Vol :37 Issue No.1 2012 - Open House International

healthier building. Finally, Yeang (2007) advocated
his adopted mixed-use design paradigm as it would
help provide the opportunities for local employment,
both on ground and upper levels.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the location of
housing in close proximity to employment, retail,
leisure and community facilities reduces reliance on
public transportation.
4.3 Steven Holl Architects’ approach: Linked
Hybrid
Completed by 2009 in Beijing, China, the Linked
Hybrid is a high-rise residential development
designed by Steven Holl Architects. The mixed-use
housing complex is composed of eight 22-story
asymmetrical towers joined by a network of
enclosed pedestrian bridges and consists of 644
apartments, public green space, commercial zones,
hotel, cinemateque, kindergarten, Montessori
school, underground parking on a total area of
221,426 Sq. meter (Steven Holl Architects 2009)
(Fig. 5).
The designers paid attention to many dimensions
relevant to the local community in their
design. In terms of the association with the immediate
urban context and social interaction and integration,
the Linked Hybrid has an open, communal
spirit where a series of massive portals leads from
the street to an elaborate internal courtyard garden,
a restaurant, a theater and a kindergarten, integrating
the complex into the surrounding neighborhood
(Fig. 5). This pedestrian-oriented project is
sited adjacent to the site of the old city wall of
Beijing and aims to counter the current privatized
urban developments in China by creating a new
porous urban space, inviting and open to the public
from every side. This makes the Linked Hybrid an
"open city within a city" (Steven Holl Architects
2009). Baker (2010) mentioned that the residential
complex offers a more pervasive and open sense of
neighborhood than the most other modern highrise
housing in the city (Fig. 6). Baker added that the
Linked Hybrid is shaped by the architects' wish to
forge connections both among the residents themselves
and among them and their neighbors and
visitors. The ground level offers a number of open
passages for all people (residents and visitors) to
walk through. These passages ensure a microurbanisms
of small scale. All public functions on the
5 a
5 b
5 c
5 d
Figure 5 a&b&c&d. Linked Hybrid is the Beijing's new highrise
residential project (Sources: a; Steven Hall Architects
2009, b; www.livegreen.com, c and d;
www.wayfaring.com).
5 5
open house international Vol.37 No.1, March 2012 A ‘Fareej-in-the-Sky’: Towards a Community-oriented Design... Khaled Galal Ahmed