SPACE February 2023 (No. 663)
A Simple and Yet Ideal Community
Over the past few years, apartment districts in Korea began installing walled and security gates to limit access to outsiders. Regardless of its connection to the gated community phenomenon, the large-scale residences in Korea, that tend to transform into super blocks, brought about unexpected detrimental effects concerning social unity. In contrast, community resources became the core idea behind residences designed in Paris and Beijing by MAD Architects (hereinafter MAD). In this interview with MAD, we take a glimpse at the ways in which they have journeyed towards simpler and yet more ideal communities characterised by openness and connection.
UNIC
interview
Ma Yansong co-principal, MAD Architects, Liu Huiying, Flora Lee associate partners, MAD Architects
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Han Garam Han Garam(Han): Recently, MAD added residential projects such as UNIC (2022) and Baiziwan Social Housing (2021) to their portfolio. UNIC was the reason why MAD became interested in social housing initiative and its first project in Europe. In 2012, UNIC was the prizewinning work at the international design competition for Clichy- Batignolles of Paris. Can you explain the vision and master plan behind Clichy-Batignolles?
Ma Yansong, Liu Huiying, Flora Lee (MAD): Clichy-Batignolles, is a mixed-use eco-district in the seventeenth arrondissement of Paris. It is an urban model to revitalise a once- abandoned railway in a region of 54ha by constructing housing, offices, commercial stores, and centres around 10ha Martin Luther King Park. Under the context of an urban master plan, it seeks to connect with and enrich the surrounding communities by mixing socio-economic classes and generations, bringing nature to the city, enhancing public spaces with improved mobility, and promoting renewable energy sources.
Han: Clichy-Batignolles can cater for up to 3400 households and 7500 residents. Who was the target audience for this residence, and what unique regulations are there in the housing district master plan?
MAD: Providing much-needed housing for local residents, and attracting new crowds and young professionals to relocate to the district, the neighbourhood reactivation plan for Clichy-Batignolles includes the large-scale construction of different types of housing. According to the document, the housing composition ratio is divided into social housing 50%, owned housing 30%, and capped rent housing 20%. They are also not just residential buildings. The lower floors of the residence also feature facilities, such as schools, stores, recreational areas, and other community resources. These spaces are connected through shared facilities, so the buildings within each block are united.
UNIC ©Adam Mørk
UNIC
Han: In other words, they are different buildings but form a community. You collaborated with Christian Biecher (principal, Biecher Architectes) who is a local architect based in Paris for UNIC. What kind of building is UNIC?
MAD: UNIC is a thirteen-storey apartment complex which covers a site area of 1,033m2 and a gross floor area of 6,600m2. Podium is the architectural vocabulary used to connect to adjacent buildings. A group of buildings, including UNIC and adjacent buildings, share one podium and are physically connected. It provides direct access to the metro infrastructure and community resources including a kindergarten, retail spaces and restaurants. The design enhances everyday community relations in a diverse socio-economic neighbourhood.
True to its name, the curvilinear terrace serves as a unique landmark because of its striking design. UNIC stands in a newly developed district. MAD is also seeking to create a distinctive new typology in traditional residential housing, such as the typical Parisian Haussmann era apartment blocks. Inspired by the Martin Luther King Park, the design of terrace attempts to extend green areas into the vertical space through variably stepped terraces, while providing space for residents to interact with nature. In addition, as Clichy-Batignolles advocates sustainable urban development, UNIC had to pass passive building standards, which required the use of high-performance window glazing, heating and cooling design strategies, and high-density materials.
Han: After winning the prize, workshop sessions were held over six months, and it took ten years to complete construction. Government officials, neighbouring architects, and planning and landscaping professionals participated in the workshop. What was the purpose of these sessions, and what was discussed there?
MAD: The series of workshops were committed to ensuring all projects were developing in a cohesive manner in line with the master plan. The workshops explored topics from macro-scale urban plans to micro-scale details, such as sustainable community development, resource sharing, energy management and population demographics.
UNIC
Han: While UNIC is a single building, Baiziwan Social Housing in Beijing is an apartment district composed of six blocks and twelve buildings connected by pedestrian circuit. While the scale and form are different, I was informed that Baiziwan Social Housing was influenced by UNIC. What concepts are shared between the two?
MAD: Baiziwan Social Housing is the first social housing project by MAD, which set an example for an independent architect firm addressing the urban housing need in China. It was situated near the Central Business District (CBD) in Beijing, which covers a site area of 93,900m2 and a gross floor area of 473,300m2. The scheme is comprised of twelve residential buildings that collectively offer 4000 households for welfare dependents and young professionals. Although the scale, form or target residents are not the same as that of UNIC in Paris, but they are all conducted under a joint concept towards ideal living in the urban environment with a vision for a new ecological future based on spiritual and humane pursuit.
Han: Meant for welfare dependents and young residents, Baiziwan Social Housing was designed at the request of Beijing Public Housing Center (BPHC) in 2014. What kind of institute is BPHC, and what was the national methodology and stance toward social housing?
MAD: BPHC is the first public housing supply platform established under the approval of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality in 2011. Welfare-oriented housing development has been considered to accommodate low-income urban dwellers and the influx of migrants. According to the relevant government document, the ratio of affordable housing to the total housing is no less than 10 – 15%.
Han: In Korea, apartment designs tend to end up being standardised and gated communities get formed. I am curious to know whether the Chinese apartment situation also faces problems in terms of communities or habitability.
MAD: The standardisation of design is also a problem in China nowadays, especially in large-scale metropolitan regions due to the impact of modernisation. From a broad perspective, this is a common historical phenomenon for those Asia countries with newly developed cities and rapid growth of economy after the Second World War’s destruction. Over the past decades, China’s residential design and property market has shifted dramatically. Rapid real estate development has led to the homogenisation of residential design. The standard housing typology in China first developed in the 1950s and was motivated by the commercialisation of the housing movement in the 1990s. It often featured the same mega-size closed residential complexes, and which exacerbates the situation.
Baiziwan Social Housing ©ArchExist
Han: You sought to introduce a new perspective to China’s social housing scene through Baiziwan Social Housing. How do the apartment block residents and those in wider regional society communicate physically and programmatically via this building? Also, how does the space which lies outside and the residential space remain separate from one another?
MAD: Baiziwan Social Housing improves the living conditions of low-income communities and introduces a fresh perspective to the present dull residential design image in China. MAD strives to integrate the community into the urban fabric and connect the neighbourhood with the city instead of creating a micro-residential district.The site is divided into six urban blocks, anchored by a thoroughfare that cuts through the centre. By sharing the ground floor as an open neighbourhood space, the central avenue is home to a range of commercial and convenience facilities, including shops, cafés, restaurants, kindergartens, pharmacies, bookstores, and facilities to care for the elderly. The second level is recognised as a floating garden, only access to the internal residents. A pedestrian circuit weaves around all six blocks, forming a large above-ground park with a variety of communal functions (community gardens, children’s playground, etc). All the housing units are set above on the third level. The overall design creates a three-dimensional vertical living community derived from nature, building up a close spatial relationship between the residents, their community, and the city.
Han: You had to build apartments for 4000 households on a high-density site with floor area ratio of 350% and a height limit of 80m. I assume there were many issues to contemplate concerning the form and positioning of the main building. Please explain your process and the focus on the urban skyline, the scale, and daylight exposure.
MAD: The high density presented plenty of restrictions to a general plan layout and daylight calculation. MAD adopts a Y-branch building form, with communal corridors located along the north face of each building to enhance sunlight exposure in the residential units. These Y-branch buildings combine with gradual stepping forms and staggered heights fabricating an overall mountain topography across the site. From afar, the scheme’s simple white façade and undulating mountain form creates an enriching addition to the city skyline.
Baiziwan Social Housing ©CreatAR Images
Baiziwan Social Housing ©CreatAR Images
Han: The residential units are divided into six general typologies and three ultra-low energy consumption typologies. What are the unique properties of each space?
MAD: The project’s residential units are spanning areas of 40m2, 50m2, and 60m2. Light coated board is used as the partitions between the rooms, enabling ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration by residents. Considering a more environmentally friendly construction process, the clients demand that over 80% of the building components should be prefabricated off-site. This prefabricated method allows for a higher quality of housing production in a controlled, systematised way. The scheme contains two ultra-low energy consumption buildings, also known as ʻpassive housing’, with low heating and cooling loads, allowing the buildings to reduce energy consumption by 90%.
Han: UNIC and Baiziwan Social Housing were both opportunities to contemplate how people today can and could live in a megapolis, and you are now preparing to publish these research results on social housing. Could you give a concise introduction to your findings and your sense of an ideal lifestyle?
MAD: Under their theme, ʻThe Sociality of Social Housing’, MAD’s research focuses on the historical development and design of social housing in several countries. People are at the core of our understanding of living; they serve as a form of architecture. With a simple aesthetic that places a humanised community space as the heart of the home, both projects are important steps towards ideal living. MAD aspires to offer a design solution for a more humane, equal, and vibrant living environment in communion with nature.
Baiziwan Social Housing ©ArchExist
MAD Architects
MAD Architects devises a new balance between the society, the city, and the environment using architecture. As the founder of MAD Architects, Ma Yansong is recognissed as an important voice in a new generation of architects. He is the first Chinese architect to win an overseas landmark project Absolute Towers (Canada) and overseas cultural landmark project Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (USA). The interview is supplemented by associate partners, Liu Huiying and Flora Lee.
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