A vast program is packed onto the Vanke Center’s reclaimed lake front site through two basic gestures. First, most of the compartmentalized programs, including apartments, hotel and the head offices of Vanke, are grouped together in a linear bar building, almost as long as New York’s Empire State building is tall.
Rather than collect the program in a series of individual object buildings each dedicated to a unique function, the elements are assembled into a singular, space-defining, elevated mega-structure.
Steven Holl’s nearly completed Vanke Center, in Shenzen, China is also lifted up off of its site, but unlike its modern progenitors this lift allows the project to marry the two halves of what had previously been a dichotomy of purpose.
The lift constructs a more active relationship to site, while reinvigorating the bar building as an archetypal residential typology. The project points to a future paradigm where internally derived, conceptually pure prototypes are subtly coopted to create new forms of contextuality.
The building’s environmental responsiveness points towards a new approach to site that is broader than a conventional notion of contextualism predicated on similar form, alignments, materiality and details. The Vanke Center suggests a strategy in which idealized formal prototypes be they existing infrastructural elements, peripheral buildings, broader site factors such as views and circulation, and environmental conditions such as air circulation and water control.
Derived from autonomous formal prototypes, these contemporary architectures, through their adaptability, can allow a new contextuality to emerge.
Architectural Renderings New York NY
Architectural Renderings Los Angeles CA
Architectural Renderings Chicago IL
Architectural Renderings Houston TX
Architectural Renderings Phoenix AZ
Architectural Renderings Philadelphia PA
Architectural Renderings San Antonio TX
Architectural Renderings San Diego CA
Architectural Renderings Dallas TX
Architectural Renderings San Jose CA
Architectural Renderings Detroit MI
Architectural Renderings Jacksonville FL
Architectural Renderings Indianapolis IN
Architectural Renderings San Francisco CA
Architectural Renderings Columbus OH
Architectural Renderings Austin TX
Architectural Renderings Memphis TN
Architectural Renderings Fort Worth TX
Architectural Renderings Baltimore MD
Architectural Renderings Charlotte NC
Architectural Renderings El Paso TX
Architectural Renderings Milwaukee WI
Architectural Renderings Boston MA
Architectural Renderings Seattle WA
Architectural Renderings Washington, D. C.
Architectural Renderings Denver CO
Architectural Renderings Louisville KY
Architectural Renderings Las Vegas NV
Architectural Renderings Nashville TN
Architectural Renderings Oklahoma City OK
Architectural Renderings Portland OR
Architectural Renderings Tucson AZ
Architectural Renderings Albuquerque NM
Architectural Renderings Atlanta GA
Architectural Renderings Long Beach CA
Architectural Renderings Fresno CA
Architectural Renderings Sacramento CA
Architectural Renderings Mesa AZ
Architectural Renderings Kansas City MO
Architectural Renderings Cleveland OH
Architectural Renderings Virginia Beach VA
Architectural Renderings Omaha NE
Architectural Renderings Miami FL
Architectural Renderings Oakland CA
Architectural Renderings Tulsa OK
Architectural Renderings Honolulu HI
Architectural Renderings Minneapolis MN
Architectural Renderings Colorado Springs CO
Architectural Renderings Arlington TX
Architectural Renderings Wichita KS
Architectural Renderings Raleigh NC
Architectural Renderings St. Louis MO
Architectural Renderings Santa Ana CA
Architectural Renderings Anaheim CA
Architectural Renderings Tampa FL
Architectural Renderings Cincinnati OH
Architectural Renderings Pittsburgh PA
Architectural Renderings Bakersfield CA
Architectural Renderings Aurora CO
Architectural Renderings Toledo OH
Architectural Renderings Riverside CA
Architectural Renderings Stockton CA
Architectural Renderings Corpus Christi TX
Architectural Renderings Newark NJ
Architectural Renderings Anchorage AK
Architectural Renderings St. Paul MN
Architectural Renderings Lexington KY
Architectural Renderings Plano TX
Architectural Renderings Fort Wayne IN
Architectural Renderings St. Petersburg FL
Architectural Renderings Glendale AZ
Architectural Renderings Jersey City NJ
Architectural Renderings Lincoln NE
Architectural Renderings Henderson NV
Architectural Renderings Chandler AZ
Architectural Renderings Norfolk VA
Architectural Renderings Greensboro NC
Architectural Renderings Scottsdale AZ
Architectural Renderings Baton Rouge LA
Architectural Renderings Madison WI
Architectural Renderings London
Architectural Renderings Manchester
Architectural Renderings Newcastle
Architectural Renderings Liverpool
Architectural Renderings Leeds
Architectural Renderings Birmingham
Architectural Renderings Sydney
Architectural Renderings Melbourne
Architectural Renderings Brisbane
Architectural Renderings Perth
Architectural Renderings Adelaide
Architectural Renderings Hobart
Architectural Renderings Canberra
Architectural Renderings Darwin
Architectural Renderings Toronto
Architectural Renderings Montreal
Architectural Renderings Vancouver
Architectural Renderings Ottawa
Architectural Renderings Calgary
Architectural Renderings Edmonton
