Final project fontana anita

Alle nostre famiglie che ci hanno sostenuti ed incoraggiati durante tutti questi anni di studio.

Agli amici sempre presenti, anche quando eravamo troppo impegnati nei lavori dei laboratori.

Ai compagni di gruppo nei laboratori con cui abbiamo condiviso tante ore di intenso ed appassionato lavoro.

A tutti quei docenti che hanno cercato di trasmettere la passione e la curiositĂ per le loro discipline, passione e curiositĂ , che , si spera ci accomagneranno nel nostro futuro di architetti

CANDIDATI:

Annarita DI NINNO Filippo FIANDANESE Anita FONTANA

A collaboration between: Tsinghua University and Politecnico di Torino - Dip. di Architettura e Design DAD

POLITECNICO DI TORINO - DIPARTIMENTO DI ARCHITETTURA E DESIGN Corso di laurea Magistrale in: Architettura (Costruzione e CittĂ )

RELATORI:

Gustavo AMBROSINI Mauro BERTA michele BONINO Pierre-Alain CROSET Jian LIU Zhang LI

CONTENTS

6 introduction 10 story board of the project

panjiayuan market : analysis of the project 22 CIRCULATION 1.1 arrivals to the market 1.2 circulation inside the market area 30 DENSITY 2.1 design of the buildings and their functions 2.2 squares and courtyards 36 TYPOLOGY 3.1 the typology of the blocks 3.2 the trading buildings typology 3.3 two examples of different typology 3.4 appendix: three examples of the hutong typology 54 CULTURE 4.1 the importance of the ea market 4.2 the canopy 4.3 permanent shops 64 focuses 66 GREENERY &PAVEMENT 78 HOUSING INTEGRATION 88 SERVICES WALLS 100conclusions 102bibliography

INTRODUCTION : THE LINKED MARKET

This thesis is the final result of the Joint Studio Polito-Tsinghua 2014 edition, an academic partnership between two schools of Architecture: the Tsinghua University of Beijing and the Politecnico di Torino. The work theme of this year has been the transformation of the Panjiayuan Antique Market, one of the largest and most famous antique and handicraft market in China.

As a final result, the “Linked Market� project develops from the main idea of connection between the design area and the surrounding city of Beijing, to complete the already established urbanity.

Its driving force is to be found in the main ground connection, that shapes the area where the market takes place. In fact, from its intersection the site is divided into ten macro-blocks and three squares, that are placed along the main path. This principal route directs the flows inside the market: it allows the stream of people, coming both from the ground and the underground level, where the metro gate is placed, to walk through the market. It also hosts one of the mark out of the whole design: the flea market, a trilling trading place, where the direct relationship between sellers and customers is still lively.

The variety of goods together with the mixture of peoples’ cultures and traditions, that settle this place, recall the colorful Arabic Souks.

As a common point, the last one is an open-air marketplace, where 7

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merchants display their goods for sale. Moreover the Souk is divided into specialized sections dealing in specific types of products that are exposed under light structures. This last aspect inspired the design of the canopy that strongly characterizes this space: realized in textile architecture it leaves the soil almost free from any columns giving the possibility of free movement along the main path.

blocks with a detailed selling theme.

In particular, these units are gathered together in couples according to the following subjects: Literary, Treasure, Exposition Center, Ethnic Gadget, Offices and Antique Utilities.

To emphasize their theme of connection, these blocks vary among them for the different height and number of floors, according to the sizes of the goods that are sold in their shops.

A secondary circulation route is created by the inner streets that branch off inside each micro-block.

This ensures a good permeability inside the blocks and gives life to the inner courts in their cores, where greeneries and social activities are hosted.

The composition of the facades follows different treatments too: the external facades, facing the main connection path, embody the “mass” idea, and are almost closed from the outside. However, they leave space for sporadic openings and random triage compositions in order to contrast the solidity of the entire bricks facades. On the contrary, the facades facing the inner courts are made by a see-trough glass material, which is sustained by steel elements.

This is chosen in order to enlarge the social atmosphere inside each block.

The treatment of the facades, that characterizes each of the already mentioned themes is found in the inner-paths: for each one of the selling theme, different paneling technique is chosen. These refer to the goods that are sold inside their shops and to some traditional Chinese images.

A different treatment is designed for the Exposition Center: made by polycarbonate facades it expresses its different function. Here, in fact, it is possible to see the great variety of Chinese tradition goods.

The theme of connection still happens also inside each building of the micro-blocks, linked one to another through bridges that are placed at several levels along the inner courts. The final result is a clearly recognizable intervention inside the city of Beijing, obtained thanks to the irregular shapes of those buildings.

They seem to evoke Burri’s work “Il Grande Cretto”, in the sense that the mass is cut away leaving a good balance from built and free spaces.

Site plan of the project

The organization of the total area of intervention follows the actual state of the Panjiayuan Market, where selling goods are banded together according to their typologies. For this reason, in the intervention each macro-block inside the market is made up of two

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STORYBOARD OF THE PROJECT 10

Our experience of the “Joint Studio 2014� started during the first week of March, after one month of travels around China.

During our tour we saw a mixture of historical, renewed and natural sites that inspired in different ways our further design choices. Among the most inspiring interventions we saw the Sanlitun Village, a shopping center in the area of Chaoyang District in Beijing as well as the Caochangdi District, a village settled in the North-East part of the city, designed by the famous Chinese artist and architect Ai Weiwei. These two examples inspired our project for the shapes of the buildings, for the materials used and for their intent to recreate a sort of new urbanity in an already existed urban area.

However, the recurring atmosphere typical of the Chinese gardens, together with their idea of hidden and secret reality, encouraged us to realize a well-articulated reality in our proposal for the renovation of the Panjiayuan market.

During the first days, when that the professor Zhang Li, together with the Chinese students, presented the peculiarity of the market area, we shaped our team and met our Chinese teammate. Together we visited the Panjiayuan market and we chose to see it during the two different and most cathartic moment of the day: during the opening time in the early morning and during the day to see the habitual customs of the actual market. In particular, during the first visit we appreciated 11

Photos taken during the first visit at the Panjiayuan market

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the spontaneity of the trading atmosphere. The market was full of tourists and people coming from several places of China. During the same day we had the occasion to interview both the buyers and the sellers of the market to see how they find themselves into this area to understand if they miss some services or if they would appreciate the introduction of some other activities inside the market site.

The same day we attend to the meeting with the clients. They explained their vision for the future intervention and talked about their requirements that we needed to take into consideration during the further design phases.

The day after, it was time to start thinking about the masterplan design in order to present it during the final review before the coming back to Italy. The main purpose was to recreate an urban scale dimension area in which a mix of function could coexist in a non-dense urban area.

Under the guide of our Chinese teammate we decided to follow the traditional sector-based design.

In other words, we decided to put together all the shops with the same selling type of gadgets, since this is a recurrent typology for commercial areas in China.

During the first proposal of the design phase, we took into consideration the connections that can be found within the market area. In particular, we made sure to point out a clear organization of the entrances and

the circulation inside the area. In order to let the market be simply accessible from the underground levels we thought to locate the metro gate inside the market area and, subsequently to create a -1 level square which hosts the flux of people coming out of the metro gate.

As concern the ground levels we identified a sort of main circulation path. However, this first stage was still not so clearly recognizable.

Another important feature was connected to realize a welldeveloped organization of buildings, where people coming from all over the world can be lodged and felt welcome in this new urban environment. In the renovated Panjiayuan market they can still spend their time taking part to the trading activities, but they can also simply walk around the streets, enhancing in this way the social atmosphere within the area of intervention. In fact, the strength of the sociality aspect together with the necessity to continue the traditional flea market experience are the focal points of the whole design intervention. The idea of putting the trading activities along the main circulation road, under the shape of a navigable path, naturally flowed.

During the final presentation at Tsinghua University the total area was divided into several macroblocks through the main circulation path. The urban potential of our project emerged since this first presentation: the clear distinction of built spaces and open ones let place 13

Photos of some examples of goods sold in the Panjiayuan market

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for the further urban analysis inside the market area.

Once back to Italy, the cooperation between Italian and Chinese students continued thanks to virtual hangouts scheduled periodically.

Thanks to the suggestions received during the final presentation in China, starting from the already shaped site plan characterized by the macroblocks, the work continued to better define the “thematic-islands�, their subdivision in several buildings and the further definition of the inner paths. The final goal was to make these macro-blocks as part of the city.

Moreover, these can host social activities and for this reason a humanscale dimension was provided.

The following improvement of the project saw the introduction of emphasized inner roads: thanks to the macro-blocks subdivision in several buildings a secondary connection emerged within them. In particular, it assumed the shape of a continuous path made by narrow streets that went across each block.

At the same time we reshaped the major circulation path, exterior to the blocks. Both of these roads were supposed to become a continuous path that leaves the possibility of simple movement and exploration inside all the different realities that are contained in the market area.

The circulation along the inner area of the renewed Panjiayuan market was reserved to the pedestrian

circulation. However, after the suggestion of the professor Zhang Li, according to the observance of the Chinese security standards, we proceeded with the introduction of a mixed use street that cut the area from North to South.

Once defined the general circulation paths, together with the shapes of the buildings, we went through the study of their inner distribution and accesses. To increase the social aspect that should has been generated inside each inner court, we decided to place the entrances facing the court, leaving the facades closed from the outside. Moreover, also the vertical connection should be simply recognizable from the court. For this reason we thought to place them in the best location: these vertical connections should be visible from the outside and they should not obstacle the movements of the inner distribution but rather facilitate the circulation inside the shops levels in relation to their entrances.

Moreover, to increase the sense of social life inside the inner court, we decided to organize the distribution path along the inner facades and create in that way exterior galleries facing the inner courts. In addition, in order to let each building be simply reachable from the others at several levels, we decided to insert, between the buildings belonging to the same theme-blocks, horizontal elements of connections at different levels: the bridges.

Once identified the general 15

13-03-2014

Evolution of the project on physical models

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14-04-2014

15-07-2014

organization path inside the buildings and the inner courts, we focused in the social aspects of the exterior path. At the state of the art, it characterizes all the market and in particular it focuses on the flea market area. Our goal was to not only maintain but also accentuate and facilitate the natural sociality of the flea market that is a characteristic element of the Chinese traditional market, so we decided to give it a big importance by putting it in the main circulation path. In this way it could follow the visitors in their trading activities and their movements along the market area.

The decisions took for the flea market treatment were articulated and complex along all the design phase.

At first, one of the new request of the market was to cover the space hosting the trading activities. For that reason, inspired by the intervention in the downtown of the Arabic Souk in Beirut designed by Rafael Moneo, we decided to cover completely the main circulation path with glazed facades letting the canopy to overtake the levels of the buildings.

However, since the buildings had all the same high, the placement of such an invasive canopy seems to contrast with the original idea of the flea market as a spontaneous activity and to eclipse the importance of the structure of the macro-blocks. Our mission was, instead, to cover the flea market in a non-invasive way so that the building would not lose their importance and would not distort the

main idea of the global village.

This first proposal was not satisfactory so we continued with the idea of the canopy but trying to find different results.

Our idea was to realize a canopy with a light structure. To fulfill it we introduced new materials and new shapes: we designed a wooden structure but the banality of this kind of covering conducted us to think about a better solution. In the meanwhile, also the height of the buildings was subjected to a change: within the same macro-block the height varied according to the items sold inside the shops in order to be further customized according to their selling themes.

At this point, the best way to cover the flea market was a canopy with no columns so that it could not be an obstacle for the people’s movements. The further proposal was the tensegrity structure that at the first stage was with a planar shape and then became curved.

However, it would not expressed our idea of light solution.

For this reason we moved through the introduction of the textile architecture in our project. Being inspired by some examples we found in this structure the best solution that well fitted our design idea. This kind of canopy consisted into cover the streets by using colored cloths that could have been hanged to the buildings in the tight streets and instead supported by few columns in the three big squares.

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Photos of the final exhibitions

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Once defined the canopy it was time to reinforce the others leading design ideas. For this aim, to facilitate the understanding of a clear main circulation path and to highlight the unity of the functional theme-blocks, we decided to close the direct entrances to the inner courts keeping the ones facing the flea market area opened. This intervention focused in the case of the open streets placed between two blocks of the same theme-block area. There, we decided to introduce the vertical connection elements, which carried visitors and sellers from the underground levels to the ground and upper ones in order to simply reach the shops.

completely glazed inner court facade was connected to the possibility to reserve the core of these blocks for more vibrating social activities: here, in fact, greeneries, expositions and rest places are hosted.

To better underline the belongings of each building to its theme-block we decided to introduce some elements that made these blocks simply recognizable by coming from the outside. In particular we acted on the facades, where we inserted some panels, designed by taking inspiration from typical Chinese buildings and from some typical images. These panels role was to identify the belonging of the buildings to a specific selling theme and they were put in the narrow roads in order to be visible while walking along the exterior streets.

Moreover, this panels let to read the facades composition as an ascending climax of closure from the inner courtyards facade, characterized by glazed material, to the external one, made by massive traditional bricks.

Also the Offices block, as well as the previous one, was characterized by the polycarbonate facades.

One of the most important macroblock, the one which represents the essence of all the products that are sold in the whole market is embodied by the Exposition Center: it was designed to be clearly recognizable from the outside, thanks to the use of polycarbonate facades. Moreover, since it evokes a museum, to facilitate the exhibition, it was designed with a different distribution organization.

At this point that the design choice satisfied our requirements, we were ready to expose our work during the final presentation.

The reason why we chose to use the 19

BOOKS TRADING BRIDGES BRIDGES FLEA MARKET

PERMANENT SHOPS

TEMPORARY MARKET

FIG. 1 _ Actual state of the Panjayuan Market

PARKING AREA

FIG. 3 _ Re-scaling of the buildings and introduction of the bridges

OFFICES ETHNIC GADGET OFFICES

STONEWORKS

ANTIQUE UTILITY

SCULPTURES PAPERWORK

EXHIBITION

EXHIBITION AND AUCTION CENTER TREASURE

LITERARY

CAFETERIA

FIG. 2 _ First hypothesis presented at the Final Review in Beijing Evolution of the project

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FIG. 4 _ Definition of the general layout and diversification of the height of each building inside the thematic blocks

METRO GATE LEVEL -1 SQUARE GLAZED CANOPY

FIG. 5 _ Introduction of a glazed canopy and omologation of the height of all the buildings

WOODEN CANOPY

FIG. 6 _ Introduction of a wooden canopy

TENSEGRITY CANOPY

FIG. 7 _ Introduction of a canopy with a tensegrity structure; creation of a square on the underground level; diversification of the height of the macro-blocks accordind to different selling themes

TEXTILE CANOPY

FIG. 8 _ Introduction of a textile canopy

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CIRCULATION 22

The circulation in the “Linked Market� project is the first focus point of the whole design choices.

Situated in Chaoyang District in the South-East area of Beijing, between the 2nd and the 3rd Ring Road, the market is registering a continuous growth for what concerns its annual number of visitors, attracting year by year an increasing number of tourists that visit Beijing. As a result it needs to be simply reachable coming from the various part of the city.

For this reason, during the design, the connections between the city and the market area, together with the analysis of the circulation inside the Panjiayuan itself, had a huge importance in the definition of the whole project.

In this section, the analysis of the circulation, in fact, will follow two routes which describe how the market is designed to be simply reachable from the outside and, on the other hand, to define the organization of the flows of people within the market area.

Right: Beijing road system Left: Streets hierarchy

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squares attractors courts attractors pedestrian flux vehicular flux vehicular and pedestian fluxes

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1.1 ARRIVALS TO THE MARKET

The Panjiayuan market is linked to the city thanks to a well-developed underground metro system and to a good connection path, which surrounds the market at the ground level, so that it can be reached from several connection levels: underground or ground by private or public means of transportation.

Ground floor

Level -1

Movement and pauses inside the market Level -2

Arrivals by car are managed thanks to the positioning of the parking slots at the level -2, reserved for the visitors of the market. They can have the access to this underground storey through three ramps, which are placed in the south side of the market, along the street.

The underground space at level -1 is instead reserved for the sellers of the market, that transport their goods by using tricycles or tracks. They put their transportation means at this floor, also equipped by storages, to simplify the warehouse of the goods under their theme-blocks and their subsequent transportation inside the shops.

The vertical connection in these two underground levels is in fact ensured by several goods-lifts and security stairs, placed under each theme blocks in correspondence to the connection of the two micro-blocks of the same selling theme. This ensures both visitors and sellers to manage also their coming up to the market depending on what they are expected to do inside it: they can either stop at the ground floor or decide to go directly into the several floors of shops.

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vehicular path

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pedestrian path main square

inner court track road

one way

Arrivals by metro, are provided by using the actual metro line. In the design choice, to simplify the coming out of the visitors, of the sellers and of the workers of the market, the metro gate has been located inside the market area, in the East part of the Panjiayuan market. In this way it is easy to reach the shops, the offices and all the market activities or to go through the main circulation path, enjoying the trilling atmosphere of the flea market, and then reach some other spot of the city.

In particular, the way-out is located at level -1 where a sorting and intimate square takes place. Moreover, the gate is immediately connected to the Offices buildings, so that workers can avoid to go through all the market area before to reach their working place. Instead, visitors can start moving inside the first macro-block, placed also at -1 level and thenreach the ground floor of the flea market or other macro-blocks by going through three connection stairs, placed in its square.

Pedestrian and vehicular movement

People who arrive on foot are managed by the market structure itself. In fact, those visitors can clearly identify the two main market entrances: both are covered by the canopy, are characterized by a wider street-section and host the flea market activity. However, if the visitors are not interested into take a look at the flea market and want to enter in the market basically to reach some of the themes-shops, they have the possibility to move immediately

to some of the macro-blocks from other two entrances placed along the main side facing the external road in the North side of the market.

1.2 CIRCULATION INSIDE THE MARKET AREA Once inside the market, the circulation structure recalls the urban organization that is possible to find in every city: it is possible to find a mixture of main streets and squares, secondary roads and inner courts. This structure re-creates a new urban asset inside the already organized urbanity of Beijing.

The main circulation path is recognizable both for its wide street sections and because it is mainly covered by the canopy. This principal route directs the flows inside the market: it allows the stream of people, coming both from the ground and underground levels to walk through the market. Moreover, the main circulation path is recognizable also for the additional function that it hosts: it not only connects the market from East to West but, as mentioned before, it also hosts the flea market activities.

Beside these principal streets, there is a secondary circulation path, recognizable thanks to its narrow streets which go through each microblock within the market. This ensures a good permeability inside the blocks and generates inner courts in their cores, where greeneries and social 27

inner blocks path

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vertical security connection

vertical connection facing the court

activities are hosted.

The theme of connection keeps happening also inside each building of the micro-blocks.

To ensure the preciousness and the quietness inside these spaces, the entrances of the shops are placed inside the court spaces.

This means that these inner paths will be done by people who are inclined into buy a particular type of goods and are sure to find them in a specific theme-block, or by people who want just to take some rest from the trading activities of the flea market by having a sit inside the inner court spaces.

The customized study of the width of the streets, that changes according to the activities they host and to the feeling that they want to produce on the users’ feeling, not only clarifies the circulation inside the market but it also gives a distinctive nature to the overall project.

Once inside each block, the plans organization follows, at each level, always the same distribution: the circulation path is in the shape of exterior galleries, which always face the inner court. This was done in order to enhance the social atmosphere inside the court of each micro-block.

Moreover, the circulation path is designed to be a continuous ring: at the several levels it never ends.

Each building is, in fact, connected to another through bridges that are placed at the several upper levels along the inner court.

Vertical connections of the inner blocks

To conclude, even if the complex organization of spaces and their division in sub-spaces could generate uncertainty in the control of the movements, a good balanced space organization reveals to be a strength point.

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DENSITY 30

“Over the last twenty years, the People’s Republic has undergone the greatest period of urban growth and transformation in history.”1 Nowadays more than forty-six Chinese cities reach the mark of one million citizens and the number of square meters used for new housing interventions is impressive.

Beijing, in particular, has a dual image: the ancient city and the commercial towers of the Central Business District.

The historic center of the city is enclosed by the ancient Ming boundary wall which becomes the second ring of the city. Moreover, it ensures the unique identity of the whole city of Beijing. Besides the representative buildings, such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and few more examples, all the urban fabric is made by Hutongs and Siheyuans systems.

During the Chinese urban transformation the historic center has undergone a deep alteration. At first the old and degraded Hutongs were replaced by residential buildings and then by skyscrapers. 2 1 Campanella T. J., The Concrete Dragon: China’s Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World, New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008 2 Greco C., Santoro C., Pechino. La città nuova, Milan, Skira, 2008 3 Friedmann, J., China’s Urban Transition, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2005

Towers and skyscrapers, that begin to rise on the second ring, are the new image of China and the Chinese themeselves tend to emphasize the modernization of their country. 3 The Panjiayuan Market is placed between the second and third ring road of Beijing, where the two 31

1ST

RING

2ND

RING

3RD

RING

INCREASING HEIGHT OF THE BUILDINGS

PA N J I AY U A N MARKET

Increasing height of the buildings from the historical city centre to the suburbs of Beijing

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before mentioned categories meet themselves. For this reason it is surrounded by both towers with their related public or private space and low-rise buildings.

The “Linked Market” project inserts itself inside this peculiar area and it lets that the density become a relevant theme of the overall intervention.

The new intervention does not follow the tendency of constructing highrise buildings in Beijing but, on the contrary, it is characterized by a low urban density.

2.1DESIGN OF THE BUILDINGS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS The project follows the system and the scale of some of the most recurring traditional examples of urban fabric in China such as the Hutong, in the matter of the alleys gathered in the project, or the Siheyuan, recalled for what concerns the courtyards treatment, trying to construct new macro-blocks. As a result, the buildings, banded together into ten

different macro-blocks, appear as equally spread in all the market area and distinguished for their low urban density.

Every macro-block is differentiated by the others according to the kind of goods that are sold inside their shops depending on their number of floor and to their height. For example, in the ‘Antique Utility’ macro-block it is necessary to have four floors with a floor height of 4.5 meters, instead in the ‘Treasure Collection’ one there are three floors with a floor height of 3 meters. Furthermore, to achieve a low density the maximum number of floors is fixed to four.

As a result, the project identifies itselfs for its compact volumes and it is recognizable from the surrounding area. Thanks to its solid macroblocks, that are crossed by narrow streets and gathered together through a wider main circulation path, the “Linked Market” appears with its identity by simply giving a look to the site plan or by walking around the neighborhood.

Schematized plan of the Hutong and Siheyuan in the Qianmen District, Beijing

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Functions plan

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2 .2

SQUARES AND COURT YARDS

In a so much built-up place it is important to create some spaces that break with this compact urban fabric.

These spaces are placed in different points according to the function that they have to accomplish and they can be classified in squares and courtyards.

The squares are inserted in the the main streets system which hosts the flea market. These squares have the role of creating three peculiar points inside the long path that it could be perceived as monotonous and steady. Besides, the squares conduct a social function because they represent the place where the majority of people convey to take part to the flea market activity which hosts numerous stalls.

To enlarge the human scale and to maintain the low density in the intervention, each macro-block is provided with inner court. This introduction accentuates the human dimension of the spaces and ensures, at the same time, a wider

Schematized plan with squares and courtyard in evidence

SQUARES

place where it is possible to socialize.

However, the leading role of the courtyards is guaranteed because they host the main entrances of the shops.

To enhance this role, the treatment of the interior and exterior facades is different: the interior facades are seethrough with a continue glass wall, instead the exterior facades are more closed and characterized by grey bricks coming from the traditional Chinese architecture. Moreover, the interior fronts are transparent because they face the inner court and, in this way, they encrease the role of socialization of these spaces: in the courtyards, in fact, visitors can take a break from the flea market and from the commercial buildings.

To resume, the courts are places where visitors can take some rest and for this reason, they host green areas, benches and temporary openair expositions.

According to the differentiation of each macro-block also the treatment of every courtyards changes to better adapt to the kinds of goods that are sold inside the shops.

COURTYARDS

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TYPOLOGY 36

One of the main challenge in the transformation project of the Panjiayuan market is to preserve the memory of the old market and its trilling and uneven atmosphere, characterized by merchandises that are exhibited in the shops, by people that animate the streets and inner courts, by the colors of the flea market and by the mixture and coexistence of intimate and crowded courts and squares.

This goal together with the aim to increase the feature of the market and design a renovated place able to attract people, become an exciting challenge.

According to its main function, related to the selling and trading activities, the market needs to become a place where goods could be easily exposed, traded, stored and moved.

Moreover, it should allow its visitors and users to circulate inside of it, to easily find what they are looking for or maybe being simply attracted by the Panjiayuan market atmosphere.

For this reason, in the project development was necessary to combine the linguistic issues, or else its image, with typological ones.

Since the first conceptual sketches the attention was focused on the research of the typological solution which could be a better answer to the exposed questions.

As concern the site dimension of the intervention, since the beginning, it has been studied with the purpose to find a general urban system solution, which could be extended on the 37

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whole area. For this reason, the first typological point to be considered concerns the urban fabric type to adopt. The project is strongly described by its site plan where different blocks emerge clearly in the urban landscape.

In fact, the urban typology chosen for the new Panjiayuan market is the block system. The new market is constituted by ten macro-blocks which occupy the whole area being separated by pedestrian streets.

Each blocks is in turn composed by several buildings, surrounded by pedestrian paths which seem to carve the inside of the block shape.

As a result, in every block the meet of the inner streets generates an inner court, which represents its sociable core.

Right: Distribution schemes of the treasure block Above: ground floor Below: first floor Left - above: plan of the treasure block Left - below: section of the treasure block

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Perspective section of the treasure block: inner courtyard

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3.1 THE TYPOLOGY OF THE BLOCKS

The choice of this specific urban type is the direct consequence of the will to create a new space characterized by an urban dimension, as a piece of the city, with a well defined urban articulation of buildings, squares, main streets and secondary paths.

The result sees not only a trading center, but a new area where people can walk, meet each other and socialize. Furthermore, the choice of an urban block system allow to answer also to the identity question.

In this way, in fact, the will to create a new distinctive urban image meets the purpose to realize an intervention able to reinterpret the identity of traditional Chinese elements.

Studies about the traditional layout of the historical city of Beijing underline the recurring presence of a block structure: the Hutong. The name Hutong, originally, designated the narrow streets around the Siheyuan, the traditional courtyard house.

However, nowadays, it refers to the entire quartier composed by houses and streets.

This traditional urban layout, characterized by a pattern of narrow streets where cars can difficulty enter, has been largely destroyed in the latest years, risking to disappear, being substituted by a new buildings and streets organization. However, even if many of this traditional neighborhood are today lost, and many others risk to be demolished, in the Chinese current architectonic debate the Hutong urban typology is knowing a rediscovered entity.

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Perspective section of the exposition block

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In fact, several Chinese architects, coming from the new generation, propose a new modernity, using a contemporary language which cares about the identity and the memories of the past.

One of the most visible and interesting result of this new critical attention to the tradition is for sure the rediscovery of the courtyard houses system. In fact, the Hutong belongs to an important socialhistorical heritage and appears as a solid vehicle of sociality and identity.

These represent two fundamental features of human life which have been losing day by day in the contemporary Chinese cities.

The courtyard structure, in fact, allows to create an inner intimate atmosphere, and this is another reason which make this solution one of the guidelines of the project.

In fact, the whole system of blocks is designed as a contraposition between an inside and an outside of every block.

The facades, covered by the Chinese traditional grey bricks, have few and thin openings, and appear as simple and smooth surfaces: as well as what happened in the traditional Hutong, every block appears from the outside as a close entity, as if it want to hide and protect what it contains inside.

The entrances to each block happen through the narrow streets which surround the buildings. In the inside the atmosphere changes: the facades are not mineral as the external ones, but they are cladded with perforated 43

Photo of the physical model on 1:50 scale: exterior facade; facade on a courtyard; facade on a inner street

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metal sheets, interrupted by vertical wooden blades. This represent an intermediate step to arrive, from the outside to the core of each block that is an intimate and characterizing square.

Here the atmosphere changes again: coming from the narrow streets the visitors arrive to an unexpected open space, the core of the block, or else an hidden square.

Here the metal sheets disappear leaving place to the wooden blades and glass. As a result, the facades are completely glazed. This location concentrates the most living part of each block and it is enriched by small gardens and gathering spaces where people can meet themselves or just have a break during the visit of the market.

In order to let this part can be the real living core of each micro-block, all the vertical connections, used to reach the higher levels, are concentrated in it.

The stairs, always in line, are placed in the facade line. In particular, these are glazed to be simply recognizable.

In this way, the stairs become a fundamental element: being visible from the inner court they encourage visitors to take a look and explore the higher levels. Moreover, the sides of the buildings which surround the inner courts are characterized by the porches which create covered paths around the court, improving the sensation of intimacy in this space.

each block is specialized in a detailed selling and merchandising typology and function: Literary, Treasure, Ethnic Gadgets, Antique Utiliyies, Exposition Center and Offices.

Furthermore, this division gives the opportunity to introduce some differences in each block to make them easily recognizable and more proper to host a detailed kind of goods that are traded in them.

The first difference is the height of the buildings of each micro-block: this is, in fact, constituted by buildings with a defined height and number of floor. The different number of levels and their heights are chosen in order to simply host and sell the diverse kind of goods that characterize each theme-block.

Another difference can be found the metal sheets which clad the facades: every theme-block has its own type of cladding which makes the block easily recognizable from the exterior paths.

All of those differences make the entire market not monotonous and introduce a typological variation which is typical of the natural urban system. This variations belong to a precise system of rules, which reinforce the identity of the renewed Panjiayuan market.

In order to facilitate the orientation and to have a more coherent system, 45

Quantity Analysis

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3.2 THE TRADING BUILDINGS TYPOLOGY Every block is composed by different buildings but its organization works everywhere with the same distribution rules. At the ground level it is possible to access to the shops directly from the narrow streets inside each themeblock. In fact, the buildings facing the inner courts have the entrances of their shops from the porch system which surrounds the inner facades.

Inside the buildings the typological system chosen is the gallery one. In fact, the upper levels of the shops are crossed by a gallery system which links all the buildings of the block. In order to pass from a building to another the connection is possible thanks to the introduction of the glazed bridges.

The corridors of the gallery system are generally placed in the inner court side of the buildings, to enhance the sociable aspect that characterizes the inner court space and to be in direct contact with it.

For what concern the buildings placed in the middle of the micro-block, here the galleries surround them. In this way people walking in the corridors at every level have always the possibility to see what it is happening in the inner court.

In fact, thanks to the completely glazed surfaces, a visual continuity between galleries and inner square is always guaranteed and this continue contact reinforces the identity of the courts as the cores of the blocks.

3.3 TWO EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT TYPOLOGY

Two cases are different from the ones already described. These are the two blocks which are not hosting selling activities: the Exposition Center, with its auction hall buildings, and the Offices block. The first one, placed in the centric core of the market area has the same typological characterization of all the others: it is a block system with a central core.

However, in order to let it more distinguishable from the outside it is treated with a different facade cladding. In fact, all the facades, external and internal, are cladded with polycarbonate panels. As a result, these buildings are translucent solids and this treatment highlight their unicity in contraposition with the other blocks made by bricks.

The inner volume is crossed by a suspended path where people can walk while they are looking the exhibitions.

The Office block is instead characterized by a different building typology that is in the shape of a “comb� system. In fact, offices are hosted in four North-South buildings linked by a wall in the South side. The different solution is due to the diverse functions placed in them. However, a common element persists: the intimate core placed between the buildings and closed in the North side thanks to a glass curtain. Here workers can meet or relax under the threes. Moreover, the offices always face the external corridors, giving them a direct visual connection with 47

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Photos of the “Caochangdi District” project by Ai Wei Wei

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Photos of the “Qianmen District” project by FCJZ Atelier

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Photos of the “Micro-Hutong” project by Standard Architecture

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those courtyards.

3 .4 APPENDIX: T HREE EXAMPLES OF THE HUTONG TYPOLOGY

4 “New Settlements in China”, Lotus, n.141, March 2010 5 Chiorino F., “Zhang Ke/ Standardarchitecture – The Last Days of Old Beijing”, Casabella, v.

LXXVIII, n. 837, pp 23-29, May 2014

The protagonist of the rediscovery of the potentiality of the Hutong typology is Ai Weiwei. The world famous artist and architect that has realized since 2000 in Caochangdi suburb several interventions all characterized by the courtyard typology. Courtyard 104 and Courtyard 105 (2005) represent a refined reinterpretation of the courtyard system. The volumes composition, made by rotated parallelepipeds cladded with traditional grey bricks, offers unexpected perspectives.

The success of the intervention has stimulated the development of a new site in the neighbourhood. 17 “L” shape buildings are disposed with some variations generating narrow streets and courtyards.The following and wider realization, the Red Brick Art Galleries (2007), is characterized by the red bricks facades and it offers a larger variety of plan configurations.

Another important case that concerns the Hutong type renovation is set in the central district of Qianmen, on the southern edge of Tianmen, characterized by the old Hutong in a decay condition. Here, the aim of the project was guided by various architects and coordinated by the Atelier FCJZ. Their main aim was to preserve the few remaining historical buildings and realize new blocks maintaining the same footprint and

tradition scale. In particular, they worked on the the width of the streets and on the heights of the buildings facing those streets, on the materials (the traditional grey bricks) and on the choices of colors for the facades. This case, differently to the Caochangdi Ai Weiwei’s realizations which was born to host art galleries and ateliers, establishes commercial functions. In particular, the historical urban layout has been rebuilt and been adapted to the shopping and new lifestyles needs.4 Finally an interesting realization is the Micro Hutong, a project of Standard Architecture.

This small residential building has not the same scale of the previous one. In fact, it is a case of a dwelling with a minimized surface. This house is characterized by a patio where interaction with the neighborhoods are habitual. Moreover, the micro inner courtyard offers a common space, able to attract the sociality.5 This detail makes the hutong system as an always more attracting urban system. In fact, as these project show, this typology is largely suitable to different activities: residential, commercial, art galleries. In addition the Hutong suits different scales and different spatial configurations.

All of the analyzed cases provide interesting inner spaces where the intimacy and sociality can find a place at the same time.

The hutong system, therefore, coming from the tradition of the historical city represents a valid typological solution for the construction and transformation of the Chinese contemporary city.

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CULTURE 54

Panjiayuan market is one of the most famous handicraft market in China which hosts goods coming from every part of the China and sold to the rest of the world.

The traders have different ethnicity and they embody the several cultures of China.

Besides to be merchants, the sellers of the mid and high level shops, define themselves as bearer of the Chinese culture.

The new intervention maintains the social aspect and solve, at the same time, some relevant problems, that daily bother the market, such as offering a covered space for the flea market or giving more restrooms and restaurants to its users.

covered flea market

more restaurants and restrooms

Traders’ needs

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Panjiayuan Market - Beijing Incoming flows of goods from the China towards the Panjiayuan market Outgoing flows of goods sold from the Panjiayuan market to the rest of the world

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4.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FLEA MARKET

For what concerns the cultural topic the “Linked Market� intervention is willing to keep some essential elements of the actual market such as its natural vivacity and spontaneity.

The flea market spreads all over the project area and acts as a link between the several permanent market inside each one of the ten macro-blocks.

The project divides the shops in mid and high level ones from the flea market: the first ones are placed in the buildings inside the ten macroblocks instead the flea market is situated in the main circulation path and it is covered by the canopy.

In this way, there is a clear differentiation between the treatment of these two categories of trading place.

In the flea market, the stalls are disposed in rows and every seller has his owns space which is equipped by a movable table; in this way, even the flea market trading area is covered and everyone has his own space, there is not any restriction of an irreversible furnished place.

In particular, the flea market gathers the cultural variety, result of the mixture of people that cram the market, and stimulate their social relations and their tranding activity under the textile and colorful canopy.

Right: Differentiation between the mid and high level shops and the flea market

Mid and high level shops buildings Spontaneous flea market

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Perspective view of one of the three main squares

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4.2 THE CANOPY As concern the canopy treatment it changes in correspondence of the three squares of the main system.

It is always characterized by a very permeable metallic structure that allows the spontaneity of the market.

In particular, in correspondence of the streets the canopy leans on the buildings and it is made by impermeable squared cloths of several colors hooked at different heights.

Furthermore, the inner court inside each macro-block have some recreational spaces that let this place to be understand in their human scale by visitors.

Here, in fact, they can have some rest from the trading activity of the chaotic flea market or can take part to the exhibitions and events that could be hosted in the inner courts.

In the squares, instead, the canopy has an independent metallic structure which reaches the ground: in fact, there are few columns that allows the cloths to be tense.

In both cases the structure does not obstruct the lively and animated flows of people among the stalls of the market and guarantees to create a more comfortable atmosphere.

4.3

PERMANENT SHOPS

The social aspect is the key point of the whole design method adopted.

As already mentioned, the buildings are assembled into ten macro-blocks according to the type of goods that are sold inside their shops.

As a result, the cultural exchange between traders of similar goods, coming from several parts of China, is enhanced.

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FIG. 1 _ Main entrances to the market

FIG. 2 _ Core spaces and urban conncetions

FIG. 3 _ Paths inside the macro-blocks

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FIG. 4 _ Inner courtyards

FIG. 5 _ Bridges as links between the buildings

FIG. 6 _ Flea market covered by a textile canopy

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Above: Ground floor plan Below: General Section

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GREENERY & PAVEMENT

HOUSING INTEGRATION

SERVICES WALLS

FOCUSES 64

The project explained till now is the result of the final review of the 2014 Joint Studio which took place on July 15th in Turin.

maintaining anyway the commercial function as the main one, so that the project could be self-financed and the area remains always alive.

Some days before the Chinese students came in Italy to conclude the five months of collaboration with the Italian ones.

Finally, another important element of the market’s project is the contraposition of the atmosphere inside and outside each block. In fact the external walls are low permeable and characterized by massive facades.

At the end of the fourth edition of the Joint Studio we had the opportunity to organize an exhibition for all the projects as a symbolic conclusion of the long route of partnership started in Beijing.

During the exposition a jury, composed by an outstanding international group of Italian and Chinese professors, has actively participate to the event giving their impressions and their advices to keep working on the project.

Regarding this last feature, the suggestion was to add further strength, realizing even more closed walls and creating in that way suitable surfaces which can host service spaces.

Starting from all of those advices of the final review the in-depth analysis are developed in the following.

About the Linked Market project, the discussant remarked the well structured urban organization of the market, underlining the flexibility of the functions, and suggested some variations of the project.

In particular, an issue which needed more examination was the urban treatment of the squares and streets: street furniture, green areas organization, higher detail level of the blocks core.

Furthermore, in order to re-create an urban reversible system they suggested us to introduce the residences in the blocks system, 65

GREENERY & PAVEMENT 66

The first in-depth analysis concerns the study of the treatment of the greenery and pavements in the “Linked Market� project.

The driving force of this intervention is the re-proposition of the urban variety which is one of the main feature of the whole design process.

The reflection of the urban variety is, in fact, maintained and increased in the ground floor handling.

In particular, a big multiplicity of recurrent floristic species in Beijing is inserted in the inner court of the different theme-blocks.

As well as for the building design, also the greenery is chosen in relation to the different environments of each inner court. The choice is done after a screening of the historical origins of the floristic species in China and, in particular, in Beijing.

Moreover, the property of each greenery evokes somehow the goods that are sold in each one of the macro-block.

The results is that from one court to another different atmospheres are generated to the visitors.

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Origin of Nonnative Plant Species in Beijing from biggest to the smallest whithin china C and S America Europe Africa Asia Mediterranean Australia

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1.1 ORIGINES AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE FREQUENT FLORISTIC SPECIES To better understand the differences between several floristic species in Beijing it is necessary to distinguish between the meaning of Native and Nonnative species. “Native” indicates that the plant originates in the area where it was first encountered and described. “Nonnative” includes all plants other than native species, including those introduced, escaped, naturalized, and/or cultivated at parks and gardens, in greenhouses, and in yards.

As the figure shows, within the 2,206 vascular plants found in Beijing, 704 (about one third) are nonnative species. Among these, 257 species are widely cultivated, 152 species are occasionally cultivated, and 295 species are found only in gardens and parks, including in greenhouses.

6 http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/101

Native Status of Plant Species in Beijing> from biggest to the smallest> native cultivaed under roof common cultivated occasional cultivated

Moreover, 250 species originated in different part of the world. In particular, 107 species are from Central and South America; 86 species are from North America; 72 species came from Europe; 65 species are from Africa; 63 species originated in other parts of Asia; 16 species are from the Mediterranean; and 7 species came from Australia.(see Figure 3 Origin of Nonnative Plant Species in Beijing).6

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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6.

1.2 GREENERY SPECIES IN BEIJING The native vegetation that characterizes the north-eastern China, in particular the lower mountains around the Beijing area, is the pine-oak mixed broadleaved deciduous forest. However, long-term and large-scale human activities, such as deforestation, farmland clearing, and urbanization, have altered the original vegetation as well as its characters. Moreover, in the central city, as in most highly urbanized areas around the world, there are actually few native plants.

Among the several species of native plants of Beijing, the category chosen belongs to the ones that do not overtake 800 meters in height. In particular this class contains:

Trees: • Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) •Oaks (Quercus variabilis, Q. dentata) • Maple (Acer truncatum) •Golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata) •Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) •Chinese toon (Toona sinensis) •Hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) Shrubs: •Cutleaf chaste tree (Vitex negundo var. heterophylla) •Spiraea (Spiraea dasyantha) •Bunge’s Chinese myripnois (Myripnois dioica) •Japanese themeda (Themeda japonica)

1

Right: 1. RICINUS COMMUNIS _ treasure blocks 2. SPIRAEA DASYANTHA_ exposition block 3. BAMBUSEAE_ ethnic and gadgets blocks 4. PHILADELPHUS PEKINENSIS_antique utilities blocks 5. CANFORA_ antique utilities blocks 6. BROUSSONETIA PAPYFER_ literary and paperworks blocks

6

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5

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4

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1.3 DESIGN CHOICES Starting with the Treasure blocks, here goods connected to the beauty and the body care are sold. For this reason, the design choice was to place in the inner court of this area a kind of greenery related somehow to the products sold. Among the typical species in China there are some used as sources of body lotions.

This is the case of the Ricinus Communis, known as the Castor.

Apart from the beauty of this plant, it is a species of flowering plant in the Euphorbiaceae family and famous for the castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. This is contained in the seeds with a percentage of 40%60% and used as emollient for the body therapy. Moreover, it is source of proteins and ricinolein.

The Exposition Center is simply identified by the whiteness of the polycarbonate facades.

For this reason, it is treated with the Spiraea dasyantha, a shrubs 2 or 3 meters tall, characterized by tortuous branches, small buds and white petals. It is a frequent species in China and with its colors recalls the materials of the buildings and spreads on the court an environment of candor and tranquility.

Left: View of the treasure’s inner courtyard with the greenery and the pavement’s treatment

The Ethnic Gadget block is characterized by the selling of traditional items, some realized using materials linked to the oriental culture, e.g. bamboo woven baskets or other common use utensils. For this reason, the inner court hosts a

huge varieties of the most frequent bamboo species in China, releasing a oriental and sophisticated atmosphere. In particular, the species chosen belongs to the Bambusoidae subfamily, tribe Bambuseae. Known as faster-growing plants, Bamboos are known to be economic and have cultural significance in Asia to the point of being used as food source and as a versatile raw products.

The inner court of the Offices blocks hosts function for public and tertiary use and are distinguished from the others macro-blocks thanks to the different treatment of the facades, realized in polycarbonate.

As for the Exibition center, in this case another kind of shrubs is chosen. This is the Philadelfphus Pekinensis, common called Mockorange. It belongs to the family of Hydrangeaceae and it easily grows in a dense, compact way and it is typical of the northern and western China. It is characterized by creamy white, disc-shaped flowers which are lightly tinged with pale yellow. Its flowers, banded together in small clusters covering the shrub with an abundant bloom during the springs.

The Antique Utilities blocks contain the traditional furniture and stoneworks. For this reason, the floristic choice is linked to the frequent material used for the wooden furniture in China and symbolize the heart connection from the stone to the trees trough the majesty of the trunk. This is the case of the Canfora 73

1. TEACK

The use of this wood releases a welcoming atmosphere to the inner court

1

Pavements’ treatment

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2.LOCAL STONE

3.LOCAL STONE

The motif in which the stone is used is manageable in the narrow streets

The use of large blocks recal the Chinese traditional use of stone pavements

2

3

trees which belongs to the laurel oak family. It grows natively in China and it is chosen because of the use of its wood for the realization of typical Chinese furniture. Moreover, it is a popular ornamental plant which aids in its dispersal in landscaped areas.

Finally, the Literary blocks is characterized by the selling of paintings and traditional Chinese pictures. The decision to take the Broussonetia Papyfer as its typical tree species is justified thanks to the historical origin of pulp papermaking process, that founds its origins in China during the early second century A.D.. It is a mid-high tree which originates from Asia, where it has been cultivated as a significant fiber crop in the history of paper.

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1.4 TREATMENT OF THE PAVEMENTS As concerns the treatment of the pavements, the ground space has been distinguished according to three main macro-areas, or else the inner courts, the inner streets and outer streets and squares.

In particular, the inner courts are cobbled by using the teack, to enhance their intimate and comfortable atmosphere.

The handling of the streets is instead done by using the local stone.

To differentiate the two treatments of pavements, the stone is used in order to create different shapes and designs in the ground: it is irregular and small shaped in the inner streets and regular and bigger for the outer streets and squares.

Since these last two entities belong to the same “family�, i.e. they both host the flea market, the pavements follows the same treatment. Moreover, in the streets several spotlights are provided.

This contribute to the creation of an inviting climate in the renewed Panjiayuan market.

Left: View of the transition between the main path and the secondary inner streets

Finally, in the matter of the urban fabric, the inner court area is equipped of benches that allow the visitors to take a break from the shopping activities or to enjoy the atmosphere of socialization that characterizes each inner courts.

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HOUSING INTEGRATION 78

The second in-depth analysis concerns the creation of a mixed use area within the Panjiayuan market.

In particular, it is related to the introduction of the housing.

To better introduce this new element in the market area it is possible to point out the general conception of the market.

Even if there are many cases of Chinese commercial architectures close to the “American style� mall idea, in the Panjiayuan market a different design choice was done.

This decision shows the importance of creating a human scale dimension, useful not only for the commercial activities but also to increase the social aspect that characterizes the essence of the trade activity.

The objective is to re-create a renewed urbanity, or else a urban village.

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residential

Scheme with the housing integration in plain view

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commercial

2.1 RESIDENTIAL INTRODUCTION AS A COMPLETION OF THE URBAN SYSTEM

The urban asset of the renewed Panjiayuan market, since the beginning of the design activities, was one of the strength point of the whole intervention. In order to continue this path and to reinforce the importance of having a new urbanity in the already well-structured Panjiayuan neighborhood, the variety of the common activities, that simply finds its place in the cities, is introduced.

In order to let the “Linked Market” becomes a portion of the city of Beijing, it needs to host all the several functions that usually can be found in a normal city. For this reason, starting from the market characterized only by the commercial function, it is possible to re-think its structure and system through the introduction of residential activities.

2.2 DESIGN CHOICES The applicability of the residential insertion is justified by the design technique that was chosen during the design of the shapes of the buildings, of their dimensions and their facades composition.

In the buildings the windows are located according to the different relation with the external environment; the study of lighting took into account the presence of the natural light where the social activities were placed; finally, inner socialization spaces are studied to satisfy the different needs of the visitors.

Moreover, the human scale of the intervention does not go in contrast with the idea of a new city within the city: it represents a new typology of urban settlement where all the elements inside the “Linked Market” project are well-adapted to host the activities of the people who want to live there.

2.3 ECONOMIC FEASABILITY OF THE PROJECT Another theory that supports the choice of introducing the residence function is based on the fact that the mixity provided, enhances the economic repayment of the whole intervention: this could be a way that let the market supports finantially

Right: Quantity analysis [sqm]

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vertical distribution

horizontal distribution

Scheme of distribution, vertical connections and general layout of the apartments

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entrances

itself. In fact, in the hypothesis of future decline of the commercial activity, the market will not be abandoned.

Thanks to the introduction of more varied functions, it will be always a used and a lively area.

Even if the chance of the shops will be not economically stable, the residence activity let the actual state of the market be something to invest in. The power of the project is in its simple reconversion.

2.4 HOUSING AS A LAYER OF COMPLETION The added value coming from the introduction of the residential function remains an additional element: the main intervention, in fact, focuses on the market area and is related to the commercial activity.

For this reason the housing introduction appears as a new layer of entities, which was introduced on top of the existing commercial one. In particular, it was located in the last floor of the buildings of the theme-blocks expetion made for the offices blocks, the exposition and auction center. In particular, to follow the market idea in which the height of the buildings are related to their functions in the case of the residences it has been chosen to introduce a three meters floor at the last level of the buildings.

The housing introduction adapts to the facades treatment and does not contrast the general idea of the closure in the external streets or the

positioning of glazed facades inside the inner paths and courts.

2.5 HOUSING DESIGN During the design process, the new residential introduction was kept close to the ideology that belongs to the realization of the market. The inner courts that characterizes the squares inside each theme-blocks are re-evoked within the buildings.

The socialization spaces inside the courts assume, in the apartments, a new meaning: here, with their irregular shapes, they satisfy not only the introduction of an aggregation and welcome point within the apartments but they also represent a necessary design choice that provides the right lighting amount in their rooms.

In fact, to follow the already structured facades composition, some of the apartments are characterized by huge amount of close walls. If for the shops it is a good choice because it allows a better organization of the goods in their storages, in the apartment it provides a low amount of natural lighting.

2.6 COMMON FEATURES IN THE DESIGN OF THE HOUSING AND LINKED MARKET As concern the housing typology, two kinds of apartments are planned: the bigger one, a residential typology for families, reaches almost 150 square meters and the smaller one, designed to satisfy the request of 83

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singles or students, is around 50 square meters. This second option is a good alternative to the first one, in fact it represents a solution that allows short time permanences.

As concern the distribution, the vertical connection makes use of the already existing stairs and elevators.

However, to uphold the entrances to this residential floor, a control system will be placed to avoid not allowed people to reach the residential floor.

In particular, for each theme-block only one vertical connector is used to serve all the apartments that take place in the last floor.

The horizontal distribution follows more or less the scheme of the shops levels. It always faces the inner court and it is a wide gallery that stimulates the sociality generated in the inner court itself.

However, in the residential case, it is not a circular way, as happens in the shops levels, but it is rather a semi-circular path. This choice was done to improve the functionality of the horizontal connector with respect to the apartments. In fact, coming from the stairs, it is possible to reach the entrances of the apartments, minimizing the waste of spaces. To let the horizontal connection work successfully, some bridges are introduced at this floor.

Plan of the treasure block

the living room and the patio, one or two bedrooms and one or two bathrooms.

2.7 EXTERIOR TREATMENT OF THE FACADES As concern the facades treatment, the apartments follow the composition of the shops levels.

During the design process, it was decided to locate the bedrooms and the bathrooms in the closer sides of the apartments and to introduce inner patios in the livingrooms to provide this spaces of natural light.

The treatment of the facades in the inner path is almost masked thanks to the use of transparent windows instead of panels, placed with the same rhythm.

In the inner court facades the glazed surfaces are covered through the shading systems without interposing with the facades composition of the lower levels.

As a final result the residential function is perfectly introduced in the “Linked Market� project and it increases the wonderful and lifefull atmosphere of sociability within the Panjiayuan Market.

The apartments are organized with the same distribution, regardless their floor area. They are all characterized by an entrance and an open space which hosts the kitchen, 85

Perspective view of the housing addition

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Section

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SERVICES WALLS 88

The third in-depth analysis concerns the treatment of the facades and the realization of a closure wall which becomes an entity itself.

By flanking the exterior streets the facades show their will to be close from the outside, to break down with the existing architecture and to initiate the Panjiayuan market. In this way the walls are enriched in their meaning: if at first their prerogative was related to the composition factor now they have an added value since they have several functions.

This treatment justify the external shapes of the walls in a way that the Panjiayuan marked intervention could be even more noticeable from the outside.

To better understand this new treatment of the walls in the market area it is necessary to have a brief introduction about their entity as traditional elements in the Chinese architecture.

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Right: Chinese traditional material

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3 . 1 M AT E R I A L S A N D TRADITION

One of the main aspect that characterizes the typical architecture is related to the use of the local materials. Wood, bamboo but also bricks are recurrent materials that typify the Asiatic design.

Characterized by their innumerable uses in the construction field these elements are protagonists of some of the most representative Chinese buildings.

Bricks, in particular, are characterized by their chromatic effects that originate from their different placement and composition in the facades of the buildings. Since they are flexible in their use and economic traditional material, they are now-aday reinvented and represented in the new architectures.

Their use in the traditional architecture and in the new ones justifies the design choice of the bricks as most “descriptive� material of the Chinese customs.

They are used for the exterior walls of the theme-blocks of the renovated Panjiayuan market.

Made by Chinese traditional greycolored bricks, the exterior walls show themselves in their mass essence sometimes alternated by triage compositions, to break their continuous path of bricks and by sporadic crenels, that show partial views of what it is happening inside the buildings of the market.

As a result, the Panjiayuan is recognizable from the outside thanks to its close walls that sometimes are 91

“Digital Beijing” by Studio Pei-Zhu, Beijing; “Songzhuand Art Center” by Li Xianting, Beijing; “Yu Garden”, Shanghai

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broken to let the activities that are hosted in the shops show some of their own essence.

Beyond the material essence and the distinctive use of bricks as typical Chinese materials, it is important to understand how the wall concept, as entity itself is conceived by the Asiatic architecture.

The walls are always recurrent features in the Chinese architectures and open spaces. From the gardens to the buildings they are always reproposed as design elements and are enriched by conceptual meanings that recall some of the most important aspects of oriental lifestyle.

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lavatories

General plan of the new intervention

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vertical distribution storages

3.2 REINTERPRETAT I O N OF THE WALL CONCEPT As happen in the Chinese gardens, such as in the Yu Garden, in Shanghai, the walls are traditional and recurrent features: they are used to break down the prospective view and to let people slowly enjoy the garden atmosphere. This message is also recurring in the typical architectures. This is the case of big walls structure that presents few openings as small crenels. Examples are the fenced areas, platforms of monuments and massive bricklaying of the vernacular architecture.

Even if this material is used with techniques that recall the past and traditional Chinese architecture, there are several examples of their reproposition in some of the most important and recent productions of the Chinese design.

This is the case of big blind walls imprinted with small crevices in the Digital Beijing, in the project made by Zhu Pei and Urbanus. Moreover, the asymmetric and compactness of the

Art Museum of Songzhuang, made by Xu Tian, and the white walls broken by classic circles in the Shijingshan Financial Center, projected by Wang Yun, are other significant examples.

As these cases show, the walls can be not just considered as a needed element to delimit the spaces in the inside of the buildings but they rather become a way to reveal a careful designing and an esthetic and constructive research about the intrinsic meaning that is hidden behind the story of each building.

Another and perhaps the best representative example of wall symbolic treatment in the architecture addresses to the artist and architect Ai Weiwei. With his design technique, characterized by the use of Chinese traditional grey and red bricks, he expresses in a new conception the traditional use of this old and poor material.

As much interesting are the examples of the architectures in Dong Yugan and the little Sight-cutting wall house designed by Wm Space. These are some project realized with the bricks framework and are enriched by ornamental details.

Right: General scheme of the new intervention

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3 . 3 TH E “LIN K E D MAR KET P R OJE C T” A N D T HE TR E ATME N T OF IT S E X TE R N A L WALLS The richness of the Chinese technique of blind walls and their recurring and sometimes unconscious use leads the “Linked Market” project to naturally embody this feature along the design evolution.

This appears as a structured entity that shows the strong purpose of the design operations and links the intervention in the Chinese contest.

The starting point is in fact a wall that displays with the traditional use of the grey-bricks, sometimes space out by triage technique and sporadic crevices.

However, to enrich this design choice and let it be not only a closure mode of delimit the buildings but an entity itself, it is now transformed to become itself essential part of the whole project.

Plan of the treasure block

The main idea is to let the exterior wall have its own reality and role.

For this reason, the initial design choice is replaced by a new space conception.

In particular, new functions are introduced in the shops and they are absorbed inside this new wall structure.

Practically, the intervention is done to stress the concept of closed entity blocks from the outside, where the buildings face the main circulation 97

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paths and the flea market.

If before the wall was characterized by sporadic openings, now they are even less. The main reason of this increased closure is to permit the different functions to happen.

In fact, the exterior walls become the so-called “services walls” that contain all the lavatories and toilets, vertical connections and storages of the shops.

This solution simplifies the activities inside the buildings and the shops themselves: the services are simply recognizable in their location so that they could easily found by the shops users.

As external results the buildings facades appears closer than before and this put better in contact the “Linked Market” project to the traditional Chinese buildings, allocating an added value to all the design choices.

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CONCLUSIONS The participation to the Joint Studio program has been a stimulating opportunity to have a first approach to the “Chinese world� and to observe directly its reality. China is continuously arousing the interest of newspapers, magazines, television programs. Moreover, it is day by day giving rise to debates about the unrelenting transformations which are fast changing the Chinese society, and the image of the entire country.

The sweeping changes in China are deeply modifying, with an unseen before rapidity, the image 100

of the Chinese cities: new town are founded, metropolis are increasing steeply their population, historical cities are changing their appearance.

Thanks to these changes, China became in the last years one of the main stages in the architectural debate. There, many international architecture offices are realizing their distinctive projects. The image conveyed by media, specialized and not, is a new China made by a dichotomy of anonymous residential hives and sensational bling huge buildings, designed with the precise intent to astonish.

Some of these iconic buildings deeply entered in the common imaginary, becoming symbols of new China: the Pudong skyscrapers

in Shanghai, or in Beijing the CCTV Headquarters designed by Rem Koolhaas and the Olympic Stadium

by Herzog and de Meuron.

The Joint Studio experience, namely, the travel in China and the Panjiayuan market renovation project gave the precious chance to discover that today architecture in China is much more than this superficial images made by sensational buildings and no quality residential towers.

An important role in this discovery of another face of the architectonic debate in China was played by our Chinese teammate, Wu Yi, who has been a useful guide during all the design process, stimulating

the research and giving her helpful explications in several occasions.

Moreover the object of this Joint Studio edition was central to deepen the less known face of Chinese contemporary architecture. In fact, the project of the Panjiayuan antique market renovation, brings some fundamental instances as the theme of memory and tradition.

The new Panjiayuan market should convey an image where contemporary issues are jointed with the preservation of the memory of the site. In the Panjiayuan market case this need was particularly significant, since here are traded antique and handicraft goods, witnesses of the old and complex chinese tradition, whose they preserve the memory.

However, issues related to the reinterpretation of tradition in contemporary architecture, such as the memory of a millenarian culture, are fundamental in the architectural debate in China.

And so, the project here exposed tried, from the beginning, to answer to these questions, in terms of typology and language.

Looking for responses, it has been possible to discover that a new generation of Chinese architects show a strong interest on these issues, deepening on the themes of memory and tradition jointed with the contemporary language.

An example is, for sure, the re-

discover of the Hutong typology, the traditional system that characterizes the historical part of Beijing. The re-interpretations of this ancient typology, as the Ai Weiwei realizations in Caochangdi, shows its own great flexibility together with the chance to create spaces for sociality and fits to several functions.

Moreover, this typology comes from the tradition of the historical city and represents a valid typological solution for the construction and transformation of the Chinese contemporary city, especially when there is the need to provide an identity to the several parts of the city.

This is another central theme in the project, which is related to the development of the urban layout that can shape the identity of the site. Pedestrian paths, squares, courtyards become fundamental urban elements for the neighborhood.

In the evolution of our project, therefore, thanks to what we directly saw in China, to our Chinese teammate, and to the researches done to deepen questions related to the project, we tried to give different answers far from the superficial, common image of the bling spectacular architecture of China conveyed by media. We tried, in fact, to give an answer considering the millenarian culture of this Country and its tradition in building construction, jointing it with the need of a contemporary language.

The final result is not just a reaction to the sensational architecture characterizing several nowadays realizations in China.

The “Linked Market” project, is rather led by a precise choice due to the will of develop an intervention whose aspect is mainly urban and where the size of the buildings is within a human scale.

We think, in fact, that what makes interventions as the Ai Weiwei’s one or as the 2012 Pritzker Prize Weng Shu’s one particularly interesting in nowadays China is properly the human scale, whose proportion is derived from the tradition.

Moreover, the layout system adopted, and in particular the Hutong inspired typology appears absolutely fit to our mixed intervention.

Our project sees in the same block and in the same buildings housing and commercial functions that harmoniously coexist, giving to the this area of Beijing its powerful variety.

This multiplicity of several functions makes the renewed Panjiayuan market more attractive and gives an higher life quality for its users and citizens, which should always be the main recipients of every architectonic interventions mostly when it has a urban relevance.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 102

“New Settlements in China”, Lotus, n.141, March 2010 Campanella T. J., The Concrete Dragon: China’s Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World, New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008 Chiorino F., “Zhang Ke/ Standardarchitecture – The Last Days of Old Beijing”, Casabella, v. LXXVIII, n. 837, pp 2329, May 2014 Duanfang L., Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity and Space, 1949–2005, London, Routledge, 2006 Friedmann, J., China’s Urban Transition, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2005 Greco C., Santoro C., Pechino. La città nuova, Milan, Skira, 2008 Mitter R., Modern China. A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008 Oakes T., Shein L., Translocal China. Linkages, identities, and the reimagining of space, London, Routledge, 2006 Schock H-J., Atlante delle tensostrutture, Torino, Utet, 2001 Wu L., Rehabilitating the Old City of Beijing. A Project in Ju’her Hutong Neighborhood, Vancouver, UBC Press, 1999

SITOGRAPHY

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