Vertical Transition in Horizontal Tower

 

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STATEMENT

Tower as a typology is becoming a common language we share where we compromise between the issue of ‘insufficient land’ and ‘overpopulation’. I see the current condition of tower architecture in Hong Kong as a result of compromise. As a city, we stack hotel boxes upon shopping boxes and probably a restaurant box on top of the shopping box. I would argue towers are actually not vertical but horizontal, where we are simply elevating the ground and re-elevating the same ground again and again. We are, in fact, living and working on duplicated layers of space day after day.

I want to raise the question of ‘what if, and how, we can live, work, experience and remember this tower typology, for once, as a vertical form, system and place.’

Context & Motivation

I have been exploring in my previous studio projects throughout my academic career in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. These explorations provide me a more dynamic perspective on spatial experiences in Hong Kong. I observe that the segregation and separation between programs, interior/exterior and urban/nature not only lead to problems of isolation but also leads to depression due to lack of ownership and interaction with surrounding opportunities and places. I believe the exploration of vertical solid/void system can offer a new way for tower design methodology, public space and program.

I also want to explore the potentials of the vertical solid/void in relation to natural light, visual connection, ventilation and sound as I believe to be the drive for my thesis.

Design Experiment/Methodology

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Firstly I would like to review the previous works I have explored on tower typologies, including plans, sections and axonometric drawings that relates to the investigation of public spaces and public programs.

On the top image is a studio project done three years ago in To Kwa Wan. It explores the relationship between local residents, individualized balcony spaces and the vertical extension platforms that connects the units together. Furthermore, there is also an interest in integrating the podium with the tower so that the separation between podium and tower becomes less exclusive from the public and more integrated with the community.

I would like to look at ventilation system and structural system of the existing residential tower typology in Hong Kong. I begin to be aware of that the system of light wells, ventilation shafts, M&E shafts are not utilized as they should be. For example, people just dump rubbish down into the shaft, which causes pollution that leads to diseases, blocking the ventilation and natural light source.

I would like to continue the investigation between privatized balcony spaces for individual units to improve the living quality of the residents and provide integrative spaces between units to enhance the sense of community (as we are losing the bond between neighborhood especially in recent development in Hong Kong). The program I am exploring are the green spaces and casual seating spaces/landscapes.

I would like firstly to conduct a survey to the local residents of what kind of leisure activity they do during the day time (housewives, elderly, children) and what they would like to see change inside the current living state in the tower. Secondly, it would be interesting to begin to integrate the findings with the current tower condition to offer a new option and typology to the built environment in Hong Kong. Thirdly, in parallel to explore new typologies of structure and facade to accommodate the new spaces between units and tower/podium connection.

I would like to investigate the current exiting plans and sections of how the system works and would begin to identify the opportunity to improve the performance of these systems. The goal is to improve the living condition or at least to widen the perspective of residents and offer them with more choices in terms of living style.
I believe through the on-site survey, studying existing residential typology and coming up with solutions to better living conditions will give a rethink the norm of ‘going home just to sleep’ which is what is happening in Hong Kong. I believe through analysis the existing built environment to proposition is the most direct and provocative way to convey new typology across to the larger architecture culture.

ARTIFECT A

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This was a studio proposal in Causeway Bay on vertical system of communal spaces that integrate with residential units with new programs such as urban green and gathering spaces.

ARTIFECT B

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This was a proposal in New York- One Madison Avenue by Daniel Libeskind. The design features a series of spiraling gardens extending the green of Madison Square along the facade of the tower. The tower is set back from its neighbors—maintaining views and maximizing light and air. It addresses the ventilation, light and spatial qualities that I find can improve the living qualities of the residents in Hong Kong.

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This proposal for a city center in Brisbane that was handed to the City Council last year. It deals with the natural ventilation system that revitalize the building with less cost on energy consumption and the overall energy efficiency. It also looks at the garden spaces within the tower typology and questions if the typology of podium-tower is truly the convention for the urbanized cities over the globe.

‘The tower and podium form is widely accepted typology for urban intesification across the globe. However, when considerting the subtropics, it may not be the ideal device for creating sustainable urbanism, where the architectural principles of porosity to light, air, and the integration of landscape are favored.’ Croline Stalker, Director of Architectus, 2015

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The above research is also from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. It explores the extremes of tower urbanism where it investigates and facade and envelop relationship to the light and hear energy in the surrounding context. It uses mappings on the intensity of light on the envelop and develops a system that has various tolerance on the energy gathering to control the vegetation growth within the tower.

 

Bibliography

‘eVolo Skyscrapers’ EVolo skyscrapers Aiello, Carlo. and Aldridge, Paul. Los Angeles: EVolo.2014.

Eco-Towers: Sustainable Cities in the Sky, K. Al-Kodmany, WIT Press, 2015

Eco Skyscrapers I, Ken Yeang, Ivor Richards, Images Publishing, 2007

Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition, Sigfried Giedion, Harvard University Press, 1967

Skyplane: What Effect Do Towers Have on Urbanism, Sustainability, the Workplace and Historic City Centres, Richard Francis-Jones, Lawrence Nield, Xing Ruan, Deborah Van der Plaat, UNSW Press, 2009

Hong Kong: The Contractors’ Experience, Anthony Walker, Hong Kong University Press, 1995

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