Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2016 i Architectural Review Asia Pacific

High-rise living is not for everyone. One could argue that it needn’t be, but like it or not, the intense urbanisation occurring in our lifetime means more of us than ever will be living off the ground. Shifting expectations around what those living conditions should look like is not easy in a culture at its own crossroads between Anglo origins and the Asian context. In developing this issue of AR, we found an old typology in rapid transition, as it must be, to meet the challenges ahead. Architects are bringing social agendas to the development arena. As interpreters of the built environment, we have had many discussions with architects over the years, and especially for this issue, about the challenges and directions of high-rise and city-making. Four key pillars recur…

The architecture of the high-density residential development is calibrated by an assimilation of urban density and development pressures, economic forces and the capacity of the market to float premium real estate, as well as design innovation coupled with technological advances within the architecture and building industry to innovate within constraints. Ultra-thin towers appear to be a global phenomenon, contrived by extreme circumstances that make this peculiar typology a viable proposition. They lend fresh momentum to the design of multi-residential buildings, on modest singular lots that were disregarded for development of this type until recently. The accelerated metabolism of sites in the established grids in cities signal the next phase of urban intensification and infill development. Tall ‘pencil-thin’ towers are in contrast to superblocks of the central city and the endless,…

Peter Salhani What do you think is the most significant evolution of the skyscraper? Richard Hassell The 20th century skyscraper is a technological typology, celebrating man’s triumph over gravity and climate. It is a hard, exclusive object, borne out of the harsh weather of New York and Chicago and later of the harshness of the deserts of the Middle East. Early rationalism devolved to playful formal innovation, but the sealed, internal, shiny object has remained. Like all machines, this conception of the skyscraper depends on high energy in order to function. The 21st century skyscraper will be mainly built in the exploding populations of the tropical and subtropical belt in Asia, Africa and Central America. In the tropics, skyscrapers can be permeable and generous in amenities and outdoor spaces. They…

Safety Testing and Manufacture Each year, ShapeShift is committed to investing in research and development that not only improves the quality and application of its products, but also optimises efficiency and safety in building processes. To maintain the sheen and integrity of surfaces post-build, the company is testing and resolving a finish that delivers gloss retention comparable to the 25 years of gloss retention in the baked-on technology currently available in the market. The value and ingenuity of ShapeShift’s system, however, is that it can be applied out of the factory, so that scratches can be patched up on-site, extending the life of the surface. Not only are its external cladding products tested to weather the most extreme cyclonic conditions, but ShapeShift’s monocoque panels have been known to do damage…

Koichi Takada Architects “With tall buildings, people have the ambition to go higher and higher, but going vertical brings with it a lot of issues. The tall scale might work in the context of the city, but for humans, it can just feel too tall. We want to humanise tall buildings, to celebrate the pedestrian level and consider how people experience it.”Koichi Takada Location: Sydney, Australia The distinctive loop shape of the Infinity by Crown Group building in Sydney is a result of a thoughtful approach from Koichi Takada Architects that considers design at a human scale and connects the architecture to the landscape. Project text In response to a residential apartment typology that is often defined as a formulated and repetitive commercial product, Infinity by Crown Group aims to…

It is not often when reading a magazine that one is momentarily transported back to an undergrad classroom of Cultural Studies 101, with the essay topic, ‘What is culture’, scrambling the minds of your peers and the oversimplified answer ‘the belief, value systems and way of life of a particular group of people at any given time’ leaving a combination of raised eyebrows and blank faces. To the following question, ‘What is cultural?’, the answer ‘almost everything’ gains even less clarity. The study of culture goes far beyond the interdisciplinary, such that it is almost anti-disciplinary in nature. Our general understanding of what constitutes a cultural building in architecture, however, is not whether or not the building is cultural, but whether it actively preserves or promotes culture. Even on these…

Patrick Bellew et al. Edited by Charlotte and Peter Fiell Laurence King Publishing, 2015 Hardcover • 232pp • $60.00 Despite the ascendance of digital publishing platforms, the printed monograph fulfils an essential role in the creative process and maintains a privileged status in the practice of architecture. Invisible Architecture records the work of Atelier Ten, a practice of international environmental design consultants. With offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, New York, New Haven, San Francisco, Doha, Bangkok, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney, the hardcover book contextualises the practice’s contribution across a range of projects. Invisible Architecture is not just a traditional monograph, it is at the same time a manifesto and compendium of approaches to sustainable design. The title reinforces the nature of the practice, corresponding with elements that Atelier Ten works with…

A leafy orchard in the rural Victorian township of Officer may seem an unlikely place for a fledgling architectural practice to set up shop, but to Brad Wray and Nicholas Russo, it presented an idyllic headquarters for their new, joint venture. The name, Branch Studio, refers to its orchard setting and also to an energetic, open-ended growth of design services, with Wray and Russo keen for the practice to develop offshoot services in graphic and furniture design. It also describes a divergence in approach – while the pair collaborate now and then, Russo and Wray also work independently on projects, so that, as Wray explains, “It can feel more like two architects working under the same banner rather than us having one singular method to everything.” Wray and Russo established…

Public art can be many things – a memorial in a park, a sculpture in a square or a mural on a wall. Whatever form it takes, it can be indispensable to a city and its cultural life. While no one is visiting Sydney for its memorial fountain in Hyde Park, they may just visit Barangaroo South if there is the equivalent of Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate in Chicago. The price for a public work of that ilk is high, but if a council, investor or developer makes the right decision, it can be the drawcard that leads to significant economic gains. Rain Oculus 1 in Singapore’s upmarket commercial shopping precinct, Marina Bay Sands, is one such work. Created by US artist, Ned Kahn, in collaboration with architect, Moshe Safdie,…

The imaginative built works by architecture firm Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) act almost as cultural totems on Melbourne’s main drag – the radical green brain over one corner of RMIT University embodying boundless studious energy, its powerfully executed redevelopment of the Shrine of Remembrance, richly layered in meaning and symbolism – all overseen by the lone figure of Wurundjeri-willam clan elder, William Barak at Swanston Square. “With the portrait façade – people either love it or hate it, but it is a unique project, and it takes guts to put out that kind of work,” Whitfield says, commending ARM Architecture’s progressive attitude towards unconventional façades. At Swanston Square, ShapeShift was able to showcase the best of building in composites. Monocoque panels form the strips cladding the building, specifically engineered for…

JG Ballard’s classic 1975 novel, High-Rise, paints a grim, dystopian picture of life in a glittering new apartment tower in London, descending into deadly chaos as minor building defects and petty squabbles turn its upwardly mobile residents feral. The message and issues presented are surprisingly current, a fact that has not escaped director, Ben Wheatley, who made a film of the book in 2015 (no date is set for its Australian release). Ballard’s cautionary tale about the flawed rationalism behind Le Corbusier’s failed social housing high-rises in the US reminds us that while architecture can reflect the best of human endeavour, it can also alienate us. In a rapidly urbanising, overpopulating world, there is much to learn from the past, with little time to learn it. Like Le Corbusier, Ballard’s…

Elenberg Fraser with Disegno “From a distance the building appears to ripple and bulge, while close-up the individual apartments become legible. The undulating form has a performative effect by minimising the wind downdraft at street level, improving pedestrian comfort, which is a major challenge in Melbourne.”Caleb Smith, Elenberg Fraser Location: Melbourne, Australia Photography: Peter Clarke and Jeremy Wright A democratic approach to city views, the undulating façade delivers the luxury of a corner apartment view to every residence, while adding a dynamic shifting tower form to Melbourne’s city skyline. Project text This residential apartment tower on Russell Street in Melbourne set out to challenge the conventional wisdom that the corner apartment is premium for its better light and views. Working on a narrow site, the conceptual approach was to give…

Fender Katsalidis Architects “A tall building in a city is a piece of sculpture. Most buildings don’t have emblems, but an emblem is a great way to capture people’s imagination. They become part of a building’s folklore. Australia 108’s emblem isn’t at the top where you’d expect, but a starburst at level 75 – loosely imagined as one of the stars on the Australian flag.”Karl Fender, Fender Katsalidis Location: Melbourne, Australia Designed as a yin to the yang of nearby Eureka Tower, Australia 108 in Melbourne’s Southbank is due for completion in 2020. In line with the Asian market and trends in high-rise, it signals a greater focus on ultra-luxurious resident amenities. Project text Standing 318 metres tall and weighing in at 150,000 tonnes, Australia 108 was conceived as a…

Ewan McEoin (ed.) Architecture Foundation Australia First published 2011, 2nd edition 2015 * Hardcover • 300pp A prolific practitioner of more than 35 years and recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2015 Gold Medal, Peter Stutchbury is a textbook figure in contemporary Australian architecture. Under the Edge: The Architecture of Peter Stutchbury paints a picture of his projects through time, accompanied in this second edition by reflective essays from Stutchbury and like-minded colleagues, from Richard Leplastrier and Brit Andresen to Lindsay Johnston and Ingerid Almaas. The guest essays complement each other and establish a common architectural agenda, culminating in Stutchbury’s quietly compelling chapter, ‘Underpinnings’, which, for me, is the book’s ‘aha’ moment. Stutchbury uses simple, didactic vignettes to describe the Australian land condition and its many facets through abiding…

My urban neighbours are 30- and 40-storey apartment towers. Though they are mostly shiny and new, the cracks in their tightly composed façades are slowly accumulating surface junk. Laundry, plastic furniture, crates, bikes, struggling plants. These are signs of ordinary life emanating from CBD tower skins. Until recently, that life usually meant suburban houses with garden, car and the messy additions. The dense new towers in Australian cities have not really aimed to replicate that life, but to recast it for students, retirees, young professionals. What remains is to reconcile tower lifestyles with suburban life, bringing the informal openness of the bungalow up onto elevated floors, especially the garden and mess. Vietnamese cities, despite their high density, have great traditions of green foliage wrapped into their built fabric. Planting wedged…

“I think a combination of technology, need and logistics will shape the future of high-rise architecture... we will have to rethink the high-rise, making it offer something more, and bring some of the aspects and facilities of low-rise and street life up into the towers – including green space, access to fresh air and social spaces.”Kim Herforth Nielsen, 3XN 3XN and BVN Location: Sydney, Australia Quay Quarter Tower features a series of shifting glass volumes stacked upon each other that rotate towards spectacular views of Sydney Harbour, each with its own atrium and external landscaped terrace, offering the increased connectivity of low-rise campus buildings to its workplace tenants. Project text Quay Quarter Tower is a significant city-making and regeneration project in a prime location near Circular Quay, Sydney. Designed by…