Steven Holl Architects’ Linked Hybrid stands out as one of the most innovative projects to   be completed in the past couple of years. Inspired by the traditional polychromatic Chinese architecture, as well as the urban layout of older Beijing neibourhoods developed prior to the 1980s, the architects have designed a modern alternative to the current trend of individualistic urban towers. Here, a strong urban fabric is weaved on the ground as well as on the upper floors where a new public space is implemented within a ring that bridges all the towers together. In this small city, no building is an island.

(shuhe photography)

With over 600 apartments sited adjacent to the old city wall of Beijing,   one of the central aims of this Hybrid Building complex is the creation of a new urban space; around, over and through multifaceted spatial layers.  The aspiration of the developer Modern Group is for an ultra-modern expression of 21st Century ecological urban living, within the 210,000 square meter that form thte project.

(shuhe photography)

Current development in Beijing is almost entirely individualistic “object buildings” such as freestanding towers. As an alternative,   Linked Hybrid is conceived as a “city within a city”. It envisions the urban space as its central core, integrating the activities and programs that can support the daily life of over 2500 inhabitants: café’s, delis, laundry, dry cleaners, florists etc, line the main public passages.

转载自舒赫的建筑摄影博客http://blog.sina.com.cn/shuhephotobeijing