies of t\\o stlrnple Lorlev in \Vuh:ln :lrlcl the thought about it
Take these two samples as comparison: for the one who followed the "format" mode,
though it has some of its precious heritage preserved, it is a "museum-protection" manner, already
proved to be not a sustainable way.
The old city in Wuhan carries not only the glorious history of the city but also reveals the
human spirits; it also serves as the cornerstone of the economy. In fact, there are already wise
businessmen who take the advantages of the cultural effect of the old buildings for economical
benefits. For example, the "Rushou Li Family" is built on the very site of the original "Linong" of
"Rushou Li", and it has a famous advertisement of "old place, fresh new life". "Linong", the
traditional residential unit has turned out to be the selling point of the houses; another example is,
"Lanwan Junyuan", a terrific residential community has an old bacon tower totally preserved on its
original site and it contributes a lot to the creation of the cultural atmosphere of this residential
(Figure 9). "Jiqing Street", who earned its fame after the description of the famous
writer Chi Li, is the epitome of Wuhan in old times. It has, however, turned out to be a nation-
famous "folk-custom and dainty- snack street" afterwards.
So, it is self-evident that the old city in Wuhan will catalyze the development of the city
rather than act as the barrier to it. The mode of rashness that attaches much importance to speed
and scale will inevitably cause loss in the long term.
3.5 The Old City Renewal Is a Complicated System With Money as Its Bottleneck.
There Are Various Channels and Multiple Ways to Channel Money. The Way of
Raising Money Should Operate According to the Market Regulations.
Through the way of replacement and by means of price level, houses on auction, real
estate comprehensive operation and many other measures to cut down the population in the
community, changing the identity of the residents and adding the unit's area are practicable. Thus
a new life can be offered to the houses, which are on good site but in poor condition. Open the
housing market to the whole state, even to the whole world to channel money in the process of old
house sale and renovation. At the same time, it could have the function changed, say, from living
to some scenery site or some commercial streets. Moreover, it is a kind of practicable way to have
'l'l~oughton thc Renewal >lode in the Oltl ('it? in \\'uh:111:
('omparison oi'4tudie+ot two sample m n e s in \F u l ~ a nand the thought : ~ h o it~ ~ t
the value of the old city renewal and its cost reassessed from a sustainable development point of
view.[I3'
3.6 Sound Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) System Should Be Set up at the Same
Time With the Renovation Projects.
Hua Hong and Wang Xiaoming, both from the former Wuhan Urban Construction
Institute, have had an investigation on 150 exiting "Linong" in Hankou in the research of "Co-
research on Renovation and Rehabilitation of the Existing 'Linong' in Wuhan". It shows that: the
features of the living environment of Hankou modern "Linong" lie in the following 7 aspects:
spatial environment, service environment, hygiene environment, safety environment, visual
environment, connection environment and cultural environment. The system was applied in the
renovation project in "Rushou Li" in Hankou, a sound POE system was carried out and had
achieved good results. 'I4]
With the establishment of POE system going further and the work of renovation being
more mature, the renewal and rehabilitation of the old city in Wuhan will be more reasonable.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation in China, No: 50278038
The author would like to thank the guidance from Professor Li Baofeng, Long Yuan, Wang Yuan
and Gong Yanping.
REFERENCES:
Fangke, 2000. The Renewal of the Old City in Modern Beijing. Investigation. Research. Probing,
Beijing: Chinese Architectural Industrial Press.
Wu Liangyong, Fangke, 199914. The Protection and the Development of the Historical Zones With
an Urban Design Point of Kew, Architect. ~ 7Editorial.
' ~ Beijing
Fan Wenbin, Lu Jiwei, 1999112. Analyses of the Mzlltiple Factors That Inject the Renewal of
"Linong" in Shanghai and the Measures Towards them, Architect. 9 1" Editorial. Beijing
J.Jacobs, 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Random House.
Fan Wenbin. Lu Jiwei. The Analyses of the Multiple Factors That Infect the Renewal of Linong in Shanghai and the
Measures Towards Them. Architect. 1999112. 91'' Editorial. Page 52
[I4' Huazhong Architecture. 1998. Vo1.16. No.3
1Irban \lining: l h e ("it? 215 a Source of He-l'whle IZuilding hlatel.inl5
Urban Mining:
The City as a Source for Re-usable Building Materials
Abstract: The general idea of this paper is the attempt to extend the idea of "urban mining" to
construction, regarding the city as a huge source of different types of re-usable building
materials. The author firstly develops a methodology to estimate the accumulated resources in
Japanese building stock using the presumed building stock distribution as well as a database
of itemization of major structural materials per floor area categorized by different constructed
year and building types. The result shows that huge potential recourses are accumulated in the
Japanese building stock at year 2002, which is including 643 million tons of steel, 715 million
m3 of wood and 3384 million m3 of concrete. Compared with the demand in general use of
those materials, the importance to create new possible demands emerges, such as the recycled
aggregate for concrete and the biomass-use for wooden materials. Secondly the connection
between open building and urban mining is discussed. It is concluded that the open building
approach can increase the resource-use efficiency; particularly in case of a well4eveloped
infill system is good for the circular use of materials in building. The result of this research
could provide an important reference for future strategy making.
Keywords: urban mining, building stock, open building, recycling use of resource
1. INTRODUCTION
Waste generated within cities has recently been regarded as a very important mean for
generating new resources. The term "urban mining" is used to respond to this issue. According to
this concept, a city could be considered as a huge stock consisting of many resources. With arising
environmental concerns, it becomes very urgent to realize the actual quantities and the formation
of building stock in order to utilize resources more efficiently. For that reason the author first
develops a methodology to estimate the accumulated resources in the building stock within a case
study area. Secondly, potential solutions are suggested by looking at the balance of demand and
supply of these resources. Thirdly, the potential benefits of the open building approach are
discussed.
2. URBAN MINING
The word 'Urban Mining' is created in the late of 1960s'. It was generated from the
perspective of environmental concerns by recycling of various wastes, scraps and garbage. By
recycling of diverse industrial products in the city, many valuable and useful materials can be
obtained. Compared to natural mining, it is more efficient to get certain important materials
through urban mining in the city. As an example, by refining I ton of cell-phones 280g of gold and
1;rban Mining: 'I'he C'ity as a S o ~ ~ r cofe Re-Usable Building Itfarerial\
1.89kg of silver can be extracted, while only log of gold can be extrac'ted from 3 tons of
overburden in natural mining.
New Production
of Resource
.3 f) /A q
Existing Material Use
,
To non-building use
1
Building
-New Construction
Nature
Resource
Related
Related
R
Natural
e
New Malends
Recycled Maler~als
Input
h Activities
Stock
L---l
UI
Building as
RBSOCIEB
Stock Ir Demolition
Activities
1 Base building as a
flxed infrastructure
0
To non-building use
L Recycling Use of Building Materials waste
Fig.l Diagram of metabolism of material use Fig.2 Concept of ecological material use
around buildings (Yashiro, 2001) (Yashiro, 2001)
Shimoda (200 1) addressed that more than half of the resources consumed in a city per year
are accounted to the construction sector, and most of these resources are accumulated as building
stock. With arising environmental concerns, it becomes very urgent to realize the actual quantities
and the formation of building stock in order to utilize resources more efficiently.
Figure 1 shows the concept of the resource-use in the construction field. The diagram
depicts two big tanks, one is the natural resource stock, and the other is the building stock. Every
year a certain amount of virgin material flows from the tank of the natural resource stock to the
tank of building stock through the construction of new buildings. On the other hand, a certain
amount of building material also flows out from the tank of building stock through demolition of
buildings, of which some of it is recycled and some of it becomes waste. In the concept of
'ecological material use' (fig.2, Yashiro, 2000), it is aimed at minimizing both the new resource
use from the natural resource stock as well as the waste generated from building demolition. In this
point of view, if the building can be used for a long time as a fixed infrastructure, it is possible to
reduce the resource consumption as well as the waste generation, that is, the improvement of
resource efficiency. However, it is very difficult to satisfy the ever changing demands of the users
towards the building. According to Yoshida's research (1996), the prevailing reason for demolition
of building accounts for social or economic factors, but mainly not physical factors of the building
itself. To solve this problem, a continuous customization system is necessary. The open building
approach has a good adaptability to deal with this problem. With the replacement of the infill
system, the base building (equivalent to a fixed infrastructure) can be used for a long period. Later
this will be referred to the concept of open building again.
In general, it can be stated that a city is a huge mine. Every year a certain amount of
buildings is demolished and that is accompanied by producing many solid wastes, including
wooden, steel and concrete materials. However, those wastes can be regarded as re-usable
materials in a positive way. Although, the construction industry generates a huge amount of waste
every year, there is a high potential capacity for the reuse of these materials. Particularly after the
enforcement of the 'Regulation of Recycling in Construction' in 2002, the classification and
proper treatment of those construction wastes has become the responsibility of the owner of the
demolished building. For this reason, it is easier to access those potential materials.
To use these hidden resources more efficiently, it is very important to realize the quality
and the quantity of these accumulated resources. However, there is no proper methodology to
I'rban Mining: l'hc ('it? ;I Source of Re-l'cahle Building hlstcrial\
estimate the quantities of those potential materials. The author proposes a methodology to response
to this problem. Two kinds of information are required for the estimation:
1) Quantity and formation of the building stock
2) Materials used per floor area according to different building types.
The details are described in the following paragraphs.
3.2 Quantity of the major materials consumed per floor area (basic unit)
The 'Survey on actual conditions of construction materials and labor' is held by the
Ministry of Construction in Japan every 3 years since 1976. The quantities of major materials
consumed per floor area (basic unit) of different structural types 1 functions of buildings are
calculated and published. The result of this survey can be regarded reliable as 5000 samples are
extracted among the building work sites in each survey year. The author accessed the data from
1976 to 2000(the newest version) and 4 major building materials are picked up as a basic unit for
estimation. Since the survey is held every 3 years, the data of the survey year is regarded as a
standard value and extended to the other 2 years. The basic unit before 1976 is assumed as the
value of 1976.
,
I 250
-w
WOOD I 8 0 m......
I
Fig.3 Fluctuations in the quantity of major materials usedperjloor area in different structure Ypes
I,rhan \lining: The Cit? ah a So~tl-ccof K e - l w h l e H~rilding\l;~tcrial$
Figure 3 shows the fluctuations in the quantity of major materials used per floor area in
different structure types, where 'W' means wooden structure building, 'SRC' means steel
reinforced concrete structure building, 'RC' means reinforced concrete structure building and 'S'
means steel structure building. As the diagram indicates, the use of concrete and steel has an
increasing trend in all kinds of structure types. It can be explained by the improvement of
technologies and the requirement for higher structure strength. Besides, the use of wooden
materials in wooden structure building had a fluctuating change while the other structure types
were on the decrease.
Here R ( t ) is the remainder function and f (u) is the probability distribution of the life of
buildings.
To simplify the discussion of this model, the difference of the remainder function in
different cohorts is ignored as an assumed condition. In this case, at the point t year, the amount of
existing buildings constructed in k year Sk(t) can be shown as following.
Sprewar
(1) = 'prewar ( i - 1945) Spreuor 945)
Where Sprewar
(i) is the amount of building stock constructed before 2nd World War in i
year, and Rprewar
(i - 1945) is the remainder function of the stock of buildings constructed before
2nd World War, based on the amount of existing buildings in 1945.
Further, according to previous research (Yashiro, 1994), Rprevar
( i - 1945) could be
represented by a logistics curve as follows:
Lt-ban hlining: The <'ity it+ a S o ~ ~ l -ocfeKe-l'\al~lcBuilding hlaterials
According to a series research on the life span of buildings (Yashiro, Komatsu, Kato, and
Yoshida, 1990), using terms of reliability theory, the 'probability density function of failure' is
supposed to follow a normal distribution or logarithmic normal distribution from graphic analysis
and as a consequence in this paper a normal distribution function is applied and the parameters are
as following:
-Stock data I
* b l t e m m t u ~o~f f h w data
-- A
I
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
1945 19501955 I960 I965 1970 1975 1980 1485 1990 19952000
Tatel-Wooden - - S R C -RC - - S - -.CB --Others
Fig.4 Flow data of Japanese building construction Fig.5 Comparison by the integration ofjlow data
and actual stock data
Figure 5 shows the result of comparing integration of total floor area of survived buildings
constructed in the past with the total area of actual existing buildings using flow and stock data
from the 'Building Construction Survey' and the property tax registration. Here the result shows
that presumed data is very close to the actual situation.
Figure 6 shows the supposed distribution of the present Japanese building stock by
constructed year. It displays that most of the present Japanese building stock is occupied by
buildings constructed after 1970. It illustrates the fact that the Japanese present building stock has
been formed very rapidly within the last 30 years. Now as buildings constructed in this period are
aging, they might represent a big issue in the future. Strategies to respond to this problem are very
important.
Figure 7 shows the transition of potential resources accumulated in the Japanese building
stock based on the result of the presumed distribution of the building stock by constructed year.
The rapid growth since 1970 of 3 kinds of main building materials can be observed. Only the use
I;rl)ao klining: I hc Cit! a9 a Source of Iic-1 whlc Building hlateriiil\
Before 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000
1944
Constructed Year
Fig. 6 Preswned distribution ofJapanese building stock by constructed year at 2002
-
*CONCRETE
-A-
AG G REG
STEEL
ATE^
of wooden materials grows slowly and is leveling off. It can be explained by the share of wooden
structure buildings as well as the use of wooden materials in building is decreasing.
1) Wood:
71 5 million m3 of wooden materials are accumulated in the Japanese building stock. This
is 7 times as much as the annual consumption of wooden materials in Japan; 40 times of the
demand of wooden materials in the Japanese building sector in 2000 (17 million m3). It is clear
that the accumulated resources are huge and potential. However, since the imbalance of demand
and supply, it is important to create new possible demands such as the particle boards for interior
finishing materials as well as the biomass-use for energy.
2) Steel:
643 million tons of steel materials are accumulated in Japanese building stock. This is
about 25 times of the annual consumption of steel materials in Japanese construction sector (26
million tons). Since steel is a high value materials as well as the recycling route for it is well-
developed, the recycled rate is very high. However, if a huge amount of steel scrap released from
the demolished buildings in the near future, problems might occur because of the imbalance of
demand and supply. Further, impurities in the steel scrap are also a bottle neck for the recycling of
steel.
3) Concrete:
Compared with the demand for roadbed materials (the major use of concrete scrap
currently) per year (35 million tons), 3384 million m3 (7783 million tons) of concrete are
accumulated in the Japanese building stock. Though the demand is decreasing while the amount of
demolished reinforced concrete buildings is increasing, it is very urgent to create some other use of
these materials. For instance, used as aggregate (recycled aggregate) in fresh concrete, a big
demand can be obtained. That is about 40 times of today's demand for the roadbed materials per
year. For that reason the Japanese government is now making the amendment for the regulations to
implement this use of recycled aggregate.
Energy
Fig-5 Contents of resource used categorized by Fig-6 Efect on reducing waste generation by
InJill and Support (based on the survey on the extending the life time of the base building (based
demolition of a 3DK type housing unit) on a 3DK type housing unit) (WENG, 22001)
(WENG, 2001)
Crban Ilining: 1 hc ('it? it\ n Sourcc of Re-l:sahlc 1211ildiog\latfrial\
According to the author's research (WENG, 2001), the open building approach describes a
useful contribution to the resource-use. 61% to 70% solid waste could be reduced by extending the
life span of buildings from 30 years to 120 years (figure 6) and this result illustrates the potential
advantage of the open building approach for the environmental aspect to reduce the consumption
of resources. As the concept of 'ecological material use' mentioned above shows, if buildings
(skeleton or support) can be regarded as a fixed infrastructure, both the input of new resources as
well as the output of wastes could be reduced.
Figure 5 shows the contents of resources used categorized by Infill and Support (based on
the survey on the demolition of a 3DK type housing unit) and it becomes clear that materials used
in the support (skeleton) accounts for a very large share in the weight of the whole system.
However, materials which have high embodied energy are frequently used in the infill level. Since
the replacement of infill will be more frequent in the open building approach than the traditional, it
is very urgent to develop a recycling system for the infill not to cause additional negative impact
on the environment. On the other hand, if the re-use / recycling system can be well-developed,
more efficient route for recycling could be expected.
Figure 7 illustrate the connection of the open building approach to urban mining. The
bottom of the tank is the fixed infrastructure consists of base building. The accumulated resources
here will flow out very slowly because of the long-tern use for those building. On the other hand,
at the top of the tank, infill systems are replaced frequently to meet the customer's ever-changing
needs. Although the speed of flowing out will be faster, the recycling system can conduct a well
circulation for the utilization of resources
5. CONCLUDING COMMENTS
In this paper, the concept of 'Urban mining' is addressed and a methodology for
estimating the potential resources accumulated in the building stock is proposed.
The methodology developed in this paper need to be more discussed. Mathematical
formula indices presented in this paper are supposed to be applicable to express building stock
formation. However, more precise mathematical expressions and intensive analysis is needed.
Especially this is necessary for the discussion of the difference of the remainder function in
different cohorts of different construction years and regions.
The result of the estimation shows that a huge potential of resources is accumulated in the
Japanese building stock. At year 2002, 643 million tons of steel (which is about 25 times that of
Lrhan \liniag: 'I he Cit! a$ a Source of Kt.-($able Building Rilatcriul$
the annual consumption of steel materials in Japanese construction sector (26 million tons)), 7 15
million m3 of wood (which is 7 times as many as the annual consumption of wooden materials in
Japan) and 3384 million m3 of concrete (220 times of concrete scrape generated per year in Japan)
are accumulated in the building stock. Compare with the demand in general use of those materials,
the importance to create new possible demands emerges, such as the recycled aggregate for
concrete or particle boards for interior finishing materials as well as the biomass-use of wooden
materials.
The connection between open building and urban mining is also discussed, it is concluded
that the open building approach can increase the resource use efficiency. Two benefits can be
pointed out:
1) Long-term-use of the base building can keep the resources accumulated in the stock.
2) Close-cycle infill systems are efficient for the recycling of fitting-out materials in
buildings
The author finally suggests that the following issues should be discussed in the future
1) Methodology to grasp the quantity and quality of recyclable building materials
2) Policies to enforce the motivations for using those recycled materials
3) Supply chain management for inverse logistics
REFERENCES
Shimoda,Y. and Inoue, S. and Yamagishi, H. and Mizuno, M. 2001. Estimation and
evaluation on material jlow in Osaka prefecture, Material and energy metabolism in
urban area and their relationships with buildings Part I . Journal of Architecture Planning
and Environmental Engineering. No.546. 83-90. Tokyo: Architectural Institute of Japan.
Weng, C.L. and Yashiro, T. and others. 2001. Basic Study on the Assessment of Open
Building System from the Environmental Aspect. Proceedings of Symposium on
Organization and Management of Building Construction. 13-18. Tokyo: Architectural
Institute of Japan.
Yashiro, T. 1990. Basic Study on Relation between Actual Life and Consumption of
Resources for Building Production. Proceedings of 6th Symposium on Organization and
Management of Building Construction. 27 1-276. Tokyo: Architectural Institute of Japan.
Yashiro, T. 1994. Analysis on Past Building Stock Formation Using Life Distribution
Model Obtained From Building Activity Statistics. Journal of Architecture Planning and
Environmental Engineering. No.464. 15 1- 160. Tokyo: Architectural Institute of Japan.
Yashiro, T. and Kato, Y. and others. 1990. Survey On Real Life Span of OfJice Building in
Chuuou Ward of Tokyo City. Journal of Architecture Planning and Environmental
Engineering. No.464. 15 1- 160. Tokyo: Architectural Institute of Japan.
Yashiro, T. and Yo, U. and Weng, C.L. 2000. Methodology to Meusure Eficiency in
Building Construction Activities-Basic Study on Sustainable Construction Indicators(Part
2). Proceedings of ~ ~ m ~ o s ion
u mOrganization and Management of Building
Construction. 13-18. Tokyo: Architectural Institute of Japan.
Yoshida, T. and Iida, K. and Ochiai, K, and Kato, Y. and Komatsu, Y. and Mitsuhashi, H.
and Yashiro, T. 1992. Research on the reason,for building demolition. Proceedings of gth
Symposium on Organization and Management of Building Construction. 359-366. Tokyo:
Architectural Institute of Japan.
Urban Discontiaoity ancl Redevelopmeat of Mega-Scale Pro,jects
Abstract: The built environment is a continuous fabric of components at various levels that
undergo constant change through redevelopments. Renewal and growth of the city are
intrinsically dependent on continuous such redevelopments to replace degenerated components to
ensure improvements in the quality of our living conditions. As society progresses, the scale of
redevelopments becomes larger and larger. In Hong Kong, statutory and market conditions led to
the invention of the "podium type" development for large-scale residential projects. This paper
examines the problems associated with the redevelopment of mega-scale "podium type"
developments.
Changes on the various levels of the built environment - city, city block, street block, site,
building, unit, room, furniture - take place continuously albeit in different time scales. The lower
the level, the more frequent such changes occur. While moving components around or adding new
components is a relatively commonplace event on the furniture level, knocking down internal
walls to change the layout of components is less so on the room level. This is the case for two
reasons. First, the components gets smaller as one goes from higher to lower levels and hence
requires less effort to rearrange or replace. Second, the higher the level the more people will be
affected by changes to the components of that level. As a result, the number of controlling agents
who have to give consent to the changes grows exponentially as one moves up the levels.
Although frequent, reconfigurations at the unit level or lower are contained within the
envelope of the building level components and have minimal effect on the community because
there is little direct impact on the urban fabric. To the urban fabric and the community it contains,
more influential changes begin at the building level through redevelopments, which occur when
building(s) are demolished and new building(s) are erected to replace them (Figure 1). As
redevelopments are conducted over the course of time, boundaries of components can shift
horizontally within the same level. This happens at both the building and site levels when
component boundaries are added, subtracted or redistributed.
A boundary can be added to a site by building a fence wall down its centre line to divide
the site physically into two smaller site level components. At the building level, a building can be
removed to make way for two or more buildings with smaller footprints. This represents a
redistribution of building level component boundaries. In the above cases, the components
decrease in size. To increase the sizes of components, two sites can be combined to form a larger
site or a number of smaller buildings can be torn down to make way for the construction of a larger
building. In Hong Kong, the tendency is towards ever-increasing component sizes at the building
levels and above, especially in new urban areas.
As a result of rapid urban growth and improvement of living standards, the scale of
redevelopment becomes larger and larger in Hong Kong. Although there are still small-scale
redevelopments where a single building is replaced by a new building without changes to the site
level components, more and more redevelopments involve significant interventions at the site
level. Figure 2 shows the typical configuration of traditional city blocks in older areas of Hong
Kong. Each block is made up of a series of individual lots of various sizes with a single building
erected on it. The buildings front a vehicular road and are served by a network of service lanes at
the back of the lot. The service lanes provide natural ventilation and lighting in the extremely
dense set-up as well as a means for discharging people in case of fire.
The smallest scale redevelopment is of the one-to-one kind where a single building in one
lot is replaced by another one (Figure 2). In this type of single-lot redevelopment, there are no
changes to the configuration of the site level components. Only the configuration of the building
level elements is re-arranged while the configuration of the site level elements remains intact. In
other words, there is no cross level intervention taking place.
When an agent controls two or more lots that are adjacent to each other, or when agents
controlling adjacent lots cooperate in a joint-venture effort, the result is a multi-lot redevelopment.
Two or more lots are combined into a larger lot in this redevelopment type to gain benefits from
economies of scales in development potential, construction and management (Figure 3). As
illustrated in Figure 3, there are a number of possible outcomes from such type of redevelopment.
The result can be a unified lot containing a single larger building replacing a number of smaller
buildings that stood on the original separate lots. Furthermore, the service lane between the
original sites is deleted in this scenario because it is no longer required to serve the larger
combined lot. The result can also be a unified lot containing multiple buildings. In both cases,
transformation is not limited to the building level. The configuration of the site level elements is
also changed in additional to the building level elements, i.e. cross level interventions occurs. To
Urban 1)ircontinuity and licdr\ elopnicnt o f \ l c ~ ; ~ - S c a l cProjcctr
expedite this type of amalgamation of site for redevelopment, the controlling agent(s) surrenders
the group of lots to the government, which will then re-grant the separate lots of land as a single lot
with revised development conditions under a new lease.
When more and more lots are included in a multi-lot redevelopment, it comes to a point
where the project is expanded to include the whole street block (Figure 4). In this large-scale
development, every lot within the street block is combined into one single lot of considerable size.
This removes all the original site boundaries that once divided the block and erases all traces of the
configuration of the site level elements that build up the urban fabric. The network of service
lanes is also subsumed under the unification of the lots. When moving from a higher level to a
lower level of the built environment in this type of redevelopment, one moves directly from the
configuration of the street block level elements to that of the building level elements and skips the
site level all together. The site level boundary has expanded to coincide with the street block level
boundary. After redevelopment, there no longer exists a configuration of elements within the
subject street block at the site level - the site level has collapsed between the street block level and
building level.
As the scale of redevelopment continues to grow, even a street block is not big enough.
The logical next step is the combination of street blocks to form even larger mega-scale
redevelopments. Two street blocks are combined to form a single redevelopment lot in Figure 5.
The configurations of elements from three different levels are changed in this scenario: the
replacement and reconfiguration of all elements at the building level, the elimination of all site
level elements and redistribution of boundaries in the configuration of street block level elements.
Similar to the extinguishment of the service lanes in the smaller scale cases, the vehicular road
between the two street blocks is subsumed in the process of combining elements. It is not difficult
to imagine the magnitude of the potential adverse impact cross level intervention of this scale
would have on the community and the living environment in the neighbourhood, especially during
the demolition and construction stages.
The planning principle of Hong Kong centres around the Outline Zoning Plans (OZP),
which separate regions in Hong Kong into zones designated for different uses, such as commercial,
residential, government institution and community, open space, etc. The idea is to locate
compatible uses together to minimize undesirable interface between "incompatible uses".
Following this land-use planning pattern, the majority of private developments in Hong Kong have
a very limited diversity in terms of uses. With few exceptions, large-scale residential projects
follow one of three general types:
Urban I)iscontinoity arid Rede\elopmeot of \lcga-Scale I1rojcct\
Type 1: A number of high-rise residential tower blocks sitting on top of a large podium
containing commercial, carparking and other facilities, with open spaces and
recreational facilities provided on the top of the podium (Figure 6). Seldom seen outside
Hong Kong, this building type is a direct result of Hong Kong Building (Planing)
Regulations that allows 100% site coverage up to a height of 15m.
Type 2: A number of individual freestanding high-rise residential tower blocks arranged around
a large landscaped area and open spaces with commercial, recreational, carparking and
other facilities located in separate low-rise buildings (Figure 7).
Type 3: A combination of the above two types with some high-rise residential tower blocks
sitting on top of a large podium while others are freestanding.
5. URBAN RENEWAL IN HONG KONG
The Tsuen Wan Town Centre Project currently under construction by the Hong Kong
Urban Renewal Authority is a typical example of the podium type residential development.
Covering over 2 hectares, the project is the comprehensive redevelopment of the old town centre
of Tsuen Wan undertaken by the government. The project consists of 107,800m2 of residential
flats spread among high-rise towers sitting on a podium, which houses 22,800 m2 and 2,900 m2 of
commercial use and government, institute and community facilities respectively. Despite the
presence other uses such as retail shops, cinemas, recreation, etc., residential use is the dominant
function in these developments. In terms of numbers, the percentage of gross floor area devoted to
residential use in this living environment is over 80%.
Replacing the Land Development Corporation in May 2001, the Urban Renewal Authority
(URA) is established to lead urban renewal in Hong Kong to a new direction. The objective of the
URA is "to regenerate the run-down parts of Hong Kong through a combination of redevelopment,
revitalization and rehabilitation. We also strive to preserve Hong Kong's culture and heritage, and
buildings with historical value while redeveloping old districts."' With the view that conventional
piecemeal project-based approaches has failed to recognize urban renewal as a valuable means to
revitalize the outdated physical infrastructure of the old urban area, the URA replan and transform
the old urban areas on an area-wide basis. Urban renewal thus becomes a holistic undertaking to
create quality modern living environments with concerns extending beyond the profitability and
economics of individual projects to the overall well-being of the larger community. The Planning
Department commissioned the "Urban Design Guidelines for Hong Kong" in 1998 with a view to
preparing a set of guidelines to promote public awareness on design considerations, and to provide
a broad framework for urban design assessment.
In this sense, urban renewal is not a building level problem - it is not about replacing
individual building level components that have degenerated over the years. Since a lower level
component cannot alter the higher level structure, intensions to transform the nature of the higher
level configuration cannot be implemented by changing the lower level components only. Urban
renewal thus concerns redesigning the higher level hierarchy, i.e. the configuration of the urban
fabric in which individual building level components are arranged, more than the actual
improvement of the lower level elements. While the redevelopment of individual building level
elements can be carried out by the respective controlling agents themselves, urban renewal can
only be realized by the intervention of the higher level controlling agent -the government.
Although planned with the best intentions to create more comprehensive interventions
with wider community influence at the street block level, podium type renewal developments have
much deeper effect on the urban fabric than simply imposing changes on the higher level
hierarchy. Instead of restructuring the higher level structure by providing a more desirable
configuration for lower level components, podium type redevelopment projects eradicate the
higher level structure and replace it with a largely expanded lower level element - effectively a
huge building the size of a street block with multiple towers on the upper floors.
1
"Chairman's Message" in website of the Hong Kong Urban Renewal Authority
187
Figure 8: Redevelopment ofpodium type residential developments
The relatively closely-spaced structural load-bearing walls of each of the tower blocks are
supported by a massive transfer plate at the podium level held up by enlarged columns of the
podium structure. Structurally, every tower block and the podium are inherently connected to
become a whole. Therefore, the residential blocks on top of the podium can not be redeveloped as
individual elements at the building level because they are now physically linked in such a way that
none of the blocks can be replaced or reconfigured independently without causing significant
adverse impact on the overall structure and living conditions of the remaining elements in the
configuration (Figure 8).
Replacement of any of the building level elements in this configuration poses potential
problems because it would require an enormous investment of additional resources compared to
redevelopment of individual free-standing buildings. In order to redevelop an individual block,
substantial protective measures and careful planning must be conducted to minimize negative
impact on the remaining spaces and structure. The other choice is to redevelop the whole podium
structure and the towers sitting on it. Apart from the additional financial, labour, time and material
resources that are required to be committed to expand the scale of the development, resumption of
units and land may present further complicated problems. So far, there has not been any case in
Hong Kong where individual tower blocks on a podium type development are redeveloped
independently.
----------------,
'-
On the other hand mega-scale residential developments with multiple free-standing blocks
do not have this problem upon redevelopment. Since the blocks are not physically connected, any
one or more of the blocks can be redeveloped independently or in groupings as desired. Building
level elements can be changed without the need to replace and reconfigure all the elements within
the boundary of the lot (Figure 9).
oft \legs-Scale I'roject\
llrban Ili\continuit~ and K e d ~ v e l o p n ~ e n
As discussed, when the condition of the buildings deteriorate in forty or more years' time
and need to be redeveloped, it is most likely that the development would need to be demolished
and rebuilt as a whole. This redevelopment will therefore create an urban black hole the size of a
large street block right in the middle of the community. One must bear in mind that disruptions to
the community caused by redevelopments of this scale extends beyond the tangible impacts, such
as pollution resulting from the construction activities, visual impact of the construction site,
realignment of pedestrian patterns, etc. To appreciate the size and impact of the above, one can
compare the size of MetroCity Phase 2 with Ground Zero, the wreckage site resulting from the
September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001, which measures
6.5 hectares. The two are in the same order of magnitude.
7. CONCLUSION
It is an inevitable trend that the scale of urban renewal projects will continue to increase.
Although these projects are planned to bring improvements to the urban environment, we must not
overlook the potential adverse impact on the community and our living environment when the time
comes for redevelopment of what we are building today. Such impact increases exponentially with
cross level interventions when the scale of redevelopment is no longer restricted to the building
level and extends to the site and street block levels. Discontinuity in the urban fabric is created
when large regions are hoarded off for construction works for long periods of time. The prevalent
podium type residential developments cause further problems by allowing no flexibility for smaller
scale redevelopments - the kind which promulgates continuous urban growth - because of the
collapse of the site level.
To prevent creating such discontinuities, urban renewal must be viewed not only as a
process to replace degenerated elements in our living environment. Instead, more emphasis should
be placed on the restructuring of the higher level configurations. This issue can be understood in
terms of short-term and long-term objectives. On the one hand, the short-term objective is to
replace dilapidated building level elements to better utilize scarce land resources. On the other, the
long-term objective is to create a site level and/or street block level configuration to ensure
continuous urban growth is possible upon future redevelopment. While territorial control can be
extended from the building level to the higher site and street block levels by imposing a structure
over the configuration of elements at the respective levels, physical control should be confined to
the lower levels so that redevelopment on the site and building levels are not prohibited.
REFERENCES
Boekholt, J.T., P.J.M. Dinjens, N.J. Habraken and A.P. Thijssen (1976) Variations: The
Systematic Design of Supports. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Habraken, N.J. (1998) The Structure of the Ordinary. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Kendall, S. and J. Teicher (2000) Residential Open Building. London: E & FN Spon.
Lai, L.W.C. (1997) Town Planning in Hong Kong: A Critical Review. Hong Kong: City
University of Hong Kong Press.
'I'tic <'onfigurablr Crban Su\tainability
Abstract: This article introduces the problem of describing urban sustainability due to
the lack of well-defined concepts. This lack is one of the problems many authors face
when making proposals on how sustainable development in cities can be understood
and achieved. It will conclude that urban compactness can best be approached from a
configurable point of view, due to that compactness is a topological term.
There is an essential difference between preventing someone from driving a car and
making him do so. If one wants to prevent it, one can e.g. take away all fuel. Fuel is necessary for
driving a car. Thus disposing of fie1 is a condition necessary for the usage of a combustion
engine. On the other hand, making someone drive a car requires a set of conditions to be fulfilled.
Their conjunction is sufficient to bring about the relevant consequence. For instance, the person in
question is supposed to dispose of some kind of appropriate know-how, he might in a sense be
willing to co-operate and listen to our arguments. None of these conditions taken in isolation is
sufficient to make him drive. Numerous other ones are relevant in this case. If all of them are
fulfilled he will be driving.
This consideration pertains to the concept of sustainability. Sustainability is not relevant
only if we assess its conditions. At issue is thus the concept of a necessary condition as to why
something became possible and, likewise, the concept of a sufficient condition such that something
became necessary. The difference between these kinds of conditions pertains to human action and
policy in general and thus to sustainability in particular.
This article attempts to answer the question in what ways a morphological in other words
configurational approach contributes to our understanding of urban sustainability. This broad
subject will be approached in the following way: Firstly, the term sustainability requires some
explanatory remarks. They will secondly lead to a discussion of urban sustainability. Thirdly,
compactness and its impact on urban sustainability will be taken into consideration. Finally,
compactness will be reconsidered in configurational terms. The difference between necessary and
sufficient conditions will pertain to each of these sections. Moreover, all subsequent considerations
will present themselves from a so to speak holistic perspective. For an understanding of the
complexity of human beings and their behaviour in cities is at stake at least on the following
levels: Rationales for human behaviour can be given in terms of economic activities, i.e. with
regard to profit maximising when reaching potential customers. Rationales for human behaviour
can be given equally in terms of social activities and values. In the present context especially
human rationales for choosing a dwelling area are at issue. Conversely, the nature and form of a
built environment can encourage or put limitations on social and economic behaviour.
2. DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY
The subject of sustainability introduced itself for good reasons. Christian Patermann, the
director of the Environmental and Sustainable Development research programme, notices that
during the 20th century cities tended to put economic expansion on their agenda. They did so at the
cost of social well-being and environmental equilibrium. The social effects are for instance
placelessness, exclusion, insecurity, criminality, and loss of cultural identity. The environmental
effects are among others bad air quality, pollution, and low-density urban sprawl. Furthermore, the
effects of traffic congestion and deteriorating infrastructure and built environments have affected
the locations of economical activities (Patermann 2002, p. I).
The Brundland report of 1987 and the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro rightly
predicted that in the beginning of this century more than 50% of the world's population will live in
urban areas. During the last decades, increased energy use for transportation in urban areas
contributed to the greenhouse effect. In these contexts the concept of a sustainable development
came on the agenda and turned into a fashion word of the 90's. The manifold difficulties in
defining this term naturally reflect its political origin (Jenks 1996, p. 3-6).
There are numerous definitions of the term "sustainable development"'. According to the
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, "sustainable development"' is defined as a "development
which meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to achieve their
needs and aspirations" (Jenks 1996, p. 233). A major problem in defining sustainability in this
manner results from the term's normative as well as descriptive aspects. From a normative point of
view, questions of the following kind seem appropriate: Should something be sustainable and what
should be done in order to guarantee its sustainability? In this case one intends to assess a certain
goal in terms of sustainability. The descriptive aspects of sustainability, however, concern what
actually is or will be the case. According questions ask what is or will be sustainable. If intentions
of future generations are taken into account at present it is most difficult to keep their structural
distinction.
One should in principle try to assess whether scientists or politicians propose a normative
or descriptive understanding of sustainability. The issue is difficult. For the suggestion of the
Brundtland Report concerns present as well as future needs, hence not just descriptive, but
likewise normative matters.
Now, what kind of objects can be sustainable? Sustainable, the quoted definitions tell is
not an object but a development or process. That will say a development influenced by or
consisting in human interaction. It is a complex process. Urban sustainability is a particular case of
sustainability. If sustainability is about processes one has to speak about urban sustainability or
better a sustainable urban development rather than a sustainable city. Otherwise one is compelled
to understand a city as a process not as an object. Many recent writings about sustainable built
environments discuss sustainable cities as if they were objects. Moreover, the distinction between
what is a sustainable city and what should be a sustainable city is not always clear.
How can one describe what a sustainable development is in urban areas, when there is a
continual transformation of urban cultures and economies, and when built cities are under
continuous transformation? If one preserves an existing situation with high living qualities in
cities, is it then sustainable when more and more people move into cities and the world's
population increases? What are the effects then? Thus urban sustainability has to concern
continuous transformation processes of economies and cultures where their impacts on the
environment - either built or natural - can be understood as a product. And can the impacts on the
product encourage a certain kind of behaviour, both socially and economically? At least
descriptive approach to urban sustainability is a two sided topic, where one aims to understand the
impacts of social and economic activities on the built environment and conversely in which way
the built environment conditions - be it necessarily or sufficiently - a certain kind of economic and
social behaviour. In whatever way urban sustainability can be understood, these processes have to
be taken into consideration.
There are numerous writings on urban areas and their sustainable development. Most of
them set out as a criticism on Le Corbusier's Radiant City model, Ebernezer Howard's Garden city
model, Frank Lloyd Wright's individualistic dwelling model and general post war planning. These
kinds of anti-urban city models and planning contribute to separation of functions and
simplification of urban areas. In this perspective the present paper will shortly discuss the writings
of Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander, Richard Roger, and Peter Calthorpe. What all these authors
search for is an understanding of the compact city model, which is recognised to encourage
sustainable ways of living and energy use for transportation. Generally speaking, urban
sustainability is thus accounted for in terms of compactness. In one way or another a city's
compactness is taken to condition a sustainable urban development. In essence this contribution is
intended to render this thesis somewhat more precise. At least the following features are essential
to compact cities:
Physical aspects: High density of the built mass in central areas and sub-centres and
pedestrian friendly streets, Clear demarcation on what is public and private space.
Functional aspects: Mixed use of dwellings, work, services, retail and shops, short
movement routes between facilities, pedestrian friendly, dense consentration of people. In this
respect Mike Jenks talks about intensifying of urban activities in the urban centres.
Social aspects: Low criminality, mixture of people of different class and race, healthy and
good dwelling areas, safe streets, possibilities for contact.
Economic aspects: Vitality and the catchment of potential customers. A mixture of small
and large enterprises in urban areas.
Environmental aspects: Reduction of energy use, new development on recycled land,
and reduction of low-density urban sprawl in the countryside.
Political aspects: The ways in which governments on the local, regional and national level
should act or not in order to encourage sustainable development rather than the opposite.
In order to understand the sustainable development of an urban structure, one has to on the
one hand account for the ways economic activities locate themselves in an urban grid. On the other
hand one might aim at a configurative understanding the ways in which social and anti-social
forms of behaviour occur in urban areas and of how it can influence people's choice to live in
compact urban areas. Furthermore one should discuss the configurative features of an urban
environment, developing in a sustainable manner. The answers might result in an understanding of
the manner in which the configuration of an urban grid generates movement, and of how it
influences a balanced dispersal of economic and social activities.
An account of compactness and sustainability in morphological terms has to be
descriptive. It concerns both structural and social aspects. While Alexander concentrated on
structural aspects and while Jane Jacobs accounted for social aspects, a configurative approach
offers mathematical means to reconsider them jointly. Compactness is then understood in terms of
space. Urban space can be approached topologically as well as geometrically. As will be argued
subsequently economic and social issues favour a topological approach.
First and foremost an approach of this kind requires a concise definition of urban space.
As regards research on built environments, Hillier accordingly distinguishes between intrinsic and
extrinsic properties of space. Intrinsic ones determine the way in which spatial units relate to one
another. In this respect one conceives of configurative laws of space. If one intends to understand
settlements in terms of these laws they are regarded as sets of spaces. In this perspective primarily
topological issues become relevant. Intrinsic properties of space determine both built form and its
possible function. While intrinsic properties of space consist in invisible, structural relationships,
extrinsic properties relate to visible ones. They present themselves mostly through geometrical
properties. They account for the articulation of social meaning via built form (Hillier 1999a, p. 1).
The elements all built environments have in common are intrinsic properties of space and
functions occupying these spaces. Thus, from a configurative point of view, a city is conceived as
a set of spaces. Urban space is mostly linear. It consists in mostly streets, alleys, roads, boulevards,
highways, which in contrast with squares, are linear items. Spaces of these kinds can be
represented by a set of axial lines (Hillier 2001, p. 02.1). If one represents an urban grid with the
set of the fewest and longest axial lines one gets an axial map. It is then possible to calculate their
interrelationship, in particular their topological distance from one another. The flow of human
movement and the location of various functions can be registered along the different axial lines
and be compared with their configurative measurements.
According to Hillier, economic and social activities influence on the structure of a city as
an object (Hillier 2001, p. 02.1). The kind of rationale behind economic activities in cities is that
the predominant implicit intention is profit maximising. All cultures exhibit this feature. To be
more precise, the kinds of spatial occupation that concern economical activities are shops and
retail. While the rationale behind economic activities is rather unambiguous, the rationale behind
social activities depends on theories of society and cultures.
How then does the spatial configuration of an urban grid relate to the way human beings
occupy and move through it? Three aspects of spatial configuration can provide an understanding
of lively urban areas and illustrate the configurational inequalities responsible for attractional
inequalities in an urban grid.
Integration: Integrated urban areas (local and global) encourage economic activities
Segregation: Most dwelling areas are located in segregated areas. Very segregated urban areas
open up for anti-urban behaviour (crime, vandalism)
Connectivity: Streets with many connections open up for pedestrian flow. Successhl local life
centres have a high degree of connectivity to their vicinity
However, within a dense urban grid, the local urban sub-centre is not always located along
the most locally integrated street. As Jacobs and Rogers suggest, the degree of connectivity is
decisive here. The higher the number of streets connected to a street, the more successful a vital
area turns out to be. Hillier writes: "Successful life centres require both a global position in the
settlement, and compact and inter-accessible local layout conditions. This is the basic shape of
centrality." While integration analysis measures topological centrality, a 2 steps analysis shows
how much of a local area is covered 2 steps away from an axial line (Hillier 1999, p. 107-109).
Figure 3 illustrates an example on a 2 steps analysis. Like connectivity, the 2 steps analysis is a
tool for analysing and illustrating the micro pattern of how from a functional as well as spatial
point of view the optimal location of local shopping streets and areas is realised. Sub-centres and
city centres are not states, but processes with both spatial and functional aspects. As cities grow or
change spatially, the change in the configuration of the urban grid affects the location of local and
global city centres.
Fig. 2. Local integration of Oslo 1999.
The black lines indicate the locations of szrccessfirl urban pedestrian friendly shopping streets
How can a grid's configuration decide upon how people move by foot or by car? The
location of successful pedestrian-based shopping areas depends on local integration. It often is
indicated by a dense structure on the street grid in the vicinity of the life centre line. Thus
indication of a successful vital shopping and retail area which is pedestrian based requires a strong
local and global position in an urban grid. If urban growth changes the integrated core, either on a
local or a global scale, the optimal location for profit maximising is affected. In order to survive in
a competitive environment, shop and retail owners will always search for the optimal location in
order to reach potential customers. Thus creating a vital city centre and sub-centres calls for an
account of their global and local location in an urban grid and the respective degrees of
connectivity to their vicinity.
Research on very segregated dwelling areas, e.g. post war social housing or highly
protected areas, shows that there is a correlation between segregated urban areas and anti-social
behaviour. An account of anti-social behaviour in terms of intrinsic properties of space requires
studying initially established areas. At issue is the way in which spatial organisation can disturb
the natural relationship between inhabitants and strangers in urban areas.
Empirical research shows that areas with segregated spaces, with urban grids visually
broken up and with few dwelling entrances constituting streets are often affected by crime and
social misuse. There is little social control in these areas. The same investigations prove that
spatial organisation can generate movement according to co-presence and co-awareness in the built
environment. Causes for social misuse of a given area can thus be understood from a strictly
spatial point of view. It depends on at least the following conditions:
- Bad correlation between connectivity and local and global integration of the vicinity
- The segregated areas are many topological steps away from integrated streets
- The topological spatial structure in the area is deep, in itself and as regards to the whole
system. Likewise spatially enclosed systems with high privacy, but without general
social control lack natural co-presence and mutual surveillance (Hillier 1996, p. 188, 194
and 20 1).
The design of architectural space can thus affect the use of space. This issue seems to
touch upon the problem of architectural determinism, i.e. the question to what extent one can
predict how urban areas will function after their construction. It is difficult to assess the question to
what extent a configurative approach is a form of architectural determinism. Whether crime or
social malaise will occur in spatial segregated areas or not naturally depends on the behaviour of
their inhabitants. A configurative approach, on the other hand, can answer the question why some
areas have a high level of crime and social misuse. Thus a configurative approach can prove that
space has its own laws and seems to affect human behaviour (Hillier 1996, p. 184 and 212). A
configurative approach makes one understand that the means a built environment offers are
physical while its ends are functional - not visa versa.
6. ENVIRONMENTAL CONFIGURATIVE CONSIDERATIONS
How can these findings on connectivity, global and local integration provide a
understanding of urban sustainability when cities, their cultures and economies are continuously
expanding and transforming.
At least since the industrial revolution we have seen in what way comprehensive technical
inventions affected the spatial structure of built environments, and conversely its spatial product
affected social and economic behaviour. Man is able to change its built environment and has
purposes and intentions to do so. It is not always clear what the intentions are, but those
concerning economic activities strive for profit maximising. Aiming at the creation of urban areas
developing in a sustainable way can not ignore the behaviour of producers and consumers and the
way the built environment influences them. From a configurative point of view, understanding
what an urban area's sustainable development consists in depends on an according account of the
topological structure of its grid.
High density of streets and their connectivity in an urban grid contributes to vital urban
centres and .dwelling areas. It is not enough to encourage high density in urban areas by increasing
the number of dwellings and locales for economic activities. It is the density of the grid and its
local and global position in the whole system that are at issue. Density of dwelling areas seems to
be a by-product of the density of the urban grid and the dispersal of integration values on it.
City growth can affect the global integration core and the development of local integration
cores. The configurative approach can help to understand why the location of the vital main core
changes and why from a spatial point of view the old core becomes segregated. In many cases the
global integration core tends to lie along motor ways connecting different urban areas. However, a
low degree of direct connectivity to the vicinity encourages the use of private cars. Why should
one preserve these old city centres? Can it be transformed into a local sustainable centre for the
people living there? In many cases they can be turned into attractive high-density areas with high
local integration and connectivity.
The degrees of connectivity of a street and its local and global position in a city influence
the relationship between inhabitants and strangers. In what way an area has social control or not
can be understood in terms of a configurative approach. The natural mixture of inhabitants and
strangers is a criterion for safe urban environments and makes living in urban areas attractive.
Local and global integration cores and high connectivity and many entrances directly connected to
the streets indicate the quality of the structure of the network routes.
It seems that unsustainable urban areas are products of comprehensive physical planning.
Are then physical planning activities, a rigid planning system and a city plan invisible obstacles for
the natural development processes of cities? By learning from already established urban areas,
where things have been developed incrementally, a configurative approach can offer an
explanation of how things work in terms of intrinsic properties of space.
My approach to the question of urban sustainability in morphological terms consists in
conceptual application of a configurative approach to the debate on sustainable urban development
in terms of compactness. What are the results?
To the extend that urban compactness can be understood in configurative terms, the
relevance of compactness for urban sustainability can be assessed more adequately in
morphological terms than in other less formal terms. For a configurative approach conceives the
built environment descriptively as a process rather than a product. It assesses in what way
economic and social behaviour are influenced by it and, conversely, have influence upon it.
Seemingly, urban compactness is a necessary condition for urban sustainability in terms of high
degree of connectivity of the street grid and the way it is connected to the whole city on local and
global scales.
If a compact urban area is conceived as having a well connected grid, both on a local and
on a global scale, then compactness of this kind is a necessary condition for a sustainable urban
process. Compared with many other accounts of urban sustainability, a morphological approach
can offer specific concepts of spatial and functional aspects in order to explain or understand
compact cities and their effects on economic and social behaviour - whether it turns out to be
sustainable or not.
REFERENCES
Alexander, C. 1966. A city is not a tree, in: Design Magazine, no. 206,46-55.
Calthorpe, P. 1993. The Next American Metropolis. Ecology, Community, and the American
Dream, New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Hillier, B. 2001. The Theory of the City as Object or how spatial laws mediate the social
construction of urban space, in Peponis J, Wineman J, and Bafna S (eds), 2001, Proceedings Space
Syntax. 3rdInternational Symposium, Atlanta: Georgia Institute of Technology.
Hillier, B. 1999. Centrality as a process: accounting for attraction inequalitic?~in deformed grids,
Urban Design International (1999) 4 (3&4), 107-127.
Hillier, B. 1999a. Space as paradigm for describing emergent structure in strongly relational
systems, Lecture notes, Bartlett School of Graduate studies, University College London.
Hillier, B., Penn, A., Hanson, J., Grajewski, T., and Xu, J. 1993. Natural movement: or,
configuration and attraction in urban pedestrian movement, Environment and Planning B:
Planning and Design, 1993, volume 20,29 - 66.
Van IVes, A. 2002. Road Building and Urban Change. The effect of ring roads on the dispersal of
shop and retail in Western European towns and cities, PhD thesis, Department of Land Use and
Landscape Planning, Agricultural University of Norway.
Jacobs, J. 2000. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, London: Pimlico.
Jenks, M., Burton, E., and Williams, K. 1996. The Compact City. A sustainable Urban Form?,
New York: E & FN Spon.
Patermann, C. 2002. Sustainable development in European cities: How research can contribute,
http://ess.co.at/SUTRA/susurbdev.html
Roger, R. 1999. Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force, New York: E & FN Spon.
Roger, R. 1997. Cities for a smallplanet, London: Faber and Faber Limited.
Von Wright, G. H. 197 1 . Explanation and Understanding, International Library of Philosophy and
Scientific Method, London: Lowe & Brydone Ltd.
I'he Soft Urban hlachine: Space-Timc and the Protluction of'lirhan Place
Abstract: The expanded scales of the patterns traced by the lives of people have fundamentally
altered the conditions of and the experience of everyday life and of urban space. The spatialities
of movement these changes have fore-grounded force us to rethink the very basis of our
urbanism. It is argued that these spatialities of networks and flow are relevant not only for
thinking about the new city emerging on the periphery but also about unsolved problems of the
local and of place in the traditional centre. The beginnings of a general conjecture about the
production of properties and character of urban places as an effect emergent out of overlapped
movement networks is outlined and expanded into a sketch outline of the case of the central
fabric of Amsterdam. The traditional centre remains a powerful model both for critiquing the
qualities of the new urban landscape and for guiding urban design intention, and the need to
reproduce some of qualities of this traditional space is widely recognised. The significance of
this theoretical work is that it may begin to put the understandings in the hands of designers that
will help them to achieve these intentions.
1. BACKGROUND
In its origin, then, the city is a paradoxical form. The city ground plans take their shape
and meaning from the distinctive opposition between city and land or centre and periphery. But
this difference is secondary and misleading. Primarily, the city is formed and informed by
heterogeneous speeds - by the difference between inertia and traffic. The form of the city is thus,
finally, an unstable effect.
The city exists then through traffic in all its forms. While the anthropological thesis of
differentiation according to defensible territory is not untrue, it is misleading because it suggests
the possibility of an autonomous space that receives its quality from itself.
Wim Nijenhuis, from City Frontiers and their is appearance.'
2. A MAN-MADE WORLD
We live in an artificial world; in an environment which is not in any useful way defined by
any pre-existing 'natural' state, but is rather a complete immersive world of our own making. And
this is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the Netherlands; a habitat built by hand and machine
from almost nothing, an inhospitable swamp transformed into one of the most highly populated
regions of the world. The built environment of the Netherlands is a product of necessity in the first
instance - of making a dry and habitable place out of a wet and uninhabitable one. Practical
202
I'hc. Soft I!rhan \lactiinc: Spacts- l'irnc i111dthc Produelion of I lrban I'lacc
problems of water management, mobility and habitation are dealt with in ways which are direct,
practical and effective, and in general one can say that issues of experience and of the quality of
experience of this constructed thing has not been a major determinant of its shape.
However, the critique of this landscape is increasingly expressed in terms of quality of
experience; terms that escape the direct technocratic set-up of the planning culture. Planning
directives also take up these t h e r n e ~while
,~ it is also increasingly clear that the outlines and criteria
of this quality are difficult to define. The idea of spatial quality first seems obvious, and then
increasingly nebulous and empty as it is subjected to scrutiny. Aesthetic issues tend to be handed
over to the designers who come up with proposals that either draw from lessons of a subjectively
interpreted past, or else break radically with that past and project, again highly subjectively, into
sci-fi futures which when built seem strangely familiar and are effortlessly appropriated by
dominant and commercial interests. On the other hand notions of urban quality are subsumed into
concepts such as 'urban vitality' or 'urbanity' which, while implying more about lived culture and
social quality, themselves lack definition as a directive to action. The lack of a precise bridge-work
from ideas of experiential quality to the fields of planning and design, becomes even more critical
in the light of some emerging crises in relation to the meaning and scope of the city and its relation
to contemporary life. The diffusion of the urban entity into a thin metropolitan mass which is
sometimes barely recognisable as a city in the old terms: the loss of a sure sense of place: an
increasing anomie and sense of dislocation from the environment around us: the loss of
environmental distinctiveness and intelligibility. These are the terms of an emerging critique, not
just within the Netherlands but also in the rest of the world, of qualitative and experiential aspects
of the built environment.
Perhaps though, it is within this laboratory of the artificial, of the purposefully changed
and changing, we can get a sharper sense of some of the parameters and outlines of urban quality,
of some of the underlying logics of this immersive world of our own making, and the possibilities
available to us for enriching the everyday lives we live within it. Here, perhaps as a by-product of
this blatant artificiality, there seems to be a sense of there being few inevitabilities about the world
we create for ourselves. Where every last inch of earth has been made and re-made, it may seem
easier to reflect on the worlds we live in, worlds that are the consequence of our own actions and
strategies, as well as on the altemative worlds that may be the outcome of altemative actions and
strategies.
2
The 5th National Policy Document on Spatial Planning identified shortcomings in the attainment of quality
objectives in previous documents in spite of broadly effective implementation. Particularly the translation of
quality criteria into implementation strategies and policies was identified as having shortcomings. The 5th
Nota itself however, in spite of explicitly recognising the importance of the 'network society' and 'network
economy', is unable to move beyond vague statements of intent when it came to spatial quality criteria.
The idea of a 'lived' and 'made' space are borrowed freely from Lefebvre, who proposed that space was
'perceived', 'conceived' and 'lived'; where the perceived is space 'produced' (apparently in all its multiple
senses) while the lived is the rather introvert 'real and imagined' space of experienced everyday life. The
'lived' and 'made' spaces of this text try rather to open a 'space' between the social spaceproduced by the
social actions and interactions of people and the physical space produced in the social act of planning and
design. They both belong to Lefebvre's 'perceived' space category therefore, though I am proposing that
they belong also to the 'conceived' in the case of 'made' space and that the 'lived' spaces overlap with each
other. The link between ideas about space and experience is my interest here.
l'hr Soft Grbarr hlacbinc: Space- I ime a n d 1 he I'roduction of I rban F'li~ce
relations between these two spaces, the lived and the made, is not a logical unity. It is mediated
most obviously by constraints which include budgetary and policy priorities and so on. But it is
mediated also by the field of possibilities as it is seen and understood at that time. We cannot
propose what we do not envision or do not understand, and it could be that the possibility for an
alternative lived space is passed by because we do not possess all the conceptual equipment
necessary to be able to see a path to constructing it. It could be that some of the 'character7 of
modem urban life is being directed not by the inherent necessities of that life itself, but by the
constraints and limitations that we as planners place on the spatialisation of that modem life by the
networks we build, and those that we don't.
Lurking behind this proposition is the suspicion that we pay too little attention as designers
and planners to the time dimension in thinking about the space and places of the contemporary
city. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the order of the city cannot be outlined in terms of
the static, and that quality and experience of space and place are linked as powerfully to time as to
space itself. It is space-time rather than space that provides the dimensions of the functional order
of the city. We need even to consider that the functional and qualitative parameters of location
itself may be tied to an order which is dynamic. I don't believe that this is something new; urban
processes and places have probably always worked like this. We simply now live in a world where
the time dimension imposes itself on us with such force that it can no longer be ignored. The rules
of thumb we use for marking our place in this world have to be revised to incorporate the dynamic,
and it is possible that once we do this, all sorts of the things we didn't know how to order and
qualify before, may start to reveal their secrets.
The suggestion that time should be taken as an explicit component of the everyday
construction of the urban scene is not primarily driven by an interest in mobility, though it may be
seen as being forced by this. Rather it is driven by a realisation that urban space is fundamentally
relational, and that the production of the city as a social artefact (or better as a social environment;
something we live in rather than look at) is accomplished through everyday action, interaction and
experience. Relational space, when it becomes lived, needs to be performed, and this brings in
movement and time. The time we are referring to then is not the historic time of the evolution of
the city but rather an immediate, in the here-and-now, space-time of the way relations in the city
are made and performed in the course of everyday activity and interactivity.
The experience we are referring to in this relational space is also something which lies a
little deeper in our everyday social-spatial worlds than the immediate perception of visual fields or
attractiveness of environments. It has to do with our understanding of the society and culture we
live in. An idea of a social world constructed within a relational spatial field goes beyond seeing us
as beings who carry our cultures and societies around with us, as some kind of mental state, to one
where the world we encounter, and our web of relations with the world, become our societies and
cultures, which are integral with and embedded in the way we live. Society and culture in this view
are effects of the processes of everyday life, and social, spatial, cultural, technological variation
become not determining, but things which induce modulations in a total social field.4 This field is
spatial, so that factors of social distribution and social interface can profoundly affect domains of
consciousness and intersubjectivity. And the system can be highly open to change as it distributes
and balances counteracting forces (to different degrees depending on the system's openness)
throughout the field.'
4
For more on this view, from an anthropological perspective see Ingold (2000), and from a sociological and
philosophical perspective Bruno Latour's ideas have been influential - see Mol and Law (1994) and Law
(200 1).
5
"We (should) view social life not in statistical terms, as the outcome of a large number of
interactions among discrete individuals, but in topological terms as the unfolding of a total
generative field. I have used the term 'sociality' to refer to the dynamic properties of this
field. ...cultural variation may be expected to induce evolutionary modulations of the
r'llc Soft I I-ban Machir~c:Space-Tirne and the Production of' Ilrban I'lace
The power and persistence of the space-without-time paradigm (especially for designers)
has a lot to do with the object of the designer's attention, and that object of attention is determined
just as much by what can be 'seen' (conceptualised and viewed) and measured, as by the
designers' expressed aims and intentions. Just as certain means to intervene are excluded by blind
spots in our understanding of urban space-time processes. Space-without-time relates to, and has
its material expression in, the physical fabric, which is static, measurable, mappable to high levels
of resolution. The time dimension enters here as historical time, mappable also (the contestation of
historical interpretation aside) as the sequence of events and processes which produced the
material forms we see around us. Of course many of these historical processes are on-going and
many useful things can be said about the environment on the basis of this. But the space-time I am
talking about here has as its object a different fabric, which while being just as real, just as
material, as all that hard static stuff we see around us, is much more difficult to pin down and
measure; much more difficult to 'see' - not least because we lack the conceptual equipment to
understand what we can do with it. I am talking about a performative fabric, appearing as a soft
blur between the hard stuff, or as the hum in the cables and wires - the fluxes and flows of
multitudes of individual and particular social relations being exercised. The things that move to
complete these relations are manifold (people, goods, money, telephonic messages, bytes of
information, are some of the most important) and these are, much more than the static surfaces and
architecture, the very stuff of urban character and vitality.
And these space-time relations - the active part of the social network - are then mediated
by physical networks, networks of communications, the media, and networks of movement. In
fact, that great abstraction 'society' can be seen more concretely as an emergent product of an
astronomically dense graph of relations set up in and then manipulated and mediated by the
networks of the physical world. And many transformations in that society can be seen as emerging
out of new possibilities (and new restrictions on) the making of connections and relations in the
world we build for ourselves today.6
social field, but this is not to say that social forms are in any sense genetically or culturally
determined." Tim Ingold, in 'An anthropologist looks at biology', Man (NS) 25 (1990): pp
208-229.
Hillier (2001)
I~lreSoft Urban >lachine: Sp;ace-l'in~earid the Production of I'rl~anPlace
communicative pattern in a way not dissimilar to everyday speech.7 This indexing is tied back into
the dynamic, which has a strong local to wider-scale logic, so that multiple and diverse overlaid
particulars relating to street-level culture and economy become structured around movement
patterns and their concentrations and centralities, rendering areas and places coherent with respect
to the wider city, while they at the same time maintain their local particularity and distinctiveness.
It is important to emphasise here that though, to our view from our imaginary vantage
point above the streets and squares of the city, the blur of this fabric of movement may be soft and
difficult to resolve, it is nevertheless material, real, and composed of highly particular elements. In
the discussion which follows, the fact that the life in our public spaces may appear fuzzy and
empirically impenetrable, should not mislead us into believing that the purpose of public space is
to achieve a mixing; a sort of formless, tasteless soup of humanity. The relational graph of society
produces just as much formation and distinctiveness (fluid and changeable though it may
sometimes be) as it does fluidity and diffusion. Distinctive social groupings may be defined in
multitudes of ways, including all the well-known ones like ethnic, lifestyle, age-group, class, etc.
One of the important ways this social stuff, this blur of movement, is differentiated here will be by
scale. People move differently and choose different mobility webs or networks depending on the
length of the journey they are ~ n d e r t a k i nA~ .route
~ to the corner-shop will in most cases involve a
different set of spaces to a route to the furniture store a mile away. A different set of spaces again
and a different movement network will be involved in a journey to the airport. One of the reasons
this particular differentiation is interesting and important is because at the lower and middIe scales
in particular, it maps over the broad social categories of inhabitant and stranger, and talks about
different involvements with and different commitments to particular networks and places. What I
will be describing later is the way, at the scales of neighbourhood and quarter, different scales and
speeds of movement (broadly inhabitant and stranger) are systematically interfaced with each other
in urban public space. Insofar as these broad categories also correspond with ethnic, class and
other differentiations (inhabitants may be of an ethnic-minority, or rich or poor, or student, or
worker or yuppie neighbourhood population; strangers will be more diverse, and represent the
public of the city at a larger scale), this becomes the logic that drives urban social interface (and
coincidentally small-scale commercial process) in public space.
One could say that it is this that the city (in and of itself, and as a social apparatus or
machine) does, and it is in the manipulation of this machine that designers and planners can
substantively influence urban experiential and social-functional factors.
Many of the notions I will be proposing come out of a long research into the space of the
Dutch city using the grid analysis techniques of space syntax.9 And, of course behind this
discussion, and behind all these ideas, sits the special presence of the Dutch city, by turns (quite
often in the same place), quaint and modern, village and metropolis, tourist trap and volksbuurt
(people's neighbourhood). But it is nothing if not accommodating, and it is this aspect of urban
functional pliancy, malleability and responsiveness to the processes of life which is one of the
main ingredients of a well constructed urban space-time.
7
Boden and Molotch in discussing the persistence of the importance of face to face communication, propose
that the copresence of people is 'thick' with meaningful and orientating detail. They argue (p. 259) that the
meanings of copresent interactions depend on the way particulars which may seem insignificant on their
own, when arrayed together in context, inform or 'index' each other creating a rich communicative pattern.
It is argued here that an equivalent structuring in space-time renders the well-functioning urban context
'thick' with intelligible meaning.
At a more abstract and philosophical level it may be better here to distinguish mobility webs not by their
scales but rather by their speeds.
Space syntax is a set of topological techniques used to describe urban grids, which are capable of revealing
emergent structural effects in extended grid patterns. The comparison of grid descriptions with functional
patterns in real cities has begun to teach us something about the relationship between the form of the city and
how it works as a system of movement - see Hillier & Hanson (1 984).
'l'hc Soft Itrhan Ilacl~iric:Space-l'irnc a ~ thc
~ d1%-oductiottol'I'rba11I'lacc
lo One can see that words are a big part of our problem here, tying places and concepts to particular
spatialities which may not be appropriate for the task at hand.
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'fhc Soft I rban Machine: Spacc-l'ime arid rhe PI-odoctionof Crhan I'liict.
within the fabric of the traditional centre, a weaving of the orders and scales of activity of each
through the other. And this weaving clearly doesn't, as one might perhaps at first expect, lead to an
increasing uniformity of the scales and intensities of activity within the urban field. Rather it seems
to generate increasing contrasts within an increasingly complex configuration of urban places as
the 'new inside' (interiorised and controlled public spaces) and the 'new outside' (spaces without
clear definition - disconnected unnamed spaces) of the 'periphery' penetrate also into the 'old
inside' of the traditional centre. While infrastructural connection at the metropolitan and regional
scales mean that at these scales connective efficiencies increase, in terms of a matrix of adjacent
urban places, spatial and functional fragmentation is more often the character of the new order.''
The fact is we are only just becoming used to thinking the space of the city in a new way;
in a way which incorporates the fluidity and provisionality of structure and centrality, and the way
present-day functional scales and dynamics are transforming urban forms. While we have assumed
these forms to be stable, in fact they were always a product of vectors and flux and liable to shift,
and sometimes to shift suddenly and unexpectedly, as scales within the dynamic changed and the
system slipped from one equilibrium to another. The mechanics of the machine are a mechanics of
flow, and social-spatial forms are emergent out of this; a product of aggregations and
condensations of clouds of micro-effects, producing structure which reveals itself not just in
patterns of activity, but also in condition and character.
l 5 Boyer (1994)
Is for example; Hillier (1 996), Read (1999a)
" Read (1999b)
I'l~eSoft Urban hlachii~e:Space-Timc and thc Productioa of' Crban Place
centres fairly ordinary streets, recognisably part of the continuous distributed spatial grid, but they
are nevertheless very significantly better trafficked than other streets local to them.
So a coherent spatial web is formed in the surface of the traditional city centre (a higher
scaled grid within the urban grid as a whole) which comprises highly connected streets at the local
scale while a t the same time becoming the movement network at the next scale up; the middle-
scaled movement web - between that of the region and that of the local grid - in the city of scaled
movement webs. The consequence of this conjunction is that an interface is set up in these streets,
between the scale of the local area on the one hand, and the scale at which people get around
within the larger central city on the other, which produces powerful conditions supporting street-
edge commercial activity on the one hand and social and cultural identification and encounter on
the other; local character and culture meets the more diverse mix of the wider city. The high-street
is not simply and simplistically a street programmed for shopping, with accessibility added as if it
was a neutral effect of the making of linkages; it becomes a shopping street because the conditions
produced by this effect of different movements support the economic and cultural role of the high-
street. This is how it works in Amsterdam, but I suspect it is also a more general scale-interface
effect; a generic spatial mechanics of the urban grid which produces those secondary centralities
and differentiation in the traditional fabric.18
We have in effect a fluid-mechanics of the city; like the standing waves and whirls in a
flowing river, local conditions are set up and fixed in place by the local physical topography on the
one hand and by dynamic flows and forces that arise out of the system as a whole (and the
topography of the whole that supports these flows) on the other.
Other cities are being identified which have two clear scales of movement network between the local and
the regional. Paris is a clear example, but parts of Rotterdam also display this pattern.
Tllc Soft Ijrhan >lachinc: Space-I'irnc 2nd the I'roduction of I 'rhan I'lacc
Local-scaled centrality (the diffuse centrality of movement at the scale of the urban grid
itself) interacts with the middle-scaled centrality I have talked about already, differently in
different places on the middle-scaled network, producing different place-effects on this middle-
scaled network; producing as well structured specificity which makes the city intelligible to the
immersed subject in motion. It is inadequate therefore to characterise this middle-scaled network
as simply an accessibility network. Its primary logic and mechanism is to provide the framework
on which place-effects are produced. The way this is done is simplicity itself: particular streets on
the middle-scaled network are simultaneously a part of the local-scaled area movement network
(the local grid pattern) and the middle-scaled city or quarter movement network. These overlaps
have different degrees and different balances of the one scaled network to the other depending on
some very obvious factors. One factor is the degree of constitution or physical linking of the two
networks. For the effect to work best the two grids would be hardly distinguishable from each
other when looked at in plan. Another factor is the position in the middle-scaled network in
relation to that network's centre and edges (its mono-nuclearity effect). Other factors play a role
but are themselves (as are these two factors already mentioned) all part of the logic of the model
and are quite intuitive within the system outlined.
Figure 2. Figure 3. 1
The local and the middle-scaled The local and the middle-scaled
Figure 1. network relationship network relationship
The local and the middle-scaled (constitution) in the traditional (constitution) on the edge of
networks in the urban grid. rPntr~ r ~ n t r ~
There is a simple order here, underlying urban richness and complexity, an order based in
the two-part scale hierarchy of movement networks in traditional central urban space. This is the
order that links the urban local part to the larger urban whole (or larger part) and this is the order to
which urban detail is indexed. This order is inflected and shifted by the influence of the new scales
and the centrality of the periphery, and it is occasionally overthrown. It remains however with us
today in very many urban situations, indexing complexity, ordering experience, defining place,
making the immersive urban tissue coherent, structured and intelligible.
It is interesting to note here a fundamental difference between the ordering of these kinds
of traditional urban environments and some of the more designed layouts that are the product of
spatial design ideas such as 'neighbourhood unit' or 'urban village'. In the first place, parts in the
traditional fabric tend to be defined by their centres rather than by their boundaries. These centres
are the places where the local to middle scales are interfaced -- in other words these centres are as
open to the rest of the city as they are to the local area itself.19 In contrast, the more designed
urban layouts tend, through the way they are made, to cut themselves off from the wider city,
establishing an own, secured, 'defensible' space which is often under-occupied and beset by
problems of monotony, isolation and public space quality. Areas tend to this type in Dutch cities as
There are of course also places which form centralities locally while not being connected directly to the
middle-scaled web. These more secret, intimate places are part of the richness and variety of the urban
fabric, and are secret and intimate precisely because they are not of the type outlined here.
The Soft Lrban Jlachirie: Space- I'irnr and the t+roduction of' I rban Place
well, in the more recently developed areas as one approaches the edges of the central city. While
older areas tend to be centred on the middle-scale web (figure 2), by the time one gets out to later
20th century areas, the middle-scaled web bounds the areas (figure 3) and the 'centres' these areas
enclose exhibit little trace of the scale and culture of the wider city. These new neighbourhood
areas are in fact spatially an inversion of the traditional neighbourhoods that were apparently their
inspiration, and are a pre-figurement of the closed, capsular morphologies of the periphery.
This hardening of the fabric towards the edge relates very clearly to the factor of
constitution; the physical link between the middle-scaled axis and the area is reduced to an
efficient minimum defined by the need for accessibility. In more recently designed and built
neighbourhoods, local centrality is explicitly removed from the higher scaled movement network
as this network is de-constituted and its (middle-scaled) centrality begins to become once more
slippery and placeless. It is clear that closer to the centre there is a high level of redundancy as
regards simple accessibility; there always being multiple ways to access areas or locations. In fact
it seems clear that this redundancy is a prerequisite if we want those field conditions to emerge
which support high levels of street-level activity.
Whereas in recent times issues regarding movement and attraction, and the working
mechanism and ordering of the city have been subsumed under ideas of accessibility andfunction-
attractor, (getting around and destination), what 1 am proposing is that these factors are in the
traditional city subsumed under the idea of multiple overlapped network-centralities and their
interfaces (movement-flow-networks and place-effect). The traditional city is set up as a field of
relations between the parts and the whole, which is non-specific in terms of function, delivering
instead particularity in terms of conditions of place, and specificity in the effect of the
appropriation of these particular conditions.
mobile urban residential population, and the continuing viability of such places, where supported
by a strong local political process and the local services and infrastructure of a strong public
sphere. Such places are no longer the only higher-than-local-scaledplaces of the city; and may not
even be the dominant ones from the point of view of global, or as domicile for the most powerful
social groups, but they continue to have a powerful attraction, continue to find new inhabitants,
new programmes and creative ways of renewing themselves. Places like this continue to support
the leading edge of all manner of cultural change and renewal; lifestyles, entertainment, music,
fashion; the spheres of desire and difference. These places offer themselves up for appropriation
by maintaining an open structured interface between the part of the city and a wider whole, as they
offer locatedness as a product of this structured interface between differently scaled movement
processes. This all may seem rather abstract, perhaps also difficult because we are dealing with
unfamiliar abstractions, but the reality is all very familiar and taken for granted to those who live
in such environments. The problem is not in finding such places, the problem has been in
reproducing them in the networks we make for ourselves today and it is hoped that the ideas in this
paper bring us some way closer to understanding how we may do this.
REFERENCES:
Augk, M. 1992, Non-Places. Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, Verso, London
De Cauter, L. 2001, 'The capsule and the network: Preliminary notes for a general theory', in
OASE 54, Uitgeverij SUN, Nijmegen
Boyer, CM. 1994, The City of Collective Memory, MIT Press, Cambridge Mass.
Hillier, B., Hanson, J., 1984, The Social Logic of Space, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Hillier, B., 1996, 'Cities as movement economies', in: Urban Design International, 1(1), pp 41-60
Hillier, B., 2001, 'Society Seen Through the Prism of Space: Outline of a theory of society and
space', Paper delivered at the Third Space Syntax Symposium, Atlanta. (Not yet published,
available at http://undertow.arch.aatech.edu/homepages/3sss/)
Law, J., 2001, 'Ordering and Obduracy', published by the Centre for Science Studies and the Dept.
of Sociology, Lancaster University at http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uWsociology/socO68jl.html
(version: obduracy4.doc; 3rd Jan 2001)
Mol, A., Law, J., 1994, 'Regions, Networks, and Fluids: Amaemia and Social Topology', in:
Social Studies of Science, vol. 24(4), p. 641-672.
Read, S., 1999a, 'Space syntax and the Dutch city', in: Environment and Planning B: Planning
andDesign, vol. 26, pp 251-264
Read, S., 1999b (working paper), 'The patchwork landscape and the 'engendineered' web; Space
and scale in the Dutch city ', Available on request
Abstract: This paper first discusses sustainable urban development, a concept highly
compatible, if not fundamental, to the realization of open building formation and design, which
serves as a framework for assessing Hong Kong's compact urban form. This is supplemented by
the results of a survey conducted by CUPEM for the ProyectoCITIES project' on perceptions of
Hong Kong's urban development by different stakeholders: the private sector, the public sector
and civil society. The survey2results show varying degrees of discrepancy between the perceived
level of excellence and level of priority held by these various groups towards a number of
physical, socio-economic, environmental and governance conditions in Hong Kong. While all
these stakeholders seem to view certain indicators as important, for example the "quality of
city's surroundings and water features", "overall environment of the city", "social cohesion" etc,
they seem to differ on other issues. We correlate these findings with Hong Kong's hture
development plans and find that there are several priorities of all the stakeholders that are not
adequately addressed. Hong Kong should develop sustainable goal oriented strategies through
community empowerment and participation that reflect people's priorities. Implementation of
these strategies through good governance practices should carry forward these perceptions to
"reality".
1. INTRODUCTION
Over 45% of the world population lives in cities. Cities are the engines for economic
growth often developed at the expense of environmental and social capital (Ng, 2002). This paper
first discusses the principles of sustainable urban development and how they can be integrated with
the concept of "Open Building", which serves a s a framework to assess the sustainability of Hong
Kong's highly dense compact urban form. This is supplemented by a survey conducted by
CUPEM for the ProyectoCITIES project on perceptions of Hong Kong's urban development by
different stakeholders: the private sector, the public sector and civil society. Analyses of the survey
results show varying degrees of discrepancy between the perceived "level of excellence" and
"level of priority" and agreement held by these various groups towards a number of physical,
socio-economic, environmental and governance conditions in Hong Kong. We then select
indicators that scored a higher level of priority to determine which indicators the three stakeholder
groups would like Hong Kong to focus on in the future. We then correlate these findings with
Hong Kong's future development plans and find that there are several priorities of all the
I ProyectoCITIES is an international project with over 20 cities participating, and was organized by
Fundacion Metropoli in Spain, the research for Hong Kong was done by CUPEM, HKU
As part of Hong Kong's input for the Study, CUPEM undertook the City Forum survey in Sep. 2000,
which was jointly developed for the by University of Pennsylvania and Fundacion Metropoli,
tlo\\ ('an \c \.lake Ilong Kong's I rhaa Form Rlorc Surtainablc'? : Irom I'rrceplioos t o Rvalit?
stakeholders that currently are not being adequately addressed. Hong Kong should develop
sustainable goal oriented strategies through community empowerment and participation that reflect
people's priorities. Implementation of these strategies through good governance practices should
cany forward these perceptions to "reality".
The following section inter-relates the concepts of open building and sustainable urban
development and elaborates on the development of Hong Kong's urban form and structure. The
next section discusses some of the survey results followed by recommendations and concluding
remarks.
Open building is a term that is used with different meanings within varying contexts and
has gained popularity over the last two decades. Within an urban development context, it promotes
the idea that the built environment like a building is in constant transformation; this change
impacts the people that inhabit the city. The fact that the built environment is the result of a
continuous planning and design process in which the urban fabric evolves over time must be
recognized and understood (www.habraken.com).
Many factors, policies and decisions impact the city at various stages of its development
and these will determine the resulting urban form and structure and livability of a city. Very often
the economic needs change, the physical fabric is restructured, displacing people, shattering
communities and changing the built environment. The idea of having open building is to have
incremental, collectively thought-out and organic processes of designing and implementing
physical changes to the city's urban structure (Figure 1).
I I
Built Environment physical
and functional structure of the
city urban form and structure
-
3 .
~ndicatorsin the above figure have been adapted from ProyectoClTIES project - City Forum Survey
21 5
klov Can M e \lake klong Kong'c I rl>:111lorn1 >lore Su+t:iinsblrL.' : Prom I'crceptinn# to Itthalit)
The concept of sustainable urban development has been well researched but often from
varying viewpoints. Sustainability is interrelated to human beings and the natural environment, and
requires intra and inter generational equity, demographic stability and respect for the ecosystem
which can be ensured through good governance. Urban sustainability cannot be achieved without
economic prosperity, and a diversified and pluralistic society ensuring socio-economic and
environmental equity. A city's success should not be measured only in economic terms but also in
terms of social and environmental capital as well (Ng, 2002).
There is a strong link between urban form, open building and sustainable development but
it is not simple and straightforward. A sustainable city is of a compact urban form and human scale
that encourages social interaction but often compact cities get overcrowded and suffer loss of
urban quality with less open space more congestion and pollution (Jenks et al. 2000). Due to its
highly dense compact urban form and heavy reliance on public transport Hong Kong is considered
in some respects to be on a more sustainable path compared to other cities in the developed and the
developing world (World Commission Urban 2 1,2000).
Quality of life is also closely related to the concept of open building and sustainable
development which emphasizes the integration (not just balance) of social, environmental and
economic concerns (Ng and Hills, 2003). Hong Kong with its dramatic development over the last
several decades is now facing some social, economic and environmental challenges. To improve
the quality of life of its people the city is beginning to address the issues of urban sustainability.
Hong Kong's urban development demonstrates that the concepts of open building and urban
sustainability are still in the very early stages of gaining importance and recognition.
Hong Kong is a city of close to 7 million strategically located at the mouth of the Pearl
River Delta on the Southeast coast of China (Figure 2). The city is set in a natural setting of
mountain ridges, harbour, islands, waterfront, beaches and an extensive coastline. The city's
unique urban form is characterized by a very high density development due to its hilly terrain and
scarcity of developable land in the urban core. Only 25% of the land - about 75 sq. km - is
urbanized and over 40% of the 1,098 sq km is designated as country parks. The population density
of the city is about 6,096 persons per sq. km, and in the most densely developed areas of Hong
Kong it reaches 54,374 persons1 sq. km. Hong Kong, a place where East meets West, developed
first as a trading entrepot, then a manufacturing centre, later became Asia's financial and business
centre and now is a major exporter of services. Hong Kong's urban form is dictated to a certain
extent by the Planning Standards and Guidelines and the Government's dependence on the
property market. Various other factors that impacted Hong Kong's urban form over the period of
its development history are discussed below.
The strategic location, deep water natural harbour, local climate, British administration
stimulus, demographic structure and social segregation of the local Chinese determined Hong
Kong's initial urban form. During the early colonial era the city was at an intimate human scale,
low density two to four storey high buildings of European Architectural style juxtaposed with
traditional Chinese details. Streets were designed for the pedestrians, a tram traversing east to west
with a grid iron pattern similar to European towns. During the post war era urban development was
driven by the acute shortage of housing and the rise of squatter settlements. In response to the
housing demand pressure, due to the fire in 1953, coupled with the huge influx of migrants from
China, the British Government built standardized resettlement housing. The buildings were 7 to 10
storeys high of marginal quality with common bathrooms on each floor, yet the sense of
community within these developments was high. The migrant population helped in the industrial
growth and expansion of the manufacturing sector in Hong Kong due to availability of abundant
[ION Can M c \1:1kc Hong Kong'5 I'rhan Form hlorc Sustainablr? : From Perceptious l o Realit)
capital and cheap labour. Numerous high rise factories sprung up in textiles, electronics, clocks,
jewelery etc.
China's adoption of the open door policy in 1978 and the development of the Special
Economic Zones have led to an economic restructuring of Hong Kong from 1980's to present.
Manufacturing and industry moved out to the SEZ of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Hong Kong
transformed itself from a manufacturing and industrial centre to a service centre and became the
gateway city to China. Rapid diversification into tertiary services led to the development of
financial, legal and other professional and advanced services. Hong Kong witnessed further
expansion of the tourist and transportation sector and more recently an attempt to enter the hi- tech
industry.
Figure 2: Urban Development ofHong Kong (source, Planning Department, Hong Kong)
The shortage of developable land forced further development to the urban fringe areas and
resulted in the ambitious and successful New Town program that involved major reclamations.
Since the 1950s, New Town development transformed Hong Kong's urban structure into a satellite
development. However, the intention to make the new towns self-sufficient did not pan out as the
major employment centre is still within the urban core. The new towns were built around the town
centrehailway station with intensive high-rise podium type commercial development. However,
most of the new towns are of standardized urban form, monotonous and look similar, only Sha Tin
and Tung Chung stand out for their somewhat distinct identity.
By retaining its foothold as the employment and commercial centre the urban core has
remained strong, vibrant and dynamic and has not faced the problems and dilemmas of many city
centres' around the world. Over several decades, reclamation of the harbour has increased
developable land on either side, while narrowing it considerably. The Protection of the Harbour
Ordinance instituted recently in response to public outcry has brought about a check on the extent
of reclamation.
Over the last 20 years, construction of the railway network by MTR and KCR has also
propelled the pace of development in Hong Kong. Rail stations have become the location for nodal
development along the network and thereby further transformed the urban fabric of Hong Kong.
Iiow ('an W c \lake H o n g Kong.9 I rhan I o r m Narc Su,tainsblc? : 1;rorn Percrptiot~sto licalit)
Limited subsidies from the Government and heavy reliance on property development and the cash
box, has limited the rail network while making it less affordable for some sections of the
population, (Barron, 2000). Nevertheless, Hong Kong enjoys the luxury of about 95% serviced by
truly multi-modal transportation system. Urban rail together with buses, taxis and trams provide
affordable mobility and accessibility to public transport to almost 100% of the population expect
some remote villages in the New Territories.
In an attempt to reduce vehicular and pedestrian conflict, pedestrian movement was moved
away from the ground level where the automobile dominates. The podium type development and
the close proximity of buildings to one another have led to the development of footbridge systems
that are extensive and unique. Indoor shopping malls that are often located at the rail stations are
housed in podium structures and are connected to the footbridge network. This has taken away the
importance of ground level to the pedestrian in the form of open space, tree lined boulevards,
pedestrian streets, squares and plazas. More recently piecemeal pedestrianization efforts by the
transport department are being undertaken to make the streets safer by eliminating the transport
black spots. These have taken the form of traffic calming, part time and full time pedestrianization
schemes.
Hong Kong's dynamic and vibrant streets, and the constant change in the skyline and the
densely packed high rise buildings is interesting to the visitors. The neon lights and the signs
boards especially on Nathan Road, are viewed by some as chaotic yet by others as interesting. This
densely packed urban environment in some areas proves to be monotonous and congested. The
mountain ranges actually form view sheds and the coastline provides relief to the dense urban
development. However, there is an urgent need for physical and visual relief in the form of vistas,
view corridors, open space and access to waterfront promenades. An attempt is being made in this
direction through the Urban Design Guidelines and the Harbour and Waterfront Studies, but
proposals need to be implemented yet.
Lower open space standards within the HKPS&G, has led to little land being left for
usable open space or public use. In an attempt to maximize the development potential of the land
buildings are being built closer and taller, thereby exacerbating the already dense built
environment. However, it should be noted that the quality of the newer private development is
significantly higher than public development. A skewed priority to minimum maintenance has also
led to a more mundane streetscape and urban landscape of Hong Kong. Hong Kong looks
glamorous from the mountain top especially the Peak and the harbour with memorable views from
the feny, but lacks imagination or attention to detail at the human scale, especially at ground level.
Again studies are being undertaken to improve the streetscape and to make the streets pedestrian
friendly.
The market led development approach has proven to be rather unsuccessful as far as
redevelopment and renewal is concerned. There is an urgent need to address the aging poor quality
building stock, especially in the older areas of the city. Hong Kong's answer is the creation of the
Urban Renewal Authority replacing the more profit oriented Land Development Corporation. The
URA approach to renewal is based on four R's - Redevelopment, Rehabilitation, Preservation and
Revitalization. The Urban Renewal Strategy has identified several areas and sites for renewal to be
implemented over the next 20 years. Additionally, the relocation of the airport to Chek Lap Kok
has made available huge amounts of land to be redeveloped at higher densities in the urban core.
Hong Kong is going through yet another transformation, that of political and governance
as a result of the handover of the territory from British to Chinese sovereignty. Hong Kong's
reunification with the Mainland of China in 1997 provides a new regional development context for
the Special Administrative Region (SAR). Increase in cross border activities and investments
further integrate development across the border thereby making the border more porous with
greater linkage with the Mainland. A possible development of multi-centred city region in the PRD
could transform Hong Kong's urban structure and redefine its regional and global context.
Hong Kong has now stepped into the era of growing environmental concern that would
result in a more sustainable Hong Kong. Urban design has become a significant part of planning in
Ilow <'an W e l l a k e Iiong Kong's I rhsa Form hlore Su,taiiiable'! : E'rom Perceptiour l o 12calit)
Hong Kong. There is a conscious effort to raise the quality of life of people and also get them more
involved in the planning process through public consultations. The local population is only now
entering the arena of community involvement and needs education, empowerment and training to
become socially aware and participate successfully in planning the future of Hong Kong.
Environmental
sustainability / rn Ciul Society (lewd of
excellence)
rn Public Sector (lewd of
excellence)
Primte Sector (lewd of
Economic ! excellence)
competitiveness
Social
I
I
rn Public Sector (lewd of
priority)
development and I w Private Sector (lewd of
cohesion priority)
The indicators for physical environment, urban structure and setting (Figure 4) show their
perceptions of the level of excellence and level of priority for the three stakeholder groups. There
are differences between the perceptions of the public sector, private sector and the civil society
regards the level of excellence, although they seem to confer on certain key issues of highest
priority. These include: location within an internal context; quality of city surroundings; overall
environment of the city; quality of urban setting for the pedestrians; green areas in the city and
water in the city. It should be noted that the public sector had a tendency to score higher on level
of excellence when compared to private sector or civil society. For example the public sector gave
t i o ~Can \%e\lake Hong Koog's 1rban Form \lore Suctainahlc'? : Frorn I'rrccptions to Rcality
a higher rating for the night time illumination of the city, water features and courses in the city,
city's relationship with the region, uniqueness of urban image, quality of modem architecture etc.
This discrepancy may explain why the public sector takes a much longer time to recognize that
problems exist while the private sector and the civil society get anxious and frustrated at the public
sectors lack of concern for these issues.
Overall, the same pattern in repeated. There are several indicators that received a score of
8 or above for both the level of excellence and level of priority. Sub-categories where four or more
indicators were selected include: educational system and universities; environmental management;
civic and social integration; advanced economic activities; factors of production; administration
and governance; and potential for globalization, with advanced economies taking in 6 indicators
and environmental management being on top with 9 indicators. Sub-categories where three
indicators are selected include: external communications system; urban setting; employment and
immigration; political and social consciousness; structure of demand; urban sustainability; physical
environment of the city; urban structure; unique parts of the urban structure; urban transportation;
basic sectors of economic activities; productive linkages; city and regional planning take in two
indicators each.
Location within
the international
context
Quality of city
surroundings
Water features
W v i l Society (level of
excellence) ,
~
and courses in
I
the city
Overall environ.
IPublic Sector (level of I
of the city
City's
excellence)
relationship
with its region
Central areas of
o Rivate Sector (level of I
I
l
the city
Urban
excellence)
redevelopment
Uniqueness of o Cjvil Society (level of priority)
urban image
Quality of urban
setting for the
pedestrian
Quality of IPublic Sector (level of priority)
modern
architecture
~~
Streetscape
Night time
illumination of
B Rivate Sector (level of
the city
Green areas of
priority)
the city
Water in the city
Now that we have seen what the public sector, private sector and civil society agree on
over the indicators listed in the level of excellence and the level of priority it is useful to see if
Hong Kong people's perceptions match with current plans for the future development of the city.
We have used the HK2030, (www.info.aov.hk) a strategic Study currently underway and looked at
its key issues and planning implications and compared it with the Hong Kong people's priorities.
Analysis of the Study and the survey results shows that only some of people's priority
items are addressed and there are several priority areas that are not even considered. The Study
includes the following key strategies: airport and port development; strengthening rail and road
linkages with the region; regenerating old urban areas; providing a quality living environment;
preserving cultural heritage and enhancing an attractive townscape; conserving natural landscape;
enhancing the transport system; meeting housing and community needs through new growth areas;
adequate schools for quality education and retraining; reduction of air pollution; energy efficient
public transport system; promoting tourism etc. The Study addresses certain key issues that were
not considered in previous strategic studies. However the HK2030 ignores other issues relating to
environment, social cohesion, equity, community empowerment, participation and governance.
The Government still needs to address these to make local people's perceptions become a reality
and ensure that the future development of the city is more sustainable.
People's perceptions can become reality if future development focuses on the following4:
Sustainable urban life - open building, the livable city - use of public art, Chinese culture, music,
heritage and urban amenities can enhance the quality of the built environment. Puncture more open
space and green areas for relief from extreme density and enhance the streetscape and identity of
places. Create landscaped waterfront promenades to provide physical access to the water not just
limited to visual access of the coastline. Provide access to the natural environment and create a
network of open spaces and landscaped areas. Hong Kong current city's image is of a high density
concrete jungle, a destination for shopping, and "A City of Life". Showcase the city with a unique
setting, vibrant urban form, and abundant natural environment, a sustainable and livable city.
There is a need to devote proper attention and resources to urban regeneration, historic
preservation, urban heritage and culture enrichment within the built environment. Enhance the
quality of the city's surroundings, overall environment of the city, and the city's relationship with
its region. There should be high quality new and urban regeneration of older areas for a better
urban fabric. Enhance the quality of the urban setting for pedestrians, through urban streetscape
enhancement, urban furniture and signage and green areas within the city. Highlight the ecological
buffers and greenways and outstanding natural elements of the city. Maintain the city's
international flavour, a mix of Eastern and Western cultures, vibrancy and diversity of the streets,
shopping, tourism, mobility and security, a very safe place to live and work in.
Sustainable urban access - resource-conserving mobility - Hong Kong enjoys a truly multi-
modal public transportation system. However, congestion on the roads as a result of over-
competition leaves empty buses running, that adds to the urban traffic congestion, air and noise
pollution. Removal of duplication of services by using feeder systems, single ticket use for transfer
journey etc. can ensure a more efficient transport system. Decentralization of the employment
centres within mature new towns and more integrated land use and transport planning can reduce
the number of trips generated. More effective use of the waterways through water taxis will ensure
proper distribution between different modes of travel and especially relieve congestion on roads.
The above sustainability indicators have been adapted from World Commission Urban 21,2000.
22 1
IIo\\ Can \\e Flake tiong Kong'9 L rban I:orm $lore Su9tainable8?: From Perccption9 to Reality
An integrated urban design led approach would ensure a more comprehensive pedestrian network
and interesting streetscape ensuring a higher quality pedestrian experience. Hong Kong should also
explore ways to increase the amount of multi-level connections and usable open space and quality
public spaces in the form of squares, plazas, sky walks and gardens given its compact and dense
urban fabric. Encouraging the use of the bicycle, carlbus free zones with free shuttle loops etc
within districts could make the transport system more sustainable. Ensure proper external
communications systems ie., telecommunications infrastructure, networks of railroad lines linking
the city region and other parts of the PRD and the commercial port. Provide extensive metro and
regional rail network and improved cross-border conditions.
Sustainable urban shelter - decent affordable housing for all - Hong Kong needs more
affordable housing for all, better quality and increased square footage per unit and more amenities.
Prices are still too high, despite the property market slump. The rich and expatriate population,
enjoy a lot more, although businesses are cutting down on housing allowances.
Sustainable urban society - social capital, social coherence and solidarity - The city should
work to ensure racial harmony, social cohesion, fight against poverty and maintain standards of
public safety. Increase the city's capacity to generate employment, job quality and wage levels and
professional qualifications of locals and immigrants. Augment citizen's confidence in institutions,
fight against corruption while ensuring freedom and independence of media. Improve the quality
of educational institutions, graduate education and research development and ensure the suitability
of the education system to the local economy. An enlightened society will be able to support the
development of more sustainable cities for future generations (Ng and Hills, 2003).
Sustainable urban economy - work and wealth - Hong Kong needs to diversify its economic
base, and become less dependent on property. It needs to become professionally active, train better
English speaking and skilled workers to increase productivity. Ensure the proper functioning of
basic sectors of economic activities, commerce and services as well as administration and
government. Pay close attention to advanced economic activities such as education,
telecommunications, medicine, financial services, tourism, hotels, restaurants, leisure activities,
and activities aimed at improving the environment. Further develop the local, regional, national
and international markets. Nurture work ethic and maintain business climate and ensure the
availability of technology, intellectual and venture capital. Promote co-operation and collaboration
between public and private sectors and improve the quality and specialization of professional
services.
Sustainable urban governance: attain sustainability through good governance - Hong Kong
should strengthen its local government and the effectiveness of local administration in managing
urban issues. Ensure the capacity to create organizations and institutions capable of achieving
concrete objectives. Undertake better quality of planning at the city and regional levels and with a
tlo\\ Can M c \lake Ilong lioag's I,rb;rn Form %loreSustainable? : Frorn Perceptions to Kralitj
collective envisioning project for the city. There is a need for clear political and economic
leadership supported by an enlightened and widely networked community (Ng and Hills, 2003).
Sustainable urban democracy - empowering the citizenry - Hong Kong would benefit from a
strong leadership at the centre, a more decentralized approach with more power given to the
districts and ensuring good governance practices. Hong Kong should invest in the education and
empowerment of its people, to instill pride and ownership of landlcity, less disparity and open to
change. Develop a commitment and bondage to participate actively in the future planning of the
city.
Globalization: - local, regional, national and international links - Hong Kong should develop
international, political, cultural, social links and increase the capacity of the city to compete at an
international level. Maintain local economy's link to the global market, receptivity and level of
openness. Sustain the ability to attract tourism and cultivate an external image of the city.
Components of Excellence: - world class elements and urban sustainability - Hong Kong should
develop world class elements and urban areas that provide the city with competitive advantages.
Hong Kong would need to do more to maintain its competitiveness; three important issues,
diversify its economic base, develop its human resources and improve its environment to work
towards its urban sustainability.
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The concepts of open building and sustainable development are integrated to serve as a
framework to assess Hong Kong's urban form. The survey results provide a useful insight into
Hong Kong people's perceptions of the city's urban form. The differences between level of
excellence and level of priority by various stakeholders shows that Hong Kong public sector needs
to listen more carefully to the perceptions of the private and community sectors. The stakeholders'
priorities are not adequately addressed by current plans for the future development of Hong Kong.
The public sector through strong political and economic leadership should reassess its current
policies and see how it can develop programs and implement strategies to turn its people's
perceptions to reality.
Governance should transition from a top down to more grass roots local level so that pride
and ownership of the city is instilled at the community level. The community needs to be educated
and empowered so that it can effectively participate in the collective envisioning of Hong Kong's
future. However, it is positive to note that all the stakeholders have given urgent priority to urban
sustainability. These include conserving the environment and the development of social capital,
while maintaining economic competitiveness. Hong Kong needs a balance of the environment,
social and economic development and successful urban regeneration and regional development.
Hong Kong will then truly embark on a open building and sustainable development path and
emerge as Asia "Great City".
REFERENCES
Barron, B., Ng, S. K., Loh, C., Gilbert, R. 2002. "Sustainable Transport in Hong Kong: Directions
and Opportunities," Civic Exchange, The Asia Foundation.
Jenks, M., Burton, E., Williams, K. 2000. The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form?, "E &
FN Spon.
lion Can N e \lake Hong Kong.5 Ijrban Forni \lore Su\tainable? : From Perceptions to Realit?
Ng. M. K., P. Hills, 2003. "World cities or great cities? A comparative study of five Asian
metropolises,"Cities,Vol. 20, No. 3, 151-165.
Ng. M.K., 2002. "Sustainable Urban Development Issues in Chinese Transitional Cities: Hong
Kong and Shenzhen," International Planning Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, 7-36.
Ng, M.K., Cook, A., Chui, E. 2001. "'The Road Not Travelled': a Sustainable Urban Regeneration
Strategy for Hong Kong," Planning Practice and Research, Vo1.16, No.2, pp. 171- 183.
World Commission Urban 21,2000. World Report on Urban Futures21, Federal Ministry of
Transport, Building and Housing, Berlin, The Federal Republic of Germany.
Abstract: Due to the economic and scientific advancement in the society, people's living
condition has been in a gradually changing process. In modem society, with the rapidly
developing economy and human notions, inevitably, some new requirements about their
living environment have appeared. And surely, all of those must cause an enormous impact
on the traditional culture and lifestyles of the urban dwellers, which brings the decay of our
heritage. We have to find the exact way to preserve the historical identity and traditional
values while improving the living environment to meet the needs of modem inhabitants. This
article therefore aimed to synthesize urban renewal and conservation through examining the
revitalization of a particular traditional urban area. The case of West Yuehu Area, Ningbo, is
selected to show the planning approaches and proposals, constrains and contradiction
regarding revitalization under this social transition.
1. INTRODUCTION
We are going through a century of rapid urbanization. With this the past few decades have
seen considerable progress in development and technological breakthrough across the world. This
dynamic growth and changes in urban structures entails serious demographic, economic and social
changes. At the same time, in this rapidly changing economy, it's difficult to predict accurately the
characteristics of users, their needs, attitudes and aspirations. In urban areas the ever-growing
populations also demand accommodations for them, which creates high-density living
environment with limited land resources. Industrialization, the growth of real estate and
modernization resulted in some of the traditional quarters disappearing and most of them adapted
to the developing needs of the city were built high-rise buildings. The environment created by
these high-rise buildings is far from the traditional scale, shape and activity of our urban life. Thus
traditional urban areas face issues of losing their characteristics, social values and meanings. We
have to achieve a balance between preserving the identity while dealing with the need for the
development. Revitalization of these areas with restoration of the physical fabric and active
economic use would be one effective method. This Paper attempts to illustrate the dimensions of
urban renewal and regeneration by examining the processes, conflicts and results of revitalization
of traditional urban areas, considering the present changing socio-economic context.
I
This study is a part of the research project "Preservation of Historic Quarters under the Social Transition"
by the support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 500780 12)
225
With the significant economic development in China, the structure of the society and their
requirements are changing simultaneously. The case of West Yuehu Area, Ningbo, is selected to
show the planning approaches and proposals, constrains and contradiction regarding revitalization
under this social transition. The lessons and observations from experience of the revitalization of
traditional urban areas, role of the government in this regard and the involvement of the private
sectors are also discussed in this article. Its focus is on areas where there are significant numbers of
traditional buildings concentrated in a small area, which are considerably threatened by the force
of rapid urbanization, are now stand on a thin fence between survival and destruction.
During the last 100 years, Chinese culture, economy and society have changed much. All
the changes in thinking, culture and living style, which follow the continuity of increasing
production and population, make people ask to renew the cities. Since late 80', the pace of urban
renewal has been continuously speeded up in most of the cities in China. So the sustainable
development of city renewal becomes the focus of all circles attention. In this way, there is a
conflict between new and traditional culture in the old city than in any other place. With the
economic boom, many historic cities have taken a new look. In most cases, the redevelopment
projects cover a very large block, and the government relies on the development companies to
provide the infrastructure and community facilities. Therefore for the development companies, it is
the most suitable way to take those blocks as development units and to complete them as soon as
possible in order to make profits. After some year's building, people found that there are many
changes in the view of the cities. The old cities having been pulled down and the new buildings
have taken the place of the old. This bristly high-rise development didn't make people satisfied,
because the original social structures, neighborhood relations, characteristics of the communities
and the sense of belongings to the place have been completely changed.
Upgrading and new development in urban areas are the positive outcomes of economic
growth. They raise living standards and set the platform for continued development. The purpose
of the revitalization of an traditional urban area is neither removing the old and constructing the
new to satisfy the demand of modem human life nor hastily reconstructing after pulling the old
down, but renewing on the base of the heritage of the city in order to succeed to it.
The loss of urban neighborhoods and historic sites was once thought to be the price of
progress. However, planners now recognize that preserving the past is an essential part of creating
livable, sustainable cities. Revitalization of a city's historic and cultural environment enhances the
city and the quality of life for residents by: Preserving evidence of past achievements and cultural
traditions; Protecting enjoyable areas of architectural and natural beauty; and Creating energy for
development by generating positive identity and civic pride.
3.1 Context of Ningbo
The historic city of Ningbo in the coastal province of Zhejiang is an example of a city
working to resolve the inherent conflicts between rapid urbanization and the revitalization of
cultural heritage. In the last few years, Ningbo has upgraded basic urban services and facilities
while also conserving valuable cultural property in the heart of the old city. The city of Ningbo
began evolving before 770 BC and contains many cultural properties from the Tang, Song, Ming,
and Qing Dynasties, which give it important cultural and historical values. Today, Ningbo is the
second largest city in the province, the center of a massive transportation network and producer of
one-fifth of the province's industrial output.
3.3 The Case of West Yuehu Area Conservation and Renewal Project, Ningbo
Citizen appreciation and positive comment on the conservation work have given city
officials the impetus to continue and expand their policy on revitalization of traditional areas. The
Yuehu project has stimulated some private groups to begin restoration projects of their own, and
developers have learned from experience that their proposals are more likely to be approved if they
conform to historic preservation regulations. Experiences in Ningbo show that conservation of
cultural heritage can be effectively integrated with urban development to create a city that is both
livable and dynamic. In 2002, the local authority of Ningbo has initiated the 'West Yuehu Area
Conservation and Renewal Project'. The aim of the project is to revitalize the high-value historic
area and to upgrade living environment through detailed conservation and rehabilitation planning.
Except some 6-7 stories apartments at the northern end and the western edge of this area,
here most of the buildings are 2 or 3 stories traditional brick houses; always have no wide lane in
between. The type of the housing is Chinese courtyard house, which traditionally occupied by a
single family but then was shared by several families. Therefore the way to use the houses has
been greatly changed. The qualities of the houses are varying from good conditioned privately
preserved house to extremely dilapidated houses. There were no private toilets and kitchens and
people used the public lavatory, washed their washings in the courtyards, and mostly cooked their
food in the halls or simple added huts. There are some buildings, which are a unique amalgam of
west and east. The old buildings survived in these decades, time devoted the beauty for those brick
facades and lanes. Some of them are still in good condition. Here the building groups make the
public spaces, main lanes and branch lanes. The lane in the building groups normally is 3 meters
wide, some part of them even narrower, which give a significant character of this traditional area.
of many interconnected parts. These cultural assets are particularly difficult to maintain when
development puts pressure. We have to protect the scale and character of traditional neighborhoods
and combat the loss of historic urban fabric. The harmonized developments among the city
economy, function, landscape, social, cultural and historical value should be ensured. Which
method is adopted to renew the old city must be cautiously thought. So that we can examine the
achievement of city renewal and find the best scheme to protect historical city and excavate
cultural meaning.
Prior to the detail master plan, site investigation and feasibility study, and detailed survey
of the traditional housing were done to establish a project management system based on GIs
technology to guide the overall planning process.
Figure 3 Schematic drawrings and anabsis of West Yuehu urea (tapl and some traditional.fiatures (bottom}
During the planning process, we have found that one single approach cannot be applicable
for a successful revitalization. An integrated planning is essential for this historic site, which will
combine conservation, renewal and rehabilitation. All significant structures of this site should be
preserved. The outer appearance of the traditional houses should be kept and restored and the
living conditions inside should be improved. Necessary service facilities and infrastructures,
especially sewerage and drainage system should be provided to ensure a healthy environment. We
have to provide private kitchen and toilets, which will not disturb the original timber-framed
structure. The new spatial organization should respect the old space layout and relationship
between the different use spaces. In the rebuilding process, the old houses in very poor quality
should be destroyed and built some new houses based on the concept of the traditional courtyard
houses. The networks and patterns of the streets and lanes around the block and within the block
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pue uo!lehlasuo3 ley1 s8uyppnq p1o jo luawleall lnjale3 ayl loj walqold e s! alayL
-sanb!uy3al Ieuo!lel uapow ayl lo sle!lalew
pue sanb!uy3al l!edal leuo!l!pea 'lajald aM pInoys sanbyuy3al l e y ley1
~ uo!snjuo3 e s A e ~ l es! alaql
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uo!lez!ueqm Alrsuap yS!q ~ o alnssald
j pue s a n p puq UI as!l 8uyAuedwome ayl ' l a ~ a .anleA ~ o ~
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sa3eds loopu! jo d!ysuo!lelal p a n p ayl alojalaql paleanal pue $day aq plnoqs sa3eds looplno pue
p l e b n o a aqL .y301q ayl punole pue u ~ y l A~eur~lu!
!~ ayl daay 01 urelsns I[!M eale Ie!luap!saJ aql
jo a1e3s aql amay fy8y Aa~ols-cApsow aq plnoys s8urppnq Mau ayl jo lyS!aq ayL .daay 01 alley
So, if gentrification is obvious, in this case, a new group of users of higher income will
replace the present occupants. Nowadays, Living in the old town has gradually become more and
more popular within the newly affluent higher middle class as a symbol of prejudice. If we go back
to history, we can find that before this place was a residential area for the affluent class of that time.
In this perspective, we may consider this as a revival of history. But this new user group desires
vehicular access to their houses, which demands wider roads. Here the lanes are too narrow to
allow the vehicles. Any type of modification will hamper the strong character and unique
experiences of these lanes. Thus, by the pressure of rapid economic development and changing
social needs, this traditional quarter is confronting adversity for its authentic existence.
4. CONCLUSION
The recent acknowledgement of long neglected heritage has not changed the urban land
use strategy. The governmental policy consists of making the land resources as profitable as
possible. The logic of real estate profitability leaves the old urban area competing with high-rise
buildings, the new symbols of modernity and insurance of rapid returns on investment. And the
residents in substandard traditional housing in the downtown area like to have the comfort of
living. Having been pushed out to suburb, these former city center residents have most certainly
improved their housing conditions, but at the expense of the social elements that gave structure to
their lives in the neighborhood. Just one social class is profiting from this clearance of traditional
urban area. The desire of maintaining the inhabitants in their house is fundamental in a certain idea
of heritage, but is completely unrealistic if we avoid to loose money and if the city does not give
subsidies.
The deterioration of a historical city center is perceived differently by a variety of
individuals and groups. Some of them may consider the decay to be nothing extraordinary -just a
part of life. For others, however, the deterioration creates a whole series of problems, and they
therefore will seek relief in a variety of ways, whether it is rehabilitation, conservation, or
clearance and building of a modem city center. The perception of the value of such heritage is
subject to drastic changes over the years, depending on education, awareness, fashion and external
influences. So we need to generate awareness amongst the people for an appreciation of their
cultural heritage and the need to conserve it. Awareness is also necessary among professionals and
decision makers.
To find out the way of development in this social transition and the way of old city
revitalization is difficult to one person or one generation. But the most important is that we should
exploit our mind; develop the advantages of our culture, and save our heritage from decay. The
challenge today is, while preserving the old historical areas, to be able to develop the sustainable
cities of tomorrow.
REFERENCES
Allmendinger, Philip. 2002. Planning Theory, Hampshire: Palgrave.
Cohened, Nahoum. 1999. URBAN CONSER VATZON: architect and town planner, Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Doxiadis, C. A. 1996. Urban Renewal and The Future of The American Cities, USA: Public
Administration Service.
Edited by EB-2000 Secretariat. 2000. Towards Human Environment, Nanjing: Southeast
University Press.
Eisner, Simon, and Arthur Gallion, and Stanley Eisner. 1993. The URBAN PATTERN, New York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 6th Ed.
Hall, Peter, and Ulrich Pfeiffer. 2000. Urban Future 21, New York: E & FN Spon.
Jacobs, Jane. 1962. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Great Britain: Jonathan Cape.
Kostof, Spiro. 1991. THE CITY SHAPED: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History,
London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Ravetz, Alison. 1980. REMAKING CITIES: Contradiction of the Recent Urban Environment,
London: Croom Helm.
Ravetz, Joe. 2000. City - Region 2020, London: Earthscan Publication Ltd.
Tiesdell, Steven, and Taner Oc, and Tim Heath. 1996. Revitalizing Historic Urban Quarters.
Oxford: Architectural Press.
Open Space S t o d j of The Ind119trial Area ,\loeg 'l'lic <;ra~btl('anal In H s n g ~ h o u
Abstract : The central area along the Grand Canal in Hangzhou is the traditional residential
area of the city and that area has its great land value and long history. After development for
about half a century, there is now less and less open space within the residential area which is
suitable for both resident's recreational and communizing purposes. The function of barging
in Hangzhou section of Canal has been vanishing gradually thus leads to the decline of role of
the nearby industrial area that relied on the barging of Canal, and as a result thereof that
industrial area becomes the potential source of open space for the residential area. The
possibility of re-developing that industrial area into open space will be examined in this
article.
1. BACKGROUND
The Grand Canal is the longest artificial river in the world and it has rendered great
contribution to the development of the Hangzhou City.
At first the area along the canal was mainly used for those industries which survived on
water transport. At the same time, the residence of some workers of those industries was located
within that area. From 50s onwards, in order to solve the resident's living problem, the
government has started to develop a series of multilevel community. That community has the
features of high density but little public green space. The emphasis has then changed. From 90s to
the present, high-rise buildings have been built so as to maximize the residential area and to
accommodate the market need. Only some green areas among the buildings were created but not
further.
As a result, the largest and the most obvious open space in the area is the 30-meter
greenbelt in control line along riverside. Among that open space, there are only some public
distributed green spaces, district parks, squares, and the like. Even worse, because of the image
and security of each development, individual developers prefer enclosing the respective
development. The alongshore space of the Grand Canal is fragmented and disorganized.
At present, along the Grand Canal, there are some industrial areas built in different times,
which consist of waterfront-featured structures, such as docks, godowns, mills, etc. Those
structures account for 44% of the waterfront and occupy plenty of valuable open space.
Since 50s of the 20th century, the change of industries together with the vanishing
function of barging in Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal has led to the decline of the role of
those industrial areas. During the course of restructuring of the city, in order to make the fully use
of those industrial areas, it is necessary to adjust the use of those areas. Analyzing the factors in
Open Spacc Study of'l'lie Induhtrial 'Area t\loug 'I h e Gr:~udCanal In Hangzhou
support of the release of open space within those areas and releasing the open space there, if
feasible and advisable, is an opportunity to solve the problem of lack of open space within the
residential area.
The waterfront of the city along the canal has experienced a course of reindustrialization.
To change the use of the industrial areas has special meanings in different aspects, such as
utilization of resources, economic benefits and protection of environment and historical culture,
etc.
2.2.Environment Factor
Changing the use or function of a structure creates less construction waste and at the same
time, it causes less disturbance of the traffic and energy (the water and power consumption) of a
city during course of constructing. Sustainable development will be achieved.
The Southeast Flour Mill is hereby applied as a model to analyze the factors in support of
the change of industrial area to open space.
influenced the normal life of the residents in Zhaohui area. At present, there is a special 250-ton
dock in this site (Southeast Flour Mill), with a 260-meter long bank, an 80-meter wide river, and
four berthes, which is used for the transportation of raw materials. In the site, there are three office
buildings, nine joist constructing storehouses, a dock building and a silo-coupling construction, all
of which are in good conditions.
Figure 1
The existing canal, banks, vegetation and metopes of buildings are important articles to
improve the nearby landscape. If those articles can be properly used, it will give the user a sense
of security and easiness and this factor cannot be ignored during the process of dividing different
areas of the open space for different purposes.
3.8. Traffic
Part of the former dock can be reconstructed to water bus station so as to attract residents
of both banks to enter into the site. The water bus station should also be included as part of the
traffic network of the Hangzhou City. Further, a rule that "pedestrian has priority to use the road"
should be promoted with 1000-meter area of the site.
3.9. Readability
It should be made known explicitly to all users that the open space of the site can be used
by nearby residents as well as other users. The way to express readability is represented by
fluency of the visible sight, the space connection and scale between the site and other areas.
Infill: In order to form the new open space, one should analyze what can be done or what
is restricted and then adjust the function of different part of the area accordingly.
Analyzing the factors in support of the change of use of the industrial area and examining
the relationships among those factors can can make the course of function infill more scientific.
For example, after having understood the reason why the role of the site declines, one can avoid
repeating the occurrence of such reason and adhieve the goal of attracting the coming of users.
As far as the use of the land is concerned, it is a good idea to divide the open space into
different small sections in which different activities can proceed with. Because the users of open
space mainly use low speed traffics like walking, the site should offer more entrances so as to
facilitate the flow of users. Further, different small sections can be combined whenever it is
necessary so as to cope with further change of the use of the open space.
The development of the open space is mainly to cater for recreational purposes of the
residents. Through analyzing people's activities in open space, we can classify the space into ten
categories: for amusement, for sight seeing, for sports, for gathering and so on.
In this site, different recreational activities can be be proceeded in different section of the
open space. During planning, one should base on actual feature of the scene. Table 1 shows the
possible choices.
The matters aforesaid must be incorporated into the design of the governmental
department, which is in charge of the change of use. During the course of design and
implementation, it is also necessary to keep close contact with the users. If it is possible, the view
of the users can be adopted and modified by the designer.
Open Space Study of The Ind~~strial
Area Along The Grant1 Canal In Hangzhol~
The following paragraphs (figure 2 to 5) consist of a proposal and further illustration for
the change of the site into open space after taking into account some of the aforesaid principles.
Table 1
Current Factory building & 'Yard for piling 'Dock Small amount of
I situation ~ f i c building
e goods & storehouses shipping
Space for useum, Exhibition center on
exhibition exhibition center I I water(on ship)
.I
Space for
amusement
Dance hall, net bar
I
Dancing place Platform by water !Rowthe boat,
water-curtain film
Space for Market, supermarket Retail shelve
shopping I I
Space for Restaurant, Picnicking area, Outdoor cafe Restaurant on water
i food pafe,teahouse outdoor cafe
S ~ a c for
e Hotel Villa for holidays
living I I
Space for Square, fountain
I get-together
Space for Good natural environment
having a rest I
Space for Gymnasium sports facility, court Fishing platform ,Diving area
sports
Space for Historic sites, Watching scene
watching scene old building platform
Space for Footway,
walk bicycle path
6. CONCLUSION
After having the industrial area along the Grand Canal changed to open space, we target at
joining it with nearby scattered green. It is expected that the process takes time and requests a lot
of inputs of the community. Further, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study of the
environment, the society and the behaviour of the users.
This article is intended to provide a direction and an idea on how to create open area from
a developed city. The author hopes that more and more users are able to take a closer look of the
Grand Canal and experience the long history thereof.
REFERENCES
Wang sijun and Otherauthor. 2001. Function Selecting & SyntheticalIy Developping of the
Canal Area of Hangzhou. China:Zhejiang University Press.
Rapoport, A. 1992. The Meaning of Finished Environment: the Non Verbal Expression Way.
China: Architeure Press
Zhang tingwei,Feng hui and Peng zhiquan. 2002. Design and Development of the Bank Water
District in the City.China: Tongji University Press
Figure 2 Figure 3
Figure 3 Figure 4
240
I'ancl I\': O p c n Building Iniplemcmlation ancl PI-acticc
Fig 3 Variation II
Conclusion:
Abstract: Buildings are not meant to be static objects in time; they should be allowed to
evolve together with the city. While three-dimensional flexibility is of uttermost importance
it is equally important that movement is allowed along the time axis. Future changes should
be incorporated in the buildings erected today. This article is to present Symphony, a concept
that makes way for:
optimisation of the construction technology to minimize production time, material waste
and global environmental impact as well as significantly improving the total economy.
buildings with components and material combinations that can literally be dismounted
and reused or recycled.
an internal space that is possible to reconstruct for future requirements since the
construction system makes the plan highly flexible and variable.
The use of multi-floor vertical light weight building elements offers fast assembly and
dismounting. Furthermore the faqade elements are completely finished on the outside and
finished till gypsum board on the inside including windows and all the vertical installations.
With time, they can easily be replaced by a glass faqade, for example to hold offices. The
concept is highly focused on cost effectiveness since the right price will facilitate the
sustainable way of building.
1. INTRODUCTION
Buildings that are delivered in flat packages and mounted on the building site,
which different parts can be exchanged when necessary or when a make over is desired,
where the original materials can be separated and recycled, buildings that consume less
energy, both in the production phase and when in operation. Managing all this while
maintaining quality in both design and comfort and even doing it with a more efficient
economy? This is what the Symphony concept is about. Full-length vertical building
elements are reaching from the cellar up to the roof (figure 1&2).
250
The elements are plastered on the outside and finished till gypsum board on the inside
including windows and all the installations. This is possible due to use of a patented lightweight
construction system called CasaBona.
The purpose of this concept is to optimize the construction of multifamily houses
regarding the environmental impact, flexibility, production time and total economy. This can be
obtained by considering the entire building process, from architecture, structural engineering, fire
and environmental design to production, transport and logistics at the same time.
1.1. CasaBona
During the recent years there has been a great deal of research and experimental projects at
the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at KTH with the aim of developing
efficient building systems, (Jbhannesson et al. 1995). This work has among other things resulted in
a patented building system called the CasaBona system. CasaBona is a light weight integrated
construction consisting of light gauge sheet metal Z-profiles integrated with precut rigid insulation
blocks. The profile webs are perforated to prevent thermal bridges, (Nieminen et a1 1995;
Jbhannesson 1999). The shape of the Z-profile together with the precut stiff insulation blocks
offers a very fast build-up of the construction (4 manmin./m2). The rigid insulation supports the
profile and strengthens it against local buckling. Through use of water-resistant materials such as
expanded polystyrene, a moisture proof construction is obtained. The system is highly flexible and
allows different material combinations. The polystyrene can easily be exchanged for higher
density mineral wool to meet specifications on fire and sound insulation. Experimental houses
have even been built with Adobe materials as insulation. This technique has been used to build
several experimental buildings and numerous private houses, among them a hotel in Iceland and
villa WBhlin, a house that was nominated for house of the year in 1999 (Arets byggen 1999). The
intention today is to take the development of this technology further in the direction of multifamily
houses.
1.2. Background
The current Swedish housing market is in a very interesting situation. The authorities are
encouraging the production of apartments and of special interest are rental apartments.
Nevertheless the number of apartments built is only a fraction of the actual need! There is a long
list of macroeconomic reasons behind this. Partly because the economy is in an early stage of
recession and as always the fluctuation curve of the building sector is delayed. This means that the
consumption power is lowered and the building-production prices are still high. Furthermore there
are strong rent-policy regulations that don't allow market rents while the estate prices are
following the market development. If the production cost is too high and it's not possible to charge
the needed rent to compensate for the investment it's obvious that no rental apartments will be
built.
2. DESIGN PROCESS
This concept is based on the same foundations: Organization, collaboration, accuracy and
quality. We are dealing with simultaneous-planning as we call it. Normally different parts of the
building are planned separately; there are architects, construction engineers, ventilation engineers,
logistic planners and so forth. These parts are essentially planned separately but built
simultaneously on the construction site. The goal here is to gather everybody during the planning
phase. In this way they are all aware of how single details affect the rest of the building and can
prevent unnecessary problems and find common, cost-effective solutions that will solve several
problems at the same time. In the same way focus is put on separating the production of these parts
at the construction site and creating clear responsibility limits for the contractors.
It is very important that the architectural planning is integrated with the rest of the
planning since the function of any object affects its design. The relationship between function, cost
and design is very intimate. In this model the design arrives from the different technical details and
their limitations. Having considered this in an early stage of the planning it will lead to more
efficient solutions and faster production which automatically yields economic savings. The joints
between two elements can be given as a representative example:
The concept uses full-length vertical wall elements mounted on a load bearing floor
structure lifted by steel columns. Between two wall elements a joint will arise. Now, the choice
lies between trying to hide this joint in the best possible way or revealing it instead. This is of great
importance from the design point of view since the joints will determine the idiom of the building.
The steel columns supporting the floor structure along the edge appear with a distance of 3,6m. In
addition it can be of great interest to have internal draining pipes for the roof-water (this is a design
value often strived for). Moreover the joints should be coverable without the use of scaffoldings
since the goal is to eliminate the need of scaffoldings. By putting all these parameters together the
solution will arise automatically.
Hence the joints will be revealed and this is done with a special joint-element of relevant
size. The width of the wall elements will be adjusted to fit between the steel columns that support
the floor structure so that the joint-element will cover both the joint and the column. The distance
between the steel columns will vary for different projects and the width of the wall elements can
be adjusted to that distance. The joint-element as well will be prefabricated in full length and it
will be possible to assemble it with an ordinary crane without the need of scaffoldings. It will be
lifted by the crane in the same way as the wall-elements and fixed from the inside on each floor
level. Into the joint-element is also included the draining pipe for the rainwater which is possible
due to the use of siphon full-flow system with reduced dimensions. The system requires that the
pipes are filled with water, which in turn demands small dimensions of about 50 mm. This will fit
into the joint-element without any difficulties and make the pipes reachable for service purposes.
This is just one example of many details that are carefully elaborated and which consider
several aspects at the same time. The example describes the substance in this concept were nothing
is designed at random and where close collaboration extend the limits of different contractor-fields
such as installations, construction and architecture.
2.2. Application
It should be said that Symphony is a concept with great possibilities in design and
function. Here it will be presented as applied on a case study as shown below (figure 3). The
geometry, the amount of floors and the spatial relations are all adjustable depending on the project
in question. The main criteria in this case have been:
Small apartments of about 40 m2
Effective use of spaces (living area, hallways, stair ways and elevators)
Multisided light in each apartment
Flexible design
Challenging design
Use of full-length vertical building elements
Vertical installations, integrated in the outer-walls
Figure 3 Smallflexible apartments with multisided light and a simple plan with large possibilities
Service spaces are minimized while optimizing the efficiency of the living space whereas comfort
and architectural qualities are promoted through multisided light and relatively large ceiling height
among other things. The internal space is not divided into enclosures but left open for the tenant to
plan through a mobile wall. The chosen design requires challenging technical solutions and
demonstrate the efficiency of the system.
3. PRODUCTION
In the following paragraphs the different phases of the production of the project according
to the symphony-concept will be briefly explained. The different phases will be explained in the
order that they are going to be constructed. The most important parts will be emphasized and the
details left to the full thesis (Hoseini 2003).
254
3.4 The installation-elements
For each apartment one of the wall-elements is a so called installation-element containing
all the vertical installations. Every installation-element is connected to four apartments and is
joined on each floor to the installation-devices of the apartment. This element contains ventilation
ducts, water and sewage pipes and electrical cables. Because of its content the installation-element
is thicker than the rest of the wall-elements. 100 mm of extra insulation is needed outside the
installations to prevent a thermal bridge, but also to prevent large energy losses due to heat transfer
from the warm installations to the outside air. Apart from this the construction of the installation-
element is similar to the rest of the wall-elements.
The installation-element will be connected to an installation basement along the perimeter
of the building where the distribution of air water and electricity takes place. The plan of the
apartment is coordinated with the placing of the installation-element to facilitate the connection of
the installations and the installation-element and save maximum amount of material.
3.5. Joint-elements
In the same continuous way the mounting of the joint-elements will proceed. These will
also be lifted by a crane and fixed from the inside. Observe that the wall elements are fixed to the
floor structure while the joint-elements are fixed to the wall elements. This is because it is of vital
importance to create a tight connection between the joint-element and the wall-element. As the
joint-elements are being mounted, the roof-gullies will be connected to the draining pipe in the
joint-element and the roofing will be finished. The drainage of the roof will take place by a siphon
full-flow system which requires small dimensions for the pipes, between 45-50 mm (see figure 5).
The pipe is placed in the outer side of the joint-element to prevent thermal transmittance between
the inside air and the drainage water.
Architecturally, the appearance of the joint 4 e m e n t is of uttermost importance since it
decides the rhythm of the faqade. The body of the joint-element will remain the same while the
colors and proportions of its front can easily be adapted to the design in question.
Figure 5 - Thejoint-element will fit between two wall-elements and cover the steel column at the same time.
3.6. The bathroom unit
The bathroom will arrive to the building site in the form of an independent unit (figure 6).
The unit will be h l l y decorated on the inside with wall hanged toilet and washbasin, shower,
laundry machine and tumble-drier. In this way there is no need for a common laundry facility (this
is customary in Sweden), which is considered to be a more expensive alternative. The ceiling
height of the bathroom unit is 2,10m, leaving room above for a storage area. The installations are
all prepared and gathered at a single connection point ready to be connected to the installation
element. The unit will be transported and lifted on to the floors during the mounting of the floor
structure. Later, during the construction of the inner walls the unit will be placed on its rightful
place.
Figure 6 - The Bathroom unit,fully decorated inside with all the installations gathered at a single
connection point.
3.7. Firewalls
Once the bathroom unit is in place the fire walls between the apartments and the hallway
walls will be constructed. Traditional technique and materials will be used to construct these walls
though it is worth noticing that they will continue all the way down to the concrete slabs. Once
again this is due to acoustical reasons and the fire safety regulations. It is mandatory that a
continuous floor is broken at the fire unit limits so that the spread of fire via the floor is prevented
(Fallqvist Klippberg and Wallin 2002).
3.9. Ventilation
The building has an installation-besement from where all the installations are led vertically
through the installation-element and into the apartments. The apartments will be heated with
preheated supply air. In this way there will be no need for a separate heating system. As explained
above, the supply air is led under the floor to be let out below the windows and since the ducts
won't be insulated, the air will heat the floor on its way to the window and the apartment will have
a partially heated floor.
One of the main objectives is to decrease the energy consumption of the building.
Research results show that informing the tenant about his energy consumption together with an
individual debiting is an efficient way of lowering his consumption levels (Hakaana, Sillanpaa and
Talsi 1996). Thus the supply air will be preheated to 15°C by the landlord and the remaining
temperature is chosen and paid for by the tenant. The regulation of the air temperature will be
controlled from a control box placed at the segmentation between the floor duct and the
installation-element. Here will also the electrical controls be placed. The placing of the
installations in the outer walls will avert the amount of lead-troughs in the concrete slabs which
will yield considerable economic savings. It will also make the internal space more flexible.
3.10. Electricity
Plug-in devices for the electrical cables will be used to maximum extent. The so called
plug-in devices will make it possible for the carpenters to connect the electricity, significantly
reducing the need of electricians. Of course electricians are required to some extent but the
reduction will be substantial and this will also enhance the efficiency of the internal finishing
work. The wall sockets also have plug-in contacts; they will not be placed inside the wall but be
integrated in a so called electrical column on the surface of the wall. The company ENSTOB
which is specialized in these kinds of devices has been involved in the development of the
electrical solutions.
4. CONCLUSIONS
4.1. Economy
A first general cost estimate indicates a cost of approximately 900 €/m2 for the building
thus not including the estate cost. More detailed economic calculations are needed and a new thesis
work is reserved for this.
Observe that no larger sums are saved on material quality. The costs are instead reduced on the
procedure, e.g.
Large parts of the installations are integrated in the wall-elements and prefabricated,
resulting in no lead-throughs in the floor structure and a reduction of the general
installation work on the building site which normally stands for about 30% of the
production cost.
The working hours of electricians on the building site is substantially reduced which
represents another large cost component.
No suspended ceilings are used apart from the top-floor.
Up to 80% finished roof elements save even more working hours.
Abolishing the need for scaffoldings saves about 60 €/m2- fagade (the building in
question has about 3500 m2 fa~ade).
REFERENCES
Fallqvist, K., Klippberg, A. and Wallin, A. 2002. Brandskydd I Boverkets Byggregler,
Stockholm: Svenska Brandforsvarsforeningen, 2002.
5,) ~ t ~ p l ~ o- n\ >1 l ~ ~ ~ \!ktcst~
i I ) l ~ ~lor \ i t $ I : ~ i ~ i i t ! ~ !!t)*~ ~ i l t l i ~ t z
Hakaana, M., Sillanpaa, L. and Talsi, M. 1996 The Effect of Feedback and Focused
Advice on Household Energy Consumption, Helsinki, 1996
Johannesson, G., Bjork, F., Johannesson, C.M., Levin, P., A New Structural System made
of Sheet Metal Profiles Supported by Blocks of Expanded Polystyrene. Proceedings of the
7thNordic Steel Construction Conference, Malmo 19-2116 1995. The Swedish Institute of
Steel Construction, Pub1 150, Volume 2, Stockholm 1995.
Johannesson, G
Design for Hygrothermal Performance and Durability of Insulated Sheet Metal Structures
Fourth International Conference on Light-Weight Steel and Aluminium Structures
Espoo June 1999
Abstract: This thesis tries to explain the relationship between residential density and living
quality through the investigation in several residential areas, Nanjing, Capital city of Jiangsu
Province. The thesis subdivides the concept of residential density into several indexes,
comparing the results of the living quality investigation with each single density index, thus to
reach the author's conclusion. The study proposes the solution of improving the living quality
by controlling density indexes. The study also puts forward an experimental mode from this
investigation, which is aimed to build up an index database for urban planning of the future.
Keywords: Urban Residential Area, Index of Residential Density (density index), Parameter
of Living Quality (quality parameter), Density Control
1. INTRODUCTION
The concept of residential density has become a significant aspect in urban daily life,
which seems to be as an assessment standard for the living quality. Actually, the problem of
density is not only important for the citizen but also for the identity of the urban space.
Generally speaking, residential density and living quality are alternative problems, which
means that high living quality should be achieved through reducing the residential density.
However, due to the large population in China, the way of reducing density is not realistic in most
residential areas.
Floor area per capita is also an important parameter for living quality, i.e. each household
must have enough space to reach the standards of living comfortably. Due to the historical reasons,
not all the households can reach the standards. To increase the floor area per capita is an important
method in improving living quality. By doing so, the total floor area of the residential area will be
increased, i.e. the density will be increased. Therefore, we cannot decrease the density for the
pursuance of high residential quality in this way.
Moreover, urbanization dose not only bring increasing population from countryside to the
urban, but also leads to frequent economic-oriented land use and it decreases the availability of
residential-oriented land. Downtown economic areas with the third level industry still need a
certain number of residents for the purpose of social balance. High land cost at downtown areas
make these residential areas to be dense as well.
All these problems make us to review the meaning of Indexes of Residential Density for
the urban specific circumstance in China. As the first step, we begin with field research, which
aims at finding out the new relationship between residential density and living quality.
Residential area A:
As a newly built residential area, it is located in the new developmental area of
city, outside of the old town. It was built in the beginning of 2000 and composed
of several low-rise housing groups and some affiliated buildings.
Residential area B:
Located in a commercial area next to the downtown, it is a large residential area
composed of several low-rise residential buildings and commercial buildings. It
is slightly larger than Residential area A, but with similar density. It was built
during 1980s- 1990s.
Residential area C:
It is adjacent to the central business district (CBD) and is composed of several
residential buildings that were built in different ages (from 1970s to 1990s). It is
a mixed-style residential area.
Residential area D:
Located in a sub-downtown area, it is composed of scattered high-rise residential
buildings and was built at the end of 1990s.
Table
As seen from Table 1, residential density of A, B and C are almost in the same in density,
and in particular, that of A and B. In terms of the density indexes, the average number of floors
and average width per family are of the same, while the coverage rate, floor area ratio, average
distance among buildings, average applicable area per family, proportion of commercial buildings
and green land rate are quite different. It indicates that these areas have similar density but are
different in the density indexes.
Table 2
Based on the statistics, residents in different residential areas are satisfied with some
certain parameters to a similar extent, while having different response to other parameters.
Seen from Table 2, residents' satisfaction to the public facilities and quality of water and
air are almost in the same. However, their satisfaction to the convenient transportation, commercial
services, available indoor area, green land, environment, sunshine, ventilation, architecture
appearance and hygiene quality varies greatly.
According to the coordinates, the tendency curve of the satisfaction to average area per
family, air quality, water quality, area appearance and hygiene is generally slightly. Adjustment to
these density indexes will influence the satisfaction to living quality slightly.
The above-mentioned two parameters fluctuate greatly. Among density indexes, the
proportion of green and public space, average distance and average width affect these two living
quality parameters. Therefore, rational control over the three density indexes will improve the
residents' overall response to the living quality.
In practical designing, only the architects raise those greatly varied parameters in living
quality can relatively raise the degree of satisfaction of the residents.
4. CONCLUSION
Living quality is determined by many factors, while the indexes of residential density are
only part of these factors. In order to reach high living quality, the balance of the indexes of
residential density, together with other factors, must be achieved.
The indexes of residential density should be regarded as a dynamic index system, which
will vary with different circumstances. The dynamic index system should be run by the parameters
that are based on the factors related to the downtown areas. Therefore, high density can create
living situation to some degree.
In the next step, we will preset different parameters and variance schemes, through the
virtual designing and testing, to have a series of different models for comparison and analysis. In
this way, we will further realize the dynamic control over the residential density.
REFERENCE
DU Chunyu, "Housing Environment----Study on the Housing Density of the City", Thesis for the
Degree of Master of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture, Nanjing University, 2003
Chinese National Standards, GB 50180-93, "Code of Urban Residential District Planning &
Design", Government Document 1993
Wang, Shun-Chih; Wu, Ran-Chie, "The Study of Residential Density Index of Housing in Taiwan
Area", Journal of Architecture, 0311997
ZHOU Jian, "Study on the norms of outside environment in residential areas", Urban Planning
Forum, 1999 No.02
Urban Planning Bureau of Nanjing, "Description of Protective and Renewal Urban Planning in
Nanjing", 0112003
NOTE
['I Okudaira, quoted in Wang, Shun-Chih; Wu, Ran-Chie, "The Study of Residential Density Index of
Housing in Taiwan Area", Journal of Architecture, 0311 997 p.02
['I Portion data from Graduate School of Architecture, NanJing University, "Research on the improvement
for old town of Nanjing", 1212002
['I LUO Zhijun, "Research on Quality of City Residential Environment", Journal of Higher Correspondence
(edition of natural science), 0412001 No.02 p.36-p.40
141 Urban Planning Bureau of Nanjing, "Description of Protective and Renewal Urban Planning in Nanjing",
"Figure of that the residents concern", 0112003 p.3-33
[51 In the three residential areas, all buildings are in row, instead of any angle or mixed arrangement. Thus,
the statistics about them based on the distance and width (north to south) is trustworthy.
Regeneration with Dwelling Unit Enlargement
of Public Housing in Japan
Kozo KADOWAKI, Seiichi FUKAO and Tsuyoshi ARAHIRA
Department of Architecture and Building Science
Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan
Abstract: In Japan, there is growing demand for renovation of the deteriorating housing
estates built in the mass-housing era. Although the houses were originally designed for
nuclear families, they are now considered too small to accommodate more than three residents.
Dwelling units are ofien enlarged by removing partition walls or by constructing extensions.
This paper outlines trials of housing renovation with dwelling unit enlargement in Japan.
1. INTRODUCTION
In Japan, various government authorities and public housing corporations built a huge
number of dwellings to reconstruct the war-damaged cities and to accommodate the high
concentrations of population in urban areas in the mass-housing era between 1955 and 1973.
Approximately 40% of all public housing in Japan was constructed in the latter mass-housing era
(1965-1973), and they are four or five storied reinforced concrete buildings. The building frames
are sufficiently strong to withstand several decades inore use but their interior finishings and
functional systems are deteriorating. In order to continue to provide comfortable accommodation,
these dwellings require regeneration.
Almost all the public housing built in the mass-housing era are from 30 to 50 m2 in area.
Although they were originally designed for nuclear families, now they are considered too small to
accommodate more than three residents. Dwelling units are often enlarged by removing partition
walls or by building extensions. Local authorities and public housing corporations started such
dwelling enlargement works from the 1980s. In recent years, several local authorities have added
new elevator towers and the like for aged residents in addition to dwelling enlargement.
However, there have been few attempts at housing renovation with dwelling enlargement
work. This paper describes the actual conditions of dwelling enlargement works and recent
technologies for regenerating and enlarging deteriorating public multi-unit residential buildings in
Japan.
2. CASE STUDIES
Local authorities and public housing corporations in Japan started public housing
regeneration and dwelling enlargement from the 1980s as mentioned above. Methods of dwelling
enlargement have changed over time and according to the conditions, giving rise to a variety of
dwelling enlargement methods and technologies. Typical methods are illustrated through the case
studies presented below.
2.1 Dwelling Extension
Extension to the balcony side of buildings is the most frequent dwelling enlargement
method in Japan (see Figures 1 and 2). The extension and the existing building connect via an
opening where a glazed door was formerly situated. There is no need to make a new opening in
the existing concrete wall, and existing interior finishings or functional systems are not generally
repaired. However, this method is not suitable for buildings that are deteriorating. The extension
is built of precast concrete panels or the like to enable quicker construction.
A bath unit or washroom is often located in the extension to supplement lacking function.
A washroom and a washing machine space are located in the example shown in Figure 1 and 2.
Figure 2 One Pair of Dwelling Units Plans Before and After Extension
F- -- 6.W -4 -- 6800 d
9- -
+-- -
.........
6 . .-
- ---
-"------
.-- -. -
Q
CBUO - C
Figure 4 Dwelling Units Plans Before and After Flats into Duplex,
Original Dwelling Unit Plan, Lower Floor Plan and Upper Floor Plan of Duplex
This chapter considers the results of dwelling enlargement work and its transition. We
conducted a questionnaire survey of all Prefectural governments and a city designated by
ordinance in Japan, as well as the Urban Development Corporation, which is the biggest public
housing corporation (60 bodies altogether). The response rate was 93.3% (56 / 60).
Dwelllng Extentlon
8 1,790
Rearrangement of Three
Units into Two
1 3,653
Other Dwelling
12,262
Enlargement Methods
VGangemnt
Dwelling Extention Connction of Two Units Corridor and Elevator
of Three Units into
- ---
3.2 Transition
Table 1 indicates the number of recreated units transition. The total is decreasing; on the
other hand, access corridor addition is slightly increasing. This trend may continue with the
increase in the number of elderly people.
Rearrangement of four units into three or six units into five began in the latter 1990s. This
was due to the target unit transition from much smaller units to comparatively larger units.
The renovation methods revealed through the questionnaire show that multiply methods
were applied to a building, and that different types of dwelling unit have been recreated in recent
years in contrast to previous renovations when identical units were recreated in large quantities
within a building or an estate.
Table I Number of Recreated Units Transition
Rearrangement of Other Dwelling Addition of
Dwelling Connection of
Period \ Method Three Units into Enlargement Access Corridor
Extention Two Units
Two Methods I and EV Tower
Below we explain the motives for renovation and problems in renovation obtained from a
hearing survey regarding 14 renovation projects on the six housing supply bodies. Table 2
,
presents an outline of the projects and housing supply bodies.
(Rural A r e 9
D 1 1969--[ 1999 Connection
(Urban Areas)
1
1963
9
1964
6 i
2001
I
1997
2
1 Three T T n i t c
Dwelln
~ g Extension
Connection of Two Units
l n t n Txrin
1
E
(Urban Areas) 1 Dwelling- Extension
-- -.-. .--
L
- --
on a One-Unlt-at-a-Tlme --
(Urban Areas)
.-
on a One-Unit-at-a-Tlme) j - -- --
4.1 Motives for Renovation
Figure 10 illustrates the motives for renovation. The motives fall into three categories:
physical aging, deterioration in building capability and change in housing needs.
The most common in the physical aging category is the damage to reinforced concrete
external walls through long exposure to the weather. Damages mean the cracks and exfoliations in
the concrete, which are significant problem buildings older than 30 years. Damage interior
finishings or plumbing was also a common motivation.
Improvement of insulation capability is the most common motivation in the building
capability category. Insulation technology was not highly developed in the mass-housing era, so
that the aged buildings in cold districts were uncomfortable. Furthermore, lack of insulation often
causes condensation, which damages interior finishings.
In the change in housing needs category, barrier removal and customization for elderly
people were the motivation in all cases in which interior finishings were renovated.
Renovation into various types of dwelling unit was the motivation in buildings whose
units were rearranged. The residents of these estates are differentiating into young and elderly
people because of the small, uniform dwelling units. The renovations were aimed at activating the
estate community by attracting other age groups.
- - --
1
- -
1
-
, ,
I Change in Unitbrm Designed [Jnits into Di\erse IJnlt, 1
--
.
; Japanese-Style Room Into Western-Style
Rearrangement (5 / 14)
Dwelling Extension (3 / 14)
.
- --- ---
------- --
-- -- ---- --
Lothers-
. Rearrangement (5 / 14)
C Dwelllng Extenslon (3 / 14)
- - - -
Rearrangement and EV A d d ~ t ~ o(4n / 14)
'7 Interlor Refurblshment (2 1 14)
-
5. CONCLUSION
REFERENCE
Building and Equipment Life Cycle Association (BELCA). 2003. Case Report of Public Multi-unit
Residential Building Regeneration, Tokyo: Building and Equipment Life Cycle Association.
* The drawings of the residential buildings in this paper were reprinted from the above report.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to present the 'open building' implementation results
in the Construction and Material Laboratory Facility (CMLF) Project in Taiwan. The CMLF
is intended to be a demonstrative project exemplifying the application of open building and its
benefits. Being a 9000m2 laboratory facility located in Taipei City, the CMLF will be the
national laboratory facility where experimental research on advanced building technology as
well as testing and accreditation of construction materials are conducted.
'Building systems integration' is the core concept in this 'open building'
implementation effort. By developing a modular coordination system, a basis is provided for
systems integration. The two-way beam structural design forms plenum spaces for distribution
of building service systems; the 60cm-120cm tartan grid provides a reference system that
integrates the dimensions of structural and relocatable partition elements; the 'se~iceable
cell' concept integrates the interior system and the building service systems to ensure that
required building services are properly delivered to the interior space. The resulting 'open
support' of the CMLF delivers three benefits: flexible configuration, easy maintenance, and
sustainable construction.
Keywords: open building, systems integration, modular, two-way beam, relocatable partition
1. INTRODUCTION
The objective of this paper is to present the open building implementation results in the
Construction and Material Laboratory Facility (CMLF) Project. The CMLF, owned by the
Architectural and Building Research Institute (ABRI), Ministry of Interior, will be a governmental
laboratory facility where the experimental research on advanced building technology as well as the
testing and the accreditation of construction materials are conducted. The CMLF Project is
currently in its preliminary design phase. The author of this paper has been working with the ABRI
and the architect (Environmental Design Studio International, Inc.) to identify feasible open
building concepts and to implement them in the CMLF Project.
Figure I The physical model of the CMLF on the site. The site is surrounded by roads and residential
buildings (the dotted line indicates the border of the site).
'------------------------'
Figure 2 T y p i c a l ~ o o r p l a n
of the CMLF. The left side building is a large and tal1,facili~
for sttlrctural
elements experiment;, the right side contains smaller labs, and is the area 'open building' is implemented.
Service core
Functional zone1
.. . . . . ............... .
Functional zone2
External corridor
Figure 3 Zoning oj'CMLF's typical floor plan: junctional zones, sewice zones, and corridor zones
2.2 Modular Coordination System Design to Provide a Basis for Systems Integration
In order to provide a basis for integration of structural system, interior system, and
building service systems, the design team developed a modular coordination system:
1. The module: It was decided that the basic module is lOcm (lM), and the structural module is
60cm. As a result, there are four types of structural spans, i.e., 6m*9m and 9m*9m for the
functional zones, and 6.6m*9m and 7.2m*9m for both service cores (Figure 2).
2. The elements: The dimensions of the building systems elements are multiples of lOcm (lM),
30cm (3M) or 60cm (6M). For examples, the interior partition is lOcm thick; the typical
partition panel sizes are 30cm*30cm, 30cm*60cm, 60*60cm, 60cm* 120cm; the door is 90cm
wide, and window 120cm; the ceiling tilesllight fixtureslfresh air outlet is 60cm*60cm; and
the floor-to-ceiling height is 300cm (see relocatable interior partition for details).
3. The modular reference system: The design team designed a 60cm-120cm tartan grid to be the
modular reference system. The exterior walls and relocatable interior partitions are positioned
along the tartan grid, and the frames of the interior partition system are positioned at the
intersections of grid lines. As a result, the sizes of two functional zones are 6m*36m and
9.6m*36m; the ceiling grid is a 60cm-60cm grid; the central corridor is 3m wide (Figure 4).
Figure 4 The 60cm-120cm tartan grid as the modular reference system for the 'infill' elements.
3.1 Two-way Beam Design to Form Distribution Spaces for Building Service Systems
The design team designed a two-way beam structure (two levels of I-beams): the main
beams are on the lower level, and secondary beams on the upper level. Three main beams, 9m
apart, run longitudinally between two service cores; and the secondary beams, 3m apart, are then
placed orthogonally above the main beams and connected to them (Figure 5).
The two-way beam design results in three plenum spaces within which the horizontal
distribution elements (supply and return) of the building service systems are systematically
accommodated: plenum space above central corridor, plenum space above functional zone, and
plenum space above external corridor.
Figure 5 Two-way beam concept and the plenum spaces for building service systems (Hart et. al. 1985).
280
3.2 Plenum above Central Corridor: Distribution Space for 'Main Supply' Elements
The plenum space below secondary beams and above central corridor ceiling is the
distribution space for the horizontal 'main supply' elements (the depth of the plenum space is
around 60cm), such as HVAC fresh air duct, electrical and telecommunication wires, main water
supply pipes, main sprinkler pipes, and light fixtures. These 'main supply' elements deliver
'services' from the service core (right side core) and branch out into the plenum space of the
functional zones (Figure 6).
~ i j + <j$@
Functional one
.tF; d
(c) Perspective view of an interior space showing (c) Perspective view of external corridor and pipe1
building service element overhead. duct distributions in the plenum.
Figure 7 Distribution of 'secondary supply & return' Figure 8 Distribution of 'main return' elements in the
elements in the plenum space above functional zone. plenum space above external corridor.
Most of the existing partition products in Taiwan are not removable, and the imported
ones are too expensive to be adopted in the CMLF project. Given limited budget, it is the mission
of the design team to employ and modify existing partition materials and construction methods and
develop a 'domestic' relocatable partition system. Since the design of the relocatable partition
system is in progress, this paper only highlights important design concepts and system features.
Figure 9 Elevation view of interior partition. Figure I0 Six types ofpartition connections.
6. CONCLUSION
This paper presented the 'open building' implementation results in the CMLF project.
'Building systems integration' is the core concept in this implementation. By developing the
modular coordination system, a basis is provided for systems integration. The two-way beam
structural design forms plenum spaces for distribution of building service systems; the 60cm-
120cm tartan grid provides a reference system that integrates the dimensions of structural and
relocatable partitions; the 'serviceable cell' concept integrates the interior system and the building
service systems to ensure that interior space is properly 'served'. The resulting 'open support'
delivers three benefits: flexible configuration, easy maintenance, and sustainable construction.
'Open building' hasn't been widely adopted in Taiwan's construction industry. Thus, the
CMLF project plays an important role in demonstrating the process and benefits of open building
implementation. Hopefully, this effort will stimulate more open building applications in Taiwan.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author would like to thank the Architectural Building and Research Institute for
giving him the opportunity to participate in the design of the CMLF, as well as for sponsoring the
research work of 'open building' implementation in the CMLF project.
REFERENCES
Allen, Edward. 1990. Fundamentals of Building Construction: Material and Methods. New York:
John Wiley & Sons.
Habraken, N.J. 1976. Variation: The Svstematic Design of Supports. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Hart, F., W. Henn, and H. Sontag. 1985. Multi-Storey Building in Steel. London: Collins
Professional and Technical Books.
Kendall, S. and J. Teicher. 2000. Residential Open Building. London: E&FN Spon.
Perng, Y.H., and K.J. Tu. 2000. The Development of an Open Housing Project. Research Report,
Architectural and Building Research Institute, Ministry of Interior, Taiwan.
Rush, Richard. 1986. The Building Systems Integration Handbook. New York: John Wiley &
Sons.
Stein, B. and Reynolds, J.S. 2000. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings. New York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Tu, K.J. and C.Y. Lin. 2001. Issues of Open Building Implementation under Current Building
Regulations in Taiwan. Research Report, Architectural and Building Research Institute, Ministry
of Interior, Taiwan.
Tu, K.J. 2000. Practical Issues of Open Building Implementation in Taiwan - A Case Study on an
Open Housing Project. In Proceedings of the Conference of Open Building Tokyo 2000, October
16-1 8, Tokyo, Japan. pp. 449-454.
Experiment of Housing Refurbishment with the Concept of Levels
- Initiative Case Study on Ruyi Residential Quarter in Nanjing
Li BAO and Ying HE
Department of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing
Jiangsu Province Architectural Design and Research Institute, Nanjing
Abstract: Facing to the demand for refurbishment of urban mass housing in China, an
experiment of application of the Open Building concept of levels on refurbishment of a typical
housing estate, named Ruyi residential quarter in Nanjing, has been carried out. Upon the
survey and analysis, the author presents the initiative study especially on the levels of urban
tissue, building and infill in hierarchy. On each level, the conceptual design shows possible
renovation to improve the living condition, to make the quarter attractive, enjoyable, make the
dwelling decent and adaptable over time, give the freedom for the users to arrange their homes.
The essence of our endeavors lies in the pursuit of sustainability of urban residential
environment.
1. INTRODUCTION
With the rapid growth of economy and development of cities and towns in China, to
improving the quality of urban residential environment becomes the current issue we need to
concern about in terms of either urban living demand, or sustainable development demand.
Usually mass housing is the primary component of a city, not as individual, but as a whole,
it impacts on forming the city image as so-called background buildings. Since 1950's, the
government of P.R. China started to insert housing in old cities and build housing estate in new
towns. After a decade's cultural revolutionary (1966-1976) of stagnant construction, with the
increasing population and a great number of people returning back to cities from rural areas, a
huge social problem arose in China, that was the serious shortage of residential buildings and the
poor living environment in cities. Therefore, since 1980's, the public sector had a great deal of
mass housing constructed in short time and started the comprehensive renewal of old urban areas
to make each family have their own apartment at least. These housing estates usually consisted of
standardized, publicly owned housing units stacked in approximately 7 floors with high density as
possible. (See Figure 1) Such construction lasted to the very early of 1990's while house market
was fostered.
Figure 1 One typical residential quarter in Nanjing
2.1. Location
The Ruyi residential quarter locates at Ruyi Li, the center area of Nanjing, the capital of
Jiangsu province in East China; it is only one block far away from the city commercial and
business center. This quarter is around by three arteries and one branch street in east: the north
Zhujiang Road is one of the most flourishing commercial streets for IT in China; the south
Changjiang Road is a cultural street with the city library, cultural center, people's council hall,
provincial arts museum, and schools; the west Hongwubei Road is the main north-south artery of
the city with heavy transportation. (Figure 2) This residential quarter was one of the earliest
renewal projects of the old town center to meet the urgent need of improvement of residential
condition and urban development in the middle of 1980's.
2.2. Condition
The site of Ruyi quarter is about 14.7ha. with a few of residential buildings, factories, and
schools kept, it was divided into several clusters by the existing alleys and planned streets. In
original plan, the whole residential quarter would be occupied by 2838 families, which roughly
meant 10,000 residents. Combined with the existing residential buildings of various time and
stories, this community compound with about 12,000 residents who living, studying, working,
relaxing, shopping around.
It was designed and built during 1986-1988 in four phases, the whole project eliminated
the traditional tight-knit urban tissue compounded by the mass and dense low-rise wooden or brick
buildings, and established a totally new, but ubiquitous tissue characterized by the mediocre row
houses of 6 or 7 stories with high density, which still could be seen in many China's large cities,
even middle towns nowadays. Though the standard for design then was poor in view of today, it
was regarded as the effective solution of social requirement to improve the living condition and be
satisfied to the demand of residents of "having an apartment" then.
Today, fifteen years later after its construction, while the neighborhood has grown
maturely, the physical condition is getting worse. The unemployed population caused by the
decline of local industries with a large number of flowing population lead to substantial increase in
tertiary sector employment. A few of factories' building have already converted into the offices,
restaurants residential or relaxing buildings. The common space has shrunk, the small shops and
restaurants occupy the open space and pavements, and the community facilities for public
activities are not sufficient. Without well maintenance, the buildings themselves and facilities were
obsolete, the units seem small for living by today's standard, as well as the kitchen and bathroom
equipments have been outdated.
Well, to get better living quality, the additional shelters built by residents themselves can
be seen everywhere as possible, covering the yards with roofs to have one more room as a
bedroom, studio or storage; closing the balcony to expand the living room or get small reading
space or even a laundry; building up an additional room in various material on the roof terrace,
removing a wall facing to street to open up a store, and so on. (See figure 3) Without professional
party involved, all of these make the residential environment into chaos.
290
As fact, it is losing the attractiveness for living except for the advantage of location. The
public sectors have responsibilities for solving the problems, such as to update the community
facilities, enhance job opportunities, encourage the revitalization of local industries or conversion
the existing buildings, and introduce the private investment into the urban renewal.
According to the principle in the model of levels - the changes on high level will
affect the lower one; the refurbishment should be aimed at the level of neighborhood at
first. To produce sustainable residential environment, the consideration of ecology should
be taken as the overall concept. Meanwhile, the public open-space aspect and the
community amenities need substantial improvement and greater conceptual design
attention.
New technology of energy saving and waste processing need to be introduced into
the refurbishment. For instance, the solar power can light the street lamps; the rainwater
can be collected to clean the buildings and ground, to irrigate the green, even to flush the
toilet instead of running out via drainage system as usual.
The standardized floor plans with the so-called industrialized construction in 7 floors were
regarded as the most efficient solution for the shortage of housing then, but it has caused many
problems over time. The high floor-area ratio leads to the high density as possible with the
minimum ratio of Height/Distance=l : 1 in-between the panel buildings, the low green coverage
ratio with only small pieces of left-over space in green, seldom common space organized for
public activities in every cluster, even the whole quarter. No specific place for children, they play
in the streets, no place for the elder, to do exercise in the morning, to play chess, card or mahjong
together, no place for the residents or passer-by to have a rest, etc. (See figure 4)
Parking is also a serious problem. Since no place for cars in the original planning, but
more and more families can afford the cars with the rapid economic growth and it will be
increased in near future, their cars can only park along the streets and lanes, or the left-over place.
There were sheds for bicycles behind some buildings in plan, but some of them are walled by the
users and the others are used in a mess. (See figure 5)
Figure 5 Parking in the streets and lanes
To improve the current environmental condition, an initiative study and conceptual design
of refurbishment has been undertaken on Phase I first. (See figure 6) In cluster of phase I, one "L"-
shaped and one "U"-shaped building compose one group enclosed by a barrier, two buildings share a
common yard with two sheds for bicycle. Four "U"-shaped buildings stand separately in the middle,
the open space in center has been occupied by sheds, small shops, storages, etc.
Pe estrian
af i e
Car - Car
Pe e s h n
6 $cycle
Car
Pedestrian
& Bicyde
Car
Renewal plan of four units with lifts Renewal plan of five units with corridor
One of the principles of solving the present problems on infill level is that without
modifying the basic structure and shape, the inner partitioning can be changed in various ways. So
that the users can have the freedom to determine their own floor plans and arrange the furniture in
accordance to individual requirement and preference.
In common, the current apartments are lack of amenities: no storage, no separated living
room, or living room in use as a corridor with several doors opened onto, no specific space for
eating. The dark kitchen and bathroom without well ventilation, they are too small to install the
modem fixtures and appliances. Most conduits have been obsolete, some new facilities, such as
CATV, internet, have not placed well. The refurbishment on this level stresses on two aspects: one
is to improve the interior physical environment and update the obsolete and add the new living
facilities, which will be done by professional parties; another is to adjust the interior functional
space which will be realized upon the cooperation of the parties of designers and users. Here are
some possibilities indicated in figure 8 and some measures for improvement on this level as
following:
- Choose the new material for partitions, doors and windows for better insulation;
- Move the kitchen and bathroom in proper place with the direct opening to air for better
daylight and ventilation;
- Enlarge the area of kitchen, especial the bathroom, add the storage for each unit;
- Replace the obsolete kitchen and bathroom equipments;
- Reorganize the conduits or facilities for electricity, water, gas, sewage, phone, CATV
and internet;
- Provide the various solutions of rooms arrangement within the limit of structure upon the
adequate communication with the users, present the unique identity of living space.
Ruyi residential quarter gives us an opportunity to apply the open building concept
o f levels to deal with the current demand of refurbishment of mass housing in China's
large city, like Nanjing. In the model of levels, as the professional party involved in
refurbishment, we architects stress on the study on urban tissue, building and infill levels
in hierarchy, in another word, the levels o f neighborhood, dwelling and room. The
conceptual designs on each level, upon the survey and analysis, aim at making the quarter
attractive, enjoyable; making the dwelling decent and adaptable over time, give the
freedom for the users to arrange their homes. However, the users are regards as a
responsible party as much a s the professional in this model, the full realization o f the
refurbishment need the participation o f the local residents. Finally, the essence of all our
endeavors to improve the living condition lies in the pursue of sustainability of urban residential
environment.
However, the further study is needed, such as the support industries of proper new material
and construction technology, the process and organization of the refurbishment project, the role of
public sectors and developers, the way of users' participant during the process, etc. All of these are
indispensable to implement such housing refurbishment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research is funded by Youth Foundation of Department of Architecture, SEU.
REFERENCES
Li Y., Zhao G., and Lin J. 1999. Living Condition and Well Housing Design in China, Nanjing:
Southeast University Press
Xun D. 1996. Xiandai Chengzhen Zhuzhai Tuji (Illustration of Modern Urban Housing), Beijing:
China Architecture and Building Press
Habraken, N. John. 2002. The uses of levels, In Open House international, vo1.27 no.2 2002,9-20.
Kazunobu Minami. 2002. Building a sustainable relationship between urban Tissue and Buildings,
In Open House international, vo1.27 no.2 2002,69-75.
Jia, B. 2000. Flexible housing, compact city and environmental preservation: A critical look at
Hong Kong's experience, In Continuous Customization in Housing, The conference of CIB W 104
Open Building Implementation, Open Building Tokyo 2000,455-462
Matsumura, Shuichi, 2000. Process and organization for the refurbishment project of panel
housing, Paper for the conference Revitalization of large housing estates in central and eastern
Europe, Berlin, 2000
Mass Customization in Housing
an Open Building1 Lean Construction Study
Ype CUPERUS
OBOMResearch Group
Faculty of Architecture
Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands
Abstract: The housing industry in the Netherlands is gradually shifting from sellers to a
buyers market. In order to satisfy the customer's needs, builders' developers shift from mass
housing to mass customisation. This paper links the principles of Open building to Lean
Construction and reports on the findings of a study on mass customised housing in the
Netherlands. The Open Building concept suggests to introduce different levels of decision
making in the building process: tissue, support and infill, respectively referring to the urban
fabric, containing base buildings with their fit-outs. Lean Construction is the building and
construction equivalent of lean production, a manufacturing method that aims to reduce 'waste'
in the broadest sense of the word. Fourteen housing projects were studied. In the final analysis,
Lean Construction principles were translated to be applied on mass customised housing. This
has resulted in the following suggestions. (i) Value: Determine what the customer (end user)
expects as the added value, to be delivered by the builder; (ii) Value stream: Deliver the
wanted added value. Decision-making and price forming are combined in a typology matrix;
(iii) Flow: Optimise the production process. A lead time diagram was developed to identify and
avoid potential conflicts, Open Building techniques are suggested to streamline the
construction process of mass customised houses; (iv) Pull: The builder who listens, hears the
client's wishes. Satisfied clients are the best agents to generate new clients. In addition, it is the
source for innovation; (v) Perfection: Continuous improvement. The steps from Value to Pull
can be repeated in the next project.
1. INTRODUCTION
The housing industry in the Netherlands is gradually shifting from the sellers to a buyers
market. This has serious consequences for all partners in the building industry in general and for
the developer builders in particular.
Late 1999, the OBOM Research Group was approached by the Foundation for Building
Research (SBR) to look into the latest developments in consumer oriented building in the
Netherlands. OBOM is a research group at the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of
Technology and is specialised in Open Building research and development. The SBR is funded by
the large developing builders in the Netherlands. Its main aim is to support the building industry
with relevant studies. The controversial architect and ex-chairman of the Royal Institute of
Netherlands Architects, Care1 Weeber, had published an article in a Dutch newspaper, with
reflections on mass housing. As an alternative, he advocated a high degree of user participation,
called 'gewild wonen' (desired living). In the header of the article he was misquoted as 'wild
wonen' (wild living), which suited his image well. 'Wild living' became hot, in the Netherlands and
when the municipality of Almere, with a long reputation of experimental housing and urban
planning, looked for a theme for their 25th anniversary in 2001. Fourteen developers were invited
to build nineteen projects. There were two restrictions: No two dwellings should be the same and
all dwellings should be designed according to the dwellers wishes. SBR anticipated that Almere
was an interesting playground to explore the combination of mass produced housing and consumer
influence, or as it is called in the industry of consumer goods: mass-customisation as a potential
new strategy for builders in a shrinking market. This study is based on three presumptions.
- Consumer with spending power will become a major driving force in the housing
industry, therefore, the building industry needs to take the consumer seriously;
- The consumer must not interfere with the construction process;
- Open Building and Lean Construction provide solutions to solve the potential conflict
between consumer and construction.
First the basic ingredient of this paper are presented. Open Building and Lean
Construction are introduced in brief and the Almere project is explained. 'Lean' thinking as the
underlying principle of Lean Construction is applied to derive recommendations from the Almere
projects.
2. OPEN BUILDING
The raison d'gtre of Open Building can be expressed in terms of care, responsibility and
technology. People, who care about the environment they live in, will make it a better and safer
place. Therefore the built environment must encourage people to take responsibility for their own
territory. An environment that clearly distinguishes those spaces and parts of a building for which
occupants should take responsibility, will address the user's needs to feel responsible. Therefore a
building should be designed and built in such a way that both spaces and parts of the building can
be clearly allocated to those parties and individuals that should take responsibility for them.
Buildings, which are designed and built with separate systems, can create conditions for
responsibility and care. Therefore the subdivision of the building process needs to reflect the lines
of decision making and the definition of responsibilities between the parties. This subdivision can
then be translated into specifications for connections between building parts. This in turn creates
buildings that can be modified and taken apart again.
It offers the basis for a well-structured building process with well-defined interfaces. It
allows us, to at least partially transfer the construction process from building to manufacturing. It
is the key to reducing waste by coordinating dimensions and positions instead of improvising on
site by cutting to size. Applying information instead of energy.
This is an important condition to re-use building parts, thus extending the lifetime of
building parts, without the waste of dumping and recycling, coinciding with degradation and the
use of energy.
Lean construction is a construction management concept that originated in the late eighties
of the past century. The American and European car manufacturing industry was in a deep crisis
and saw their market share decreasing, while the Japanese carmakers took over. Research of the
IMVP (International Motor Vehicle Program) made clear that car manufacturing in Japan had
deviated from America, which had always set the example with mass production of cars. WWII
had changed the word and Japan faced import as well as export restrictions. The local market was
too small for mass produced cars, such as the T-Ford and the Volkswagen Beetle. They were
forced to look into ways how to assemble different cars in small production runs on the same
production line. Toyota was the first in successfully adapting car manufacturing American Style to
the Japanese circumstances. The change-over time of the production line was considerably
reduced, long term relationships with sub-contractors opened the way to just in time delivery and
the relationship with the end users were vital in determining future car programs. This becomes
known as TPS, the Toyota Production System, or in more general terms, 'Lean Production'. This is
very well described in 'The Machine that Changed the World' (Womack, Jones, Roos, 1990).
These ideas caught on and there is no manufacturing industry, these days, not applying one of
these ideas involved. The adoption of Lean Production was not limited to the manufacturing
industry, many others, like services industries such as the travel, healthcare, financial, telecom and
energy industry, to mention a few, are not 'lean' at all. The house building industry was mentioned
in the same category. Lean Production guidelines were described in more general terms as 'Lean
Thinking' (Womack, Jones, 1996).
It can be summarised in five steps:
- Value: determine what the customer (end user) expects as the added value;
- Value Stream: deliver the wanted added value;
- Flow: Optimize the production process;
- Pull: Optimization of the production process is directed by 'pull', the clients wishes,
rather than 'push': selling products, not asked for;
- Perfection: continuous improvement.
4. LEAN CONSTRUCTION
Lean Construction is inspired by Lean Production and aims to apply lean thinking to the
construction industry. The basic principle of 'lean' is to reduce waste: 'specifically any human
activity which absorbs resources but create no value'. (Womack, Jones, 1996, p. 15). 'Lean
Construction results from the application of a new form of production management to
construction. Essential features of Lean Construction include a clear set of objectives for the
delivery process, aimed at maximising performance for the customer at the project level,
concurrent design of product and process, and the application of product control throughout the
life of the product from design to delivery' (Howell 1999).
A superficial comparison of Open Building and Lean Construction suggest that they have
much ground in common. They both originate from dissatisfaction with traditional second wave
industrial production that was felt at approximately the same time. The principles of lean
production were first adopted in the early sixties in Japanese car manufacturing. At the same time
discontent with mass housing of the post war-housing boom in The Netherlands resulted in the
introduction of different levels of decision making in the housing industry. The base building
('support') and fit-out ('infill') were treated as separate entities, with different life cycles, in order to
build an environment that can respond to individual needs of the dweller. Open Building is a
multi-facetted concept, with technical, organisational and financial solutions for a built
environment that can adapt to changing needs. It supports user participation, industrialisation and
restructuring of the building process. If change is the problem, a layered organisation of the
building process can provide at least a part of the solution. Positional and dimensional co-
ordination of building parts and their interfaces are a tool and a condition for industrialisation and
probably a leaner construction process.
Open Building and Lean Construction can complement each other, what they have in
common is the sympathy they feel towards lean thinking. Open Building is concerned with the
quality of the built environment and the way it is established, from initiative, via decision making,
design, construction and real estate management. 'Lean Construction rests on production
management, the "physics of construction"' (Howell, 1999).
6. ALNIERE
Almere is one of the Dutch towns built on reclaimed land, within commuting distance of
Amsterdam. Since all reclaimed land is municipality owned, Almere has the potential for
consistent town planning, contrary to old towns with a high degree of private land ownership. In
most of the cities in the Netherlands, developers have assured themselves of political influence, by
selectively buying property. Almere prides itself by being an experimental environment in housing
and planning. In 2001 a new lay out of 450 dwellings was completed. It consists of nineteen
projects, varying in size from seven to seventy units. As part of the experiment, it was demanded
that all units had to be different. In addition, there was complete freedom in where to position the
dwelling on the individual block of land. This is quite uncommon in the Netherlands, where town
planning usually prescribes strict building lines.
The results were presented in a two-week building exposition, with commercial
exhibitions and a generous amount of Almere promotion. All projects had at least two units open
for inspection as exhibition homes.
All projects had time and place in common, thus canceling out two variables, which was
an ideal combination for comparison and analysis. Especially the narrow timeframe has
jeopardised a full consumer orientation. At least two exhibition homes per project had to be open
for inspection during the exposition, September 2001. In addition the builders had to remove their
building equipment before the exposition. Most of the builders preferred to finish the project and
not come back, rather than returning after the exposition. If the future dweller was not known yet,
most of the houses were completed in a neutral fashion. If it did not meet the potential buyer's
taste, the dwelling had to be refurbished, as if it was an existing building.
When OBOM was commissioned by SBR to evaluate the consumer oriented housing
projects in Almere, the limited number of consumers, involved in making decisions about their
own house and the underlying reasons were not known yet. When this became clear, it was
decided to shift the emphasis from evaluating the consumer - builder relationship to evaluating the
construction process. Questions about the consumer - builder relationship could not successfully
be asked, lacking a sufficient number of buyers. In addition, due to the time pressure caused by the
building exposition, the builders have little time to spend with the researchers. Open Building
provides useful concepts to structure decision making. Lean Thinking, as the derivative of Lean
Production', gives us the vocabulary to evaluate the consumer orientation of the process.
8. PROJECT DOCUMENTATION
Of a total of thirteen Almere projects information was gathered on the following subjects:
- Process;
- Design;
- Construction, including building methods and time planning in relation to consumer
participation;
- Consumer support.
First project documentation was collected, about the consumer support, such as brochures,
CD-ROMs, interactive web sites, card board cut out models and so on. In addition factual
information was collected, such as building data plans, a state of materials and drawings of
construction details. The projects were visited and recorded on photographs and key persons were
interviewed, to complete the research data, and to learn more about the background of the projects,
experiences and future do's and don'ts.
Based on this information, per project documentation was written according to a fixed format.
As the database grew, it became clear that the following aspects were taken into consideration, be
it differently per project:
- Marketing by communication. In a buyers market, developers need to change their
marketing strategies relative to the sellers market they were used to;
- Transparency in decision and price making. The consumer in a buyers market is more
demanding than in times of scarcity of dwellings;
- Consumer confidence in the construction industry.
- The importance of after sales services;
- Feedback to marketing;
- Threats from and opportunities for urban planning and rule giving.
The documentation of projects made clear that there is not a single concept of 'consumer
oriented building'; every party applies its own definition. In addition there is a great variety in size
and position of different parties involved. It is therefore impossible to give general guidelines
towards a consumer oriented building that satisfies consumer, developer and builder. This growing
insight changed the ideas about the outcome of this study: Not tips how to become successful,
rather than recommendations as food for thought, in order to explore and stimulate different ways
to satisfy the client, the end user and in the final analysis, the quality of the built environment.
Traditionally, the building industry is better in dealing with clients then with consumers as end
users. It is neither 'open', nor 'lean'. Since Open Building and Lean Construction concepts offer
aspects that could be instrumental to consumer satisfaction, the recommendations were developed
along the lines of lean thinking: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection.
9. VALUE
The first step towards a lean, thus consumer oriented construction process is to determine
what the customer (end user) expects as the added value. In a seller's market counts what the
developer, being the builder's client, wants. Cost and quality can be cut without the penalty of
building houses that cannot be sold. In a buyer's market, the client has to listen to the end-user, in
order to fit the demand. If not, the potential buyer may decide to vote with his feet.
Finding out what the end user wants and letting him know that the developer / builder has
got something to offer is very much a communication issue. Therefore, choosing the most
appropriate communication medium is important. The Almere projects showed a wide variety of
ways to communicate, from broadcasting, such as adds in daily newspapers or the free weekly's, to
narrowcasting, such as direct mailings to tenants of an Almere housing corporation. The chosen
media ranged from a simple artist impression to cut out cardboard models, CD-ROMs and
interactive web sites.
In order to pick the right scope of 'casting' in combination with the most appropriate
medium, the developer / builder must have a well-defined idea about what to communicate. In a
buyer's market, communication has to serve a multitude of tasks. In order of reach, the following
can be mentioned:
- finding a buyer. This has never been a point in a seller's market: the buyer looked for a
seller;
- informing a potential buyer. There is little profit in informing a buyer in a seller's
market. The buyer buys anyway;
- interviewing an potential buyer, finding out about his preferences. Building it right the
first time is better than modifying a newly built house;
- serving an buyer. After completion the buyer becomes a dweller and is prepared to
spend extra money on maintenance, refurbishing, and extending the house or moving
to another place. These are all potential sources of additional turn over;
- following a buyer. A satisfied buyer is the developer / builder's best promoter. It is
also a source for information about new trends in consumer appreciation and
preference.
It may be clear that value is not limited to the end product, being the dwelling, rather than
referring to the whole process of selling, building and living, for years to come.
The next step is to deliver the added value, as expressed by the consumer, not only in
terms of end product, but of process as well. An open, lean, consumer oriented building process
does not mean that an infinite number of options has to be offered. In a tailor made house, the
single desired option is enough. An infinite offer of variety is the other extreme of consumer
satisfaction. This approach includes a lot of redundancy, thus waste, of which the bill will finally
be presented to the consumer. Waste is not 'lean'. In a process of mass customisation, a limited
number of options can be sufficient. This is a strategic decision that will differ from company,
market segment, location and time. In all cases it is important to keep the customer satisfied. He
wants to know the selection to choose from and how to choose and since every option is measured
against the available budget, the consumer wants to know the cost implication of every
combination of options.
In Almere three ways to assemble choices for the new dwelling were detected:
- Add. The system to chose from; consist of a minimal core building, containing the
major s e ~ i c e s ,such as bathroom, heating, ventilation and facilities to connect a
kitchen. The consumer can determine the size of his house, by adding modules. In the
Almere case, with small lots, the drawback of this system was that the core building
looks small, whereas everybody, including the neighbours, tends to buy as much
volume for their money. Choice by adding hides the worst case scenario's of being
built in by other houses;
- Subtract. In this system the complete buildable envelope is given and the dwelling of
the consumer's choice is assembled by subtracting modules. The neighbour's house
will never outgrow the given maximum envelope;
- Base building + space allocation for dwellings. This is a system of a larger
superstructure, to be subdivided and allocated to dwellings of different sizes.
The client wants to know the cost consequences of his choices. Three ways to determine the price
were adopted.
- Basic price plus options. Every option is priced and the total costs are determined by
totaling the basic price of the dwelling and the options;
- Basic price plus shopping. Only the basic dwelling is priced and purchased. Extending
of finishing the core building is up to the new owner, he has to shop on the
construction market to contract somebody to do the job;
- Basic price plus contract overruns. Every option is compared with a reference house
and priced accordingly as a contract overrun. This has always been common practice
in the construction industry in a seller's market. The initial price looks modest as first,
but can grow out of hand easily. It lacks transparency. Since builders are familiar with
this system, there is no additional cost that goes with pioneering new systems.
Ways to choose and ways to determine the total costs can be related to each other in
a typology matrix. When applied to Almere, it shows, that most of the investigated projects
collect in the lower left comer, where 'adding' and 'pricing options' meet (Figure 1).
basic price +
shopping
basic price +
options
basic price +
contract overruns
11 FLOW
Once the value issues are dealt with, the construction process needs to be streamlined
accordingly.
Consumer interest in the making of their new home can easily conflict with the efficiency
of the building process. The consumer who looks for a new house is about to go for the largest
expenditure of his life; he has to choose between an existing and a newly built house. The
developer of new dwellings has to win the confidence of the new dweller for the quality of the
builder. A transparent process and a building of the agreed quality are thus essential.
Lead time diagram
A short production time, from initiative to completion is advantageous for all parties
concerned. A quick process reduces the chance of buyers stepping out and diminishes loss of
interest. The consumer may make choices about this new dwelling in an order that does not
comply with the construction order of the building. In addition, the consumer needs rather more
than less time to choose. In order to avoid delays by an undecided consumer, the developer /
builder can influence the decision making process by preparing the order and the moments of
choice. The lead time is the time between the moment of decision and the actual start of the
execution, the related building activity. Insight in the different lead times helps to improve the
planning of the construction process. The minimum lead time is not only related to the
construction method, but also to the consumer, who has to decide. The latter is a hard to control
and can jeopardise the construction planning. A lead time diagram consists of a vertical time line,
with two columns. The right hand column represents the construction moments, the left hand
column the decision making moments that precede the construction activities (Figure 2).
Lead time diagrams can be used to analyse finished projects, but they can also be drawn
from projects in the design stage. Analysis of lead time diagrams can result in measures to improve
the planning.
Quality embedded in the applied construction methods. Another wildcard in
consumer confidence is the unpredictability of the construction quality. Traditionally this
depends on the skills of the trades people on the building site. The quality is enforced by
lengthy contracts and supervision and quality control. There is an incentive on delivering
minimum quality for the agreed price. Application of off site prepared fit outs makes it
easier to create value without waste. New load bearing constructions that accommodate
flexible ducts and services as well as complete infill systems are being developed in the
Netherlands to serve this aim. The modern kitchen industry leads us the way. Was it a
multi building job, forty years ago, now it is a manufactured product that can be installed
by plugging it in.
12. PULL
In a lean process, optimisation of the production process is directed by 'pullf- the clients
wishes - rather than 'push': selling products, not asked for. The builder who listens, hears the
client's wishes. The communication activities of step one (value) should be extended towards after
sales services. Satisfied clients are the best agents to generate new clients. In addition it is the
source for innovation.
After sales service
Satisfied customers are valuable commodity of a marketing business. The satisfaction
should not be limited to the dwelling, but should also include the act of living. It therefore pays to
keep in touch with the dweller, after completion and if desired, to offer services such as
maintenance, repair en refurbishing. It is not only the basis for future turn over, it is also a source
for learning and improvement of the organisation. The sales representative plays a pivotal role in
translating the consumers wishes into pulling the production process.
The importance o f the sales representative
After sales services serve many aims. It starts after the sales contract has been signed. It
keeps the interested consumer away from the building site, thus preventing interference. The sales
representative thus acts a buffer between consumer and construction. He is the front office the
larger organisation. The personal attitude of the sales representative is important in the way the
consumer feels himself treated. A satisfied consumer spreads the positive message, attracting the
attention of new potential clients and is the best promoter a selling organisation could wish. The
sales representative, if he has won the trust of the consumer, can remain the only contact for
building related problems and solutions. This not only can result in additional building jobs, thus
additional turn over, it also keeps him in touch with the latest trends in consumer wishes. It could
even result in a relationship of trust, evolving in some kind of loyalty program with incentives, in
which the consumer takes the initiative to pass information about housing an living. The sales
representative is the key person in a consumer oriented and pull directed construction industry and
should stay connected to the company over a long period of time.
13. PERFECTION
The steps from Value to Pull can be repeated in the next project. The should not be copied,
but applied after evaluation only, in order to continuously improve the process and thus the
product.
From the viewpoint of lean production, perfection should be found in the internal process.
Since lean production originates from manufacturing (creating value in a fixed factory stetting)
and lean construction from building (creating value on sites with different conditions), it is a
matter of lean thinking to look for perfection opportunities from outside the construction process
as well. Tn this approach, additional recommendations were made with regard to external
influences. Not all aspects of consumer oriented building are within the sphere of influence of the
developer I builder. The master plan is a top down condition, determined on a higher level of
decision making and is hard to negotiate, bottom up. However, it is the result of a decision making
process and influences the consumer's choices. For example, if the position of the house on the
block is a consumer choice, which was the case in the Almere projects, it can change the physical
conditions for others.
Lean master plan
In a lean process, the master plan should also be developed, with 'lean'
considerations in mind. The master plan prescribed nineteen different projects, to be built
in a short time frame. This resulted in a congestion o f a variety of site offices, inventory o f
building material, moving equipment, delivery trucks and so on. Disruptions in the
production process create waste and cost, o f which the bill will be presented to the end
consumer at last.
Lean urban department
The developer I builder can specialise in a consumer oriented building and will establish a
well suited information exchange with his clients, the dwellers of his buildings. The urban
department of a municipality, by its own natures does not have a public function, it deals with
professionals only. If a municipality, such as Almere initiates consumer oriented building, it
should be prepared for individuals, involved in the making of their new house, to visit and ask for
master plan related information, or else keep the developers informed.
14. CONCLUSIONS
This study is based on the hypothesis that a builder who sehres the client, can compete
best, thus improving his prospect. The development of the Almere suburb offered the opportunity
to compare and evaluate twelve out of nineteen housing projects that were built within the same
time frame and conditions. The study aimed at identifying pros and cons of consumer oriented
building and at developing guidelines for builders who want to survive in a buyer's market. The
study proposed to draw lead-time diagrams to visualize the degree of customer influence on, and
interference with the building process. This is done by mapping different lead times for different
decisions.
The growing consumer influence will direct the building process. How can professional
building partners, including the contractors and developers, determine the level of consumer
influence? If this can be achieved, there is a means to anticipate on and improving consumer
influence, satisfying the consumer, thus improving their own position in the building process.
REFERENCES
Weeber, C., Vanstiphout, W. 1998. Het Wilde Wonen, Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
Habraken, N.J. 1972. Supports. London: Architectural Press. First edition: De Dragers en de
mensen, het einde van de massa-woningbouw. 1961. Amsterdam: Scheltema & Holkema N.V.
Womack, J.P. Jones, D.T. Roos, D. 1990. The machine that Changed the World, the story of lean
production. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Womack, J.P. Jones, D.T. 1996. Lean Thinking Banish waste and create wealth in your
corporation. New York: Simon & Shuster.
Howell, G.A. 1999. What is Lean Construction? Proceedings; Seventh Annual Conference of the
International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC-7). Berkeley California.
Structural Flexibility With Frame System
For Adaptable Housing
Zhaoru LIU & Zhongyu AN
College of Architecture and Urban Planning,
Tongji University, Shanghai, PRC
Abstract: Housing on a large scale is developing rapidly in China. The problem of keeping
balance between the durability and dynamic adaptability of buildings, especially of dwelling
buildings, has once more been placed on the agenda.
Framework is usually considered structurally most open to space utilization and
decentralized adjustment. So it is also considered one of the best structure patterns for
sustainable building design.
However, framework is characterized by structural symmetry and is more
applicable in building schemes with floor plan of regular shape. This is considered not
superior than wall-bearing system for dwelling use.
On the other hand, some beam-free frames are plainer in structure than those with
beams and are more popular for open design. But its anti-earthquake quality and building
technology should still be improved according to the real conditions in China.
Based on the essential analysis, this paper attempts to introduce two new building
systems, known as "collecting-column system" and "cable-strained slab system".
Improvement of the structural flexibility of framework and a modular design leading to high-
efficiency construction are both highlight of these two systems.
1. CONTEXT
Since the establishment of market economy in the early 1990s, the living conditions of
most Chinese people have been much improved. First of all, most city-dwellers are able to get loan
from banks to buy their apartments. So the average dwelling area of by every urban resident has
thus increased with high ratio. At the very beginning of China's economic reform, the government
once announced to help a very big population of city-dwellers with their average dwelling floor
area under 2 sq m up to over 4 sq m. While in the light of the country's Tenth Five-year Plan
(2001-2005), the average dwelling floor area occupied by per urban resident will reach 22 sq m.
This improvement directly leads to over-development of land for dwelling use. Due to the
peripheral nibble to the surroundings of expanding cities, rapid growing population is resulting in
tremendous pressure on basic urban services, especially housing.
On the other hand, China's GDP has been increasing steadily in the ten-odd years. The
average annual economic growth remains a rate of about 7%. And it has also caused a rapid
change of demands and interests on living qualities. Few architects nowadays would dare to ensure
their dwelling products not to be "drop-outs" in their "teenage". Figure 1 and Figure 2 are the two
urban dwelling samples located in Shanghai. Figure 1 was the building constructed in the first half
of the1990s. In 1997, it has won the Gold Medal awarded by the Ministry of Construction for its
architectural design, project design as well as scientific development. Figure 2 shows a newly built
Structural I~lrxibilityWith 1;riimr S?\trm For Ada11t;ible 11011si11g
complex of common style located on a former industrial site. Comparing these two projects, we
feel sorry to see that the advantage of the former one has already "faded" in less than 10 years. In
fact, change in both social economy and human living style is going on so fast. The expectation of
a long life span for most dwellings might become a heavy burden for those who have suddenly
recognized that their residences are no longer worth of good use. Dwellings are nearly the most
expensive consumer goods in modern society. Common people living on salaries may have to
spend half their life of hard working to pay back the debt for their apartments. In this sense, no
matter how prosperous the recent dwelling markets look like, no matter how excited an owner of
his new apartment is, we should still keep clear minds toward the real situation.
Authors of this paper have studied the question with strong interests for years. On our
opinion, there's still a long way to go to meet the requirements of sustainable development in
housing. Besides people's concept, we suppose, there is another factor leading to the technical
backwardness, that is, we have too much depended on conventional structure patterns, especially
on wall-bearing system, which is thoroughly fixed to the initial architectural design and is hardly
changed or reset by users. Also, we are lacking in new applicable structure systems for open
dwelling design.
Before the Nation's economic reform, our attempt to make exact improvement was nearly
unrealistic. The ordinary urban dwellings were crowded. Few floor areas could be left to the
occupants or architects for their intensive plan. Besides, the over use of clay brick as brief building
materials for its lowest production cost has also slowed down the reforming process of building
structure. With the government's decision of restricting the use of clay brick for saving land
resources, especially with the development of people's living conditions, appropriate measures
should be taken in time. Because it is hard to wait in the next fifty years for another nation-wide
renewal with such a large scale as we are experiencing now.
So we are very delight to entitle this paper "Structural Flexibility With Frame System For
Adaptable Housing" and share with others what we are doing in our research, which is
concentrated on a great amount of walk-up apartments and mid-rise elevator residences. It mainly
focuses on:
firstly, the definition of a building structure, known as the most open with free space,
accommodated to open dwelling design by having a general review of frame systems;
secondly, the development of some building systems with pre-manufactured framework
components and partitions. They should be well organized under control of modular principles and
should be qualified as structurally more flexible when dynamic variety is needed.
More details will be delivered below.
2. CONTENT
Slructural I:lcuihility Wit11 Frame Sylern For .\dapIable I-lou\ing
2.1 The advantages and disadvantages of framework for open dwelling design
Many years ago, some pioneer experts introduced to the world some methods to keep
balance between the building durability and dynamic adaptability, among which the SAR system is
the representative. Now more and more people in this profession have come to a further
understanding about the superiority of defining structural components from other fill-in members
as unchangeable supporting part and the changeable functional part. They also agree that
framework is most acceptable as building supporting in an open design with free space spread to
the utmost below. However, according to our study, a framework is characterized by structural
symmetry, so it is more applicable in building schemes with the floor plans of regular shape. But
regular usually means stiff in dwellings. That is perhaps why so many architects will prefer wall-
bearing structure to framework in dwelling architecture.
Figure 3 gives out a very common floor plan familiar to most city-dwellers as a mid-rise
elevator residence. Wall is here used as load-bearing component. Although the room-layout is
unchangeable in this case, with wall located not in regular ranks, it makes convenient to traffic
circulation as well as to the essential operating for sunlight and ventilation, which is necessary to
the ordinance statements. But if the supporting system here is replaced with a concrete framework,
it will become as structurally very complicated to mate the original arrangement. Because extra
columns or beams may need in every irregular joint, and even light operable partitions can be
easily settled, the specially located frame components may become difficult to be "hidden" when
changing the scheme of room-layout to another one. On the opposite, with suggestion that the
initial floor plan is beyond regard and a regularly arranged simple frame with the same floor area
is used to instead the original one, the building faqade may become not so vivid and some "dark
rooms" without direct sunlight may exist. Sometimes architects have to make adjustment between
keeping simple in structure and getting adaptable to space variety. For this reason, a kind of "short
shearing-assistant wall" design (see Figure 4) is in use for walk-up apartments and some mid-rise
elevator residences. This type of building structure is a compromise between wall-bearing system
and frame-bearing system. With short walls (or defined as columns with irregular sections) settled
alternatively as staggered or not, floor schemes can be organized as easily as in the case of a wall-
bearing system. And with the middle part between two load-bearing components free, just like
what usually is in a framework, further options for home arrangement can be left to the users
according to their own favor.
Structural 1:lexibility \\ ill1 Frame System For Adaptable IIouGng
Although with this kind of method, "open design" is only partly realized in limited latitude,
it's really a progress leading to efficient usage of building structure. Following the trace, another
system known as "collecting-column system" accepted a road entirely returning back to the
structure of framework. In this research we tried to replace the short bearing wall with a set of
concrete columns. It means maintaining the advantage of framework as releasing space to free
usage, but taking further improvement to its adaptability to dwelling design. Besides, a method
guiding by the concept of a real building system is in schedule carried on throughout the whole
process. So the result will be recognized as highly efficient, well organized and optimally standard.
On the other hand, some systems of beam free, such as flat plate, banded slab, and so on,
are considered as plainer in structure than those with beams. At least, columns can be reduced,
ceilings can be exploded, and the total building height can be under well control. So there's
another tendency to introduce this kind of system into current dwelling design. In fact, many
dwelling systems characterized in structure by flat plate or banded slab had already been put into
practice decades of years ago in the European countries. But it is reported not so convenient in
China with special equipments and special technology of cast-in-place. And extra worries are still
focused on its anti-earthquake steadiness. It is also reported not so good as the common
frameworks. Therefore, current study focuses on the improvement of its building technology and
other important qualities.
Structural I:lruiI~ilit~M it11 Frame Syctcm For .ldal~tat)lcIloo\iug
In this kind of building system, four collective columns replace a single column that is
often seen in ordinary frameworks. And every two of those four columns located on a side can be
considered as composed to be a piece of load-bearing wall. The other pair can alternatively be
supposed as its hold supporting. With this rule, the frame components can be arranged more freely
(see Figure 5). And the structure is obviously better in opening to traffic or storage utilizing than it
will be under the situation with the supporting system of "short shearing-assistant wall" as
mentioned before. Part of the structure components may expose out from partitions. But its size is
so close to some furniture that worrying about such an effect is almost unnecessary.
Prestressed precast concrete beams in this system have sections of rectangular. L-shaped
or invented tee. Applicable beams support prestressed slabs in both two ways just according to
needs (see Figure 7 and 8). This arrangement is as convenient as in mason structure. And cast-in-
place top concrete is necessary for the structural rigidity.
Structural Fle.ribilily Nil11 Frame System l o r Adaptable Ilou\ing
* *
<*
*. +
%<"
+
- - +
.
Figure 8 A Model of the Collecting-column System
Structural Fleuil~ilit~
\\ ill1 IYrameS)\tcrn I:or .\daptahle Ilousing
On module formulary, we proposed 6M to instead of 3M that is still current but seems not
yet suitable to the parameters for recent apartment building design, or may lead to too much odds
and ends in manufacture of building components, especially for wall panels in large scale. Besides,
the module of 6M can be further divided into 3M and 2M wherever necessary, so it's considered as
more absorbable in use.
The essential regulation for component location in this system is a bit different from others.
Figure 9 gives out an example to explain how the module system is organized. Supposing the rigid
architectural module span is defined as M, and the variable module span for structural components
accommodation is defined as N, then a series of collecting-column set size can be aware as
(N+M)x(N+M), (N+M)x(N+2M), (N+2M)x(N+2M), etc. Adjusting the inner horizontally
connecting components in a column set with another series of dimension as (M-N), (2M-N) etc,
standard beam products can be reasonably settled in a modular net mixture.
This kind of building system is still characterized in structure by banded slab. Precast
concrete bands here are extended into wide shallow beams with the width of more than lm, and in
hrther step divided into several sections. Those sections of shallow beams are set together in place
as continuous by post-tensioned wires. Precast concrete slabs or a cast-in-place concrete plate
with steel space frame inside will fill into the hollow enclosed by four wide shallow beams in a
square. And cast-in-place top concrete is also necessary for the structural rigidity.
On module formulary, we select 12M to fit the comparatively long span of beams that is
usually considered as an advantage of the structure of a beam free system.
Figure 10 gives out some dwelling schemes with usage of "cable-strained slab system" in
architectural design. It's obviously more open to different needs and the periphery appearance is
more attractive than the one showed by Figure 5. What should be in further mention is, in the
"cable-strained slab system", slabs or single plate located in the middle part of a square can be
removed, then the hollow can be used as traffic between two adjacent stories of floors (see Part a
in Scheme 1, Figure 10).
Structural 1~lr.rihilit~
M itli l'rame Syslcrn I:or ..idaptable IIouqing
3. CONCLUSION
Open design for urban residences should be a long-term scheme accompanied with the
healthy development of the living environment. It needs changes in human concept, as well as in
building technology. Although the current situation in the vast of China is of bold lines, and only a
little attention has been paying to the basic research work as we are doing now, it's exactly
necessary to push the research ahead, especially on the issue of structural flexibility. Because
building structure is as important as the skeleton of a mankind, and it often decides how a person
will grow. With great ambition, we are looking forward to the real utilizing of our building
systems.
Stl-nctural 1;lcuibilit;c FF itli Framc S ~ s t e n i[:or Adaptable Housing
REFERENCES
Zhang Hong, and Hu Feifei. 1999. Transferring of the Space Dimensions-A Selection of
the Excellent Dwelling Room-layouts Awarded by the 1998's "Datong Cup" . Shanghai,
Press of Tongji University.
Ding Jiemin. 2001. Architectural Design & Research Institute of Tongji University
Selected Works (1998-2000). Beijing, China Planning Press.
Slructursl Fleuibilit~\\ ith 1-rarne S>rtem For .Zdsptablt) Ilou\i~ig
List of Contributors
Ming-Hung WANG
Department of Architecture
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
N. John HABRAKEN Shih-Hung YANG
Professor of Architecture Emeritus Research Assistant
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute of Industrial Science, Univ. of
E-mail: habrakenaXS4ALL.NL Tokyo, JAPAN
Address: 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Nancy Margaret SANDERS 153-8505, JAPAN
Assistant Professor Tel: 8 1-3-5452-6400 Fax: 8 1-3-5452-6098
School of Architecture E-mail: utaliiro(iz>iis.u-t0kyo.ac.i~
University of Florida
23 1 ARC SooAm KIM
Gainesville, Florida 326 1 1 Director, Dr.Eng Building Standard and
Telephone: 352-256-4275 System Group, Building Research Division,
E-mail: nms@,ufl.edu Korea Institute of Construction Technology
Ying HE
Jiangsu Province Architectural Design and
Research Institute, Nanjing