Case Study #5: Linked Hybrid Complex

Architect: Steven Holl Architects
Location: Beijing, China
Year: 2003–2009
Status: Completed
Program: 644 apartments, public green space, commercial zones, hotel, cinemateque, kindergarten, Montessori school, underground parking
Client: Modern Green Development Co., Ltd. Beijing
Size: 221,426 m²

Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the 220,000 m² pedestrian-oriented project, sited adjacent to the site of old city wall of Beijing, aims to counter the current privatized urban developments in China by creating a new twenty-first century porous urban space, inviting and open to the public from every side.

Filmic urban public space; around, over and through multifaceted spatial layers, as well as the many passages through the project, make it an “open city within a city.” The project promotes interactive relations and encourages encounters in the public spaces that vary from commercial, residential, and educational to recreational.

The entire complex is a three dimensional urban space in which buildings on the ground, under the ground and over the ground are fused together.