Scribd
Upload
181 views

Sliced Porosity Block: SHRUTI POONIA - Final Report - 1001595589

The document summarizes Steven Holl's Sliced Porosity Block project in Chengdu, China. It discusses how the building's organic form was designed through rigorous sun path analysis and heliodon model testing to ensure at least two hours of sunlight per day for the plaza and apartments, complying with local regulations. It also notes how the mixed-use program of offices, hotel, apartments and luxury apartments, along with on-site shopping, aims to create a self-sufficient complex that remains active 24/7. The resemblance of the building to a plant with its green roof and central water features is also mentioned. However, it states that unlike a plant, the rigid structure does not move or rotate with the

Uploaded by

Shruti Poonia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
181 views

Sliced Porosity Block: SHRUTI POONIA - Final Report - 1001595589

The document summarizes Steven Holl's Sliced Porosity Block project in Chengdu, China. It discusses how the building's organic form was designed through rigorous sun path analysis and heliodon model testing to ensure at least two hours of sunlight per day for the plaza and apartments, complying with local regulations. It also notes how the mixed-use program of offices, hotel, apartments and luxury apartments, along with on-site shopping, aims to create a self-sufficient complex that remains active 24/7. The resemblance of the building to a plant with its green roof and central water features is also mentioned. However, it states that unlike a plant, the rigid structure does not move or rotate with the

Uploaded by

Shruti Poonia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

SLICED POROSITY BLOCK

SHRUTI POONIA_Final Report_1001595589

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

COMPLIANCE TO HELIOTROPISM

NON-COMPLIANCE TO HELIOTROPISM

12

Works Cited

13

INTRODUCTION
PROJECT
Sliced Porosity Block (2012)

LOCATION
Chengdu, China

ARCHITECT
Steven Holl

SITE PLAN
Porous and inviting from every side, five vertical entrances cut through a layer of micro urban shopping before leading
to the elevated public Three Valley plaza. [1]. Such "porosity" is atypical in China, where new residential compounds
are generally gated on their peripheries [2]. A great urban terrace, this multilevel plaza in the center of the complex is
sculpted by stone steps, ramps, trees, and ponds and caters to special events or to a casual afternoon in the sun [1].
The three plaza levels feature water gardens based on concepts of time- the Fountain of the Chinese Calendar Year,
Fountain of Twelve Months, and Fountain of Thirty Days. Famed Chinese poet Du Fu, who spent time in the city in the
8th century, was the touchstone for the inner courtyards design. Holl describes the poets line, Time has left stranded
in Three Valleys as the inspiration for the ponds [3]
The stairs leading to the plaza are lined in stone and undulate in an expressive fashion, reflecting the nonlinear
thinking behind Holls design approach [3].
Establishing human scale in this metropolitan rectangle is achieved through the concept of micro-urbanism, with
double-fronted shops open to the street as well as the shopping center. Three large openings are sculpted into the
mass of the towers as the sites of the Pavilion of History, the Light Pavilion and the Local Art Pavilion [4].

COMPLIANCE TO HELIOTROPISM
1.

ORGANIC FORM
The overall layout of the building is the culmination of a sun path analysis. The local building regulations demand
at least two hours of sun per day for the piazza area and surrounding apartments. This shouldnt be difficult as
the building is on a northsouth axis with the western edge exposed to the wide street and low-level buildings
beyond. However, the architect claims that rigorous analysis of sun path diagrams resulted in the final form.
Although, Chengdu has one of the lowest number of hours of sunshine in China and locals say that, in Chengdu,
you never see the sun. The towers were sliced away in heliodon model tests the cutaways represented by the
concrete grid [2].
In its simplest form Holls building is essentially an engineering model writ large: a straight forward reflection of
the structural forces at work. Uncompromising diagonals are positioned at the most structurally efficient locations
regardless of their slightly disjoint aesthetic. [4]

Analytical
Drawing to understand the generation of Form

HELIODON MODEL TEST

2.

SELF-SUFFICIENT PROGRAM

Majority of the functions that the building needs to remain lively, are present within the building complex. Sliced
Porosity Block's onsite transportation and multiple uses are essential to its sustainability. By incorporating living,
working, and leisure spaces into one complex, the designers created "a city within a city." Mixed use projects are
common in China. But most are offices and retail, so they shut down after ten hours. When we use the term
'mixed use,' it's a place you can inhabit twenty-four hours a day.
The various programs are:
Tower 1 : offices
Tower 2 : offices
Tower 3 : hotel
Tower 4 : apartments
Tower 5 : luxury apartments

Roots of a plant, that provide the plant with the nutrition required has been synhronised with the shopping
comple at the podium level. Placing the shopping complex at this level, not only made the building more inviting
but also provides the building complex with the necessary enomic resources and keeps the place lively.

3.

SYMBOLIC RESEMBLANCE
Resemblance of the building complex to a plant is striking when the green roof and water body in the plaza is taken
into consideration.

NON-COMPLIANCE TO HELIOTROPISM
1.

RIGID STRUCTURE
Unlike a heliotrope plant, the building does not grow, rotate or move with the sun due to its rigid structure.
EMENTATION

Works Cited
[1
]
[2
]
[3
]
[4
]

H. C. Architecten, "Sliced Porosity Block," Haiko Cornelissen Architecten, [Online]. Available:


http://www.haikocornelissen.com/projects/sliced-porosity-block/. [Accessed 19 10 2016].
"Chinese Chequers," The Architectural Review, p. 61, March 2013.
A. Michler, "Steven Holls Sliced Porosity Block Tops Off in Chengdu, China," inhabitat, 09 July
2011. [Online]. Available: http://inhabitat.com/steven-holls-sliced-porosity-block-tops-off-inchengdu-china/. [Accessed 19 10 2016].
A. a. f. I. i. N.-l. R. E. Vehicles, "Raffles City Chengdu, China," ANREV, 2015.

You might also like