Caroline Bos & Bel!

van Berkel

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TYPOLOGICAL
INSTRU MENTS

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CONNECTING
ARCHITECTURE
AND URBANISM
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For Caroline Bos and Ben v~ Berkel of UN Studio ,

type in architecture 'exists to ~ect, to connect or
to be instrumental' rather th~n to prescribe. They
describe how in their project~ for Arnhem Central in
t
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the Netherlands and the Raffles City development
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in Hangzhou, China, they h~ve
deftly developed
,: ~,
,
:'
and applied typologies in order to gain control of the
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design process in complex urpan contexts.

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Raffles City, Hangzhou, China ,

due for completion 2012
A system of voids incorporating dynamic
shapes and sizes defines the orientation
and spatial qualities of the retail podium.

The projects here explore the instrumental potential of typology in

architecture and urbapism, and in particular the area where the two
disciplines intersect a~d merge. Whether described as classification,
indexing, categorisatipn or taxonomy, the typological effort essentially
constitutes grouping similar things together in a way that is meant to
, be helpful. The help~ess of types can be expressed in different ways
_______________ ~ _____hy_diffe.rent_archite_ct$J_A-prize_d_bendit .is_theJegaq!_o.ratiQnalitr-._Th_e_________________ __-;
systemic reasoning b~hind the emergence of a type replicates a scientific
approach; it conveys that an underlying strict logic is controlling a
discipline that might !at times appear incoherent and out of controL Types
are for this reason also eminently communicable.
But the values of s~ientific rationale and transmittability, while not
eschewed by UNStuqio, are not the ones being sought to be highlighted
here. The focus is ins read on how types are developed out of a symbiotic
____________ __ _____ r~l~!iQ9.~hlp_ b~Jw~~n j'px9f~~~_i_Qnp,LQb~~J;:y~ti~m _~nd _~1).Y'~nt_i.Qn _9D_th~ _QJJ.~ _________________ _
, hand, and externally ~riented instrumentality on the other. Still central to
this is the aforementipned helpfulness or utility; as every librarian knows,
types, categories, cat~ogues, assemblages and so on are not made for their
own sake, but to dire~t people. Similarly, in architecture a type exists to
direct, to connect or ~o be instrumental in other ways.
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The system ic reason ing beh ind the emergence of a

-----lytye--re-pricafes--a-scTe-ntiflc-a-pprciacn-;--if-coiiveys--UYal-----------an underlying strict logic is controlling a discipline that
might, at times appear i~coherent
and out of control.
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The projects explore ~ow typology may be helpful in designing

architecture in dense,!complex, mixed-use urban contexts. To see
typological thinking ~s appropriate in a complex condition seems
counterintuitive. C00plexity entails acknowledging that countless,
intricately interwove9 parameters are at work, that no situation is
exactly like another, ~nd that there is no one correct solution. Putting
things in categories, 9n the other hand, means simplifying, framing and
interpreting, usually 901dly, sometimes normatively. How can these two
tendencies be reconc~ed? In the Arnhem Central transport node in the
Netherlands, and the!Raffles City development in Hangzhou, China,
UNStudio has devel~ped and applied certain typologies in two different,
large-scale urban projects with the intention of regaining a specific

--------------------arcrute-ctuIar and-ufDan-co-ntror iii -com -Tex -liard-=to:'co-ntroT conteXts ----------------------

--------------- ----------------------------------,------------------------~ --- ~----------------------------------- ~ ----------------- - - - ------------- -- -----using-a -numbF-Gf di~efent- models-Of -~s. -W-1:llie -ooth-of-the-projcts------- ----- --- ---

--------------- -----differ m1bSLantiatly-rn~ nature; -some-ofthe-s-ame-typoiugies-were -applied -in ---- ------- ----

--------------------theu -deslgn-in-oroer-to-process~ -guide -and -erut -the-aeslgn-process~ --------------------------

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UNStudlo, Design Models, 2005

centre: The design model Is a
prototypical tool tor design and can
evolve and be Implemented In various
situations, scales and prOlects.

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C1plJOs,te' Blob-to-box model

t~p left: Deep planning principle.
rep fight Mathemallcal model.
, 110m left: InclUSIVe principle.
~lIom fight: V-model.

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ARNHEM CENTRAL,
ARNHEM,
THE NETHERLANDS
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UNStudio, Arnhem Central. The

Netherlands, due for completion 2013
top : This integrated public lransportatlon

area has a roofed-over, cllmate-controlled

plaza which interconnects and provides
access to trains. taxis, buses. bicycles.
parking, office spaces and the town centre.

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Conceplual tools emplO\led In the design

for the Amhem Central ~roJect. The
V-model (above left). al<lng With further
conceptual tools such a~ cuts (centre),
the flattened Klein bottle (above) and the
twist (above nght). are matenaUsed as
structural elements in vanous parts of
the mixed-use project. '

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Arnhem Central, with a total surface of:almost 100,000 square

metres (l,076~26 square fJet) consists Jf a transfer Hall with
u~derground ~arking, a bu~ terminal an~ office towe~s situated
on a plot of 40,000 square metre (430,570 square feet) . As
these figures tbdicate, the ~roject is fundamentally an urban
dknsification 6cercise. The ~astructur~ knot, plaruied as a
stop on the (a~ yet unrealis~d) extension: of the high-~peed rail
r~ute to Ger~any, is under~tood as an o~portunity t~ connect
tbe town to a larger, transnational network and simul'taneously
gknerate new bffice spaces, ishops, housi~g units and ~ncillary
functions. The enormous diversity in scales and user functions
rtquires a methodological dpproach that can accomrrlodate
the hybrid nad.ue of the de~elopment arid fully reali ~ the
cbnnective as~iration as w~ll as create ~ contempor~ urban
rrtilieu on the ~ite. While iri other times :urban growth schemes
...tere largely gtound-bound or sky-bountl, relying on ~imple
rrtodels of horizontal or verltical expansi~n, for Arnh~m Central
nkw, more topblogically in~lined model~ were developed that
ptivilege connkctive and tr~nsitional quilities rather than
ohpositional ohes.
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this. The closest referen~e model is Grand Central Terminal in

ew York,:With its mul~evel public honcourse an,~ multilevel
infra trucnlral connections surrounded by den e rtuxed-use
architectur~. In Arnherrl to achieve ~ fluent and cbherent
terminalla~dscape with!minimal ob~truction to p~ssenger
flow, several models we~e used, two qf which will be elaborated
on here. Tbe two modets or types, ~ere introduc~d gradually
as the proj~ct develope~ over various!phases. BotJi emerged
from the combination time, moveinent, space ~nd structure.
Time-basetJ studies at the beginning, of the proje~t delivered
images of ~arts of the Idcation as trabsformative models that
addre s rel~tionships vit~ to develop~ental pote~tial, such
as program:me and distaPce, public a~cess and a~ction.
Movemen~ studies sho~ed up seque~ces of exchange and
interaction: revealing thb relations bdtween duratibn and
terri torial Jsage.
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The ~ology that epcapsulates ard advances ~e technicaV
spatial organisation is a centralising void space inspired by the
Klein bottlk. This vortcl-like centre ~onnects the llifferent
levels of thk station are~ in a hermeti,~ way. The ~ein bottle
stays conti~uous throughout the spatial transform!ation that
it undergo~s from a sur~ce to open0g and back ~$ain. As
, the ultimat'.e outcome OF shared motion-based relations, the
~ -----------r--r-~--~--~ __ , __ ,l_ - --L--r--r--r-~------- ------ - ---.
: Klein bottle-insplred sp~ce: is an ihfr~strUctl.tral el~ment both
pragmatically
di~griunka~cally. Th~ vdid ' pate at the
centre of t!l.e site ls the terrhinhl; :in im~ly ~t ahd ' pacious
gradient l~ds~arie ~at ~cc~m~a~esi an~ 4ec~s e 60,000
people movin~ o\ler the~ocatidn daily. The ~rallie~t solution
_accom modkteS.. exi'parisi~ vWo~e~s. as _w~ physical _______ .

or

imcl

,
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flow throu$h ~am:'ps irn~ sl~p~g s~4c~. ~s ~e l~st element

of the proj~ct to ~em~n i inC:om'ple~e ~s :ne~ rY,pe!of terminal,
based on the abstrad mpde1 of the K!leirl bdttlcl, w.hich is
searnlessly toritin~oJs torri odtside rb ulside ahd !-ice versa, is as
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\1\' :ile in ot~er times urban growth

sc ;emes w~re larg~ly groun~-boun~ or
sky ~ bound, !relying <j>n simpl~ model~
--ofW6i-E6ntar -6i--ve-rfical -ex-pans-ion; -f6-r -------Amhem Certral ne~, more topologially
inclined mqdels were developed tha~
privilege connective: and trahsitional i
--quaiitres -r~er- tharT -opposr~rona~ -on~s-. --- ---I

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yet unrried:anCl ubte ted. :

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above lett Connections. The deep

planning method was employed to dENelop
a coherent set of Site- and programmespecific otganlsahonal pnnciples. A view
of the contemporary City as a matenal
organisation of IIme-shanng social
practices. worl<ing through flows. lies at
the baSIS of deep planning.

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above fight The flow of the phYSical

movement of people and goods at Arnh~m

Central reveals the relationship belWee~
duration and te",tonal use.

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As a type the V can be characterised as a

rhorph ing tech niq ue to fuse together the user
tYpologies of parking, offices and public space,
'0Jhile still providing simultaneously constructive
and usable space, in this case forming the daylit
~edestrian access to the parking garage.

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addresses the Issue of stacking a senes of

different programmes. each With 'IS own
god. The materialisallon of the V-model is
a slruclural element combinIOg a car park.
public space and offiCes.
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:How~ver, the secohd type has been in operatio~

~:
nurhber of years: It co~sists of deep and long shafts: th~r:d>n~ect

Bbth tht V
the Klein hbttle ~odels :can bd seen ~s typeh
:rathet. than ~s one~offs, ak in differen~ formd and cbnsteU~tions :

fair

and

thei under~roun11ayer~ of the parking garage to th~ ~~~~ali

and to the high ~rise office towers. These shafts are ~rSha~ed: in
or~r to f~rm ~e stru~tural backbone of various pr~$~e~
with the~ different res.'trictions.ln the parking garage tlie:Vs:
are :materlalised :as a cdncrete structure of high corridots: ~iili
sla~ting ~aUs, r~sultin~ in an oblique, permeable s~a~~ +~~
let ' in da)llight and is filled with programme and citGulatibn. :

iboth ~ave b~en ap~lied ~ vario~s urb~n an~ archi~ectur~

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:projects ovet time.:But a~ types:they are visc~ral; t1iere are no
:fixed functidns asctibed ~ thertt, nor ~cales r dimtnsion\;,
:unlikd typolbgies that ard based on uricomplicated :categdries
:such ~s 'mu~ums'J'churches', 'till buildings'; 'longhuildi~gs'
and s6 on.T.herefdre ther also "'ithst~d thJ transition bbtweert
:scales: the distinction between the urban and the :chitedtural :

__ ___:_____ J____ _~ __ ~~i:~~~ _s~~~s_~~_t~_e_ ~~~~!;~~ ~~}~~~~ _~~ ~:a_{~~ ~_s~i~~s__ _j~~~~_ ~_~:l_~v~_t~ ~~_ ~a_~i~~ ~~_rri"e~ ::~i_n~sl~~~e~~~r.~~~ ____ .
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of OllIereat prograrnm~, each Wlth thel! own gnd. :As:a:ryre!

the:V can:be ch~acterlsed as a morphing techniquJ
fu~e :

: need to acqtl.Jre site-spednc, user-specific and: sfI)lct}ll[e~'!!IMC

: meanings albng thb way. This Happent not jh~t py~r icl}~ co~s~ :

whlle still: providing sitnultaneously constructive antl :ul;ab1e

spate, in dUs ca~e forrriing the daylit pedestrian acc~ss:to the :

:over tlme in:different prdjects.ln this:way, the u!:hiiecwra'l : : :

~
:practite gairts control over its own work, by W?fk:irtg ~erfe~,: :

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:And in that:Way, nbw that the age of the icon may:come ~o

:As these twO exarnples indicate, the models Ul'fSrtJdib '

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, inv~nts, a~apts ~r con~cts fulfil pragmatic purpo~e~ ~~ ~ ,
ian en~, con*ol ex~rcised iin a ~ought~ ~wled$e-b~ding ,
__ ___:- __- - ~ - - - - - : - - re.1:ttinnaL:ma[l[ler~ they .are..al.ways. connective and sel/er.aLneeds - - _; man.n~r replaces. se- _-; _- - __ : - _- - -:- - - - - ~ - - - _- : - - __ - ~ - - ___ :- ____ _
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: are :addressed at :once, i-vithout prioritising one over: a~bt!hbr. :
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Ttacing UNSrtJdio's ~erial o/Polo$r buildings dhows how rIie
Untlerlyirtg all
this is a harder to define or rationkli~ :dbsi$n
: Klein :bottle; for in\;tance; is a continuation df the M6biu~ strip.:

df

---- -:- --- - ~ -- - - - ~ - - phi.losop~-and khan Icleal-.-Bere-models-'<lilew- fuF~~l~.h~-ftee- - - fT-he .theme~a -suifaeel~lume:-bei-ng:fthle-t6-take bp-cirdJaa06-,- -- -,
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' spates; indeed i( could:be argued that they were inttd~t~d :
:consrtuctiod and ~ograrhme id one cbherertt gesNre ha~ been :
prebsely make colutnnlessness possible, bringing ~e,w. ::
:exploted in ~ serieJ of ardutecrtual prbjects. h'he v,s also have :
--- - ~- - - - - ~ - - - - -: - -qmfuties- ~Lh"C"iorgontn- rerrrroryof nansitory-SJJa-~trt ~rut:h ---~ a tristryuhtrein}k,~1:hbr hlghiypatncullIt-rransformative,-- -:- -- - -,
,
' a l~ge p~t of c~ntem~orary life takes place. In lar~e~~~~,
j multi~irecti+nal w~y of t0itingivario~ hori~ontal ~d :
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de~se, mifed-u~ urba~ projects, non-specific pub~ ~~~a~n

: vertic~ laye~s can ~e adapted t~ fit ~erent :dime~sions ~d

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can: no lo~ger bJ seen ~s stricdy utilitarian, needing rhin~al :

attdntion,:but o~ the cbntrary
it is ,those
types,_
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nee'.d to uivest w'.lth new: ur~a:n : c!)cI?~n~~<;e . : lP : U~,: the bty. qf:the
fuNre is rhanife~ted in: tP~~ ~rl-P~#~~ ~s~~r~l~tFd ty,pbiogiks,

-----:- ----~ -----: --spiiEe is ai'1- iffi-pcirtan(aridio-tegriif partoTilie tofaTpaclclge:~f ----;comp6sitiods:The:Thiid hioae1~presentedm~ iliis- iliiCfe,-t],-a-( - -:-----__ _ __ 1_ _ _ _ _ .J _____ '" _____ '- ___ -; -I. ____ .J. _ _ _ _ _ L. , _

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:entry for the Eurohean

Central:Bank :in Frahkfurt :(2003), this :
r
:princible has been :carried out in a mdre extreme form: wlthin
-T
:a sphere, the office! spaces are hewn out as spirals of turning
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:Raor ~lans. in the MercekIes-Btnz Mbseum:in Snkgart (2006)

:we also see Boor plates e~olving arourtd a cehtral vbid sp~ce. '
:This tequir~ theni to be:verticilly se~ured tb each:otherWith a:

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,
1

RAFFLES CITY,
HANGZHOU,
CHINA

74

,,
In one ofUNStudio's current projects the turning plan has
Ensuring an active environment, with lively and wellbeen put intd effect on an unparalleled scale. Progressing at
distributed people movement with multiple access and
infinitely greiter speed than Arnhem Central is the Raffies City
destinatiob options is a prime goal of the contemporary urban
project in H~gzhou. The mixed-use project contains a total of
mixed-usd project. The city within the city has different rhythms
almost
square metres (4,305,705 square feet) of office,
and forms:of enclosure; its system encompasses variation and
hote~ residerftial and leisure space with underground parking. It is differentiation. It is also open towards the city beyond and in
situated in t:hk centre of the Qianjiang NewTown area, adjacent
constant r~pport with the wider urban environment. Logistically
to the new cilltural district and the nearby Qian Tang River. The
relating ilie architecture to the city by making literal connections
huge lake whlch gives Hangzhou its character as a tourist city can to the cOclplex infrastructure in and underneath the site is an
be seen from :the higher levels of the project. The total height of
important:first step. Ensuring accessibility by various means of
the double-t6wered scheme is 250 metres (820.2 feet).
transport in a layered condition is a complex puzzle. Again, as
The proj~ct, like many current developments in rapidly
in Arnhert Central, this issue is closely related to the quality
urbanising s6cieties, contains urban dimensions and aspects
of the accJss spaces. In today's compact, mixed-use complexes,
in such a cortpact constellation that the project could be read
transitory ~paces should be of equal quality to spaces dedicated
as a well-visited and architecturally relatively unchallenging
to longer-ttay programmes. In the Raffies City project three
typology, thai: of the high-rise. But with approximately 30,000
large void :spaces are incorporated in the plinth that stretches
people livingiand visiting the site daily, it can also be thought
between the two diagonally opposed towers attached to it.
of as a neighbourhood, or a metropolitan district. It can have
These voids, like the Arnhem Central terminal, are envisaged as
the diversity,:the balance of short-stay and longer-stay places,
cogent, yet galvanising, public spaces. The diagonal positioning
comfort-givihg zones and more resistant areas, familiarity and
of the entire scheme results in a dynamic alignment that is
anonymity, the orientation and way-finding capacities that will
extruded Jpwards and in the round, thus forming intricate,
allow its use~ to experience it as a city within a city rather than
three-dim~nsional plans emerging from a comparatively
as a non-spemc mega-block. A type is therefore necessary that
straightfOliward origin. Since both Arnhem Central and Raffies
helps to artiduate and to proliferate urban qualities. Such ideas
City are still under construction, we would like to refer to
were tried b~ architects in the 1960s, often unsuccessfully. But at previous ~ojects to describe the projected spatial effects of these
that time thd knowledge-processing and visualising techniques
voids. Spet ifically, the void space of Star Place shopping plaza in
we have available today were not in existence. User-related
Kaohsiun$' Taiwan, derives its spatial character from a variation
information ~as speculative and ideologically driven, rather
of the turrting plan. Here, the floor plate remains in place, but
,
than exact. The mixed-use typology had not been developed to
the escala(ors are positioned in a rotational order around the
. - - - - - - - - - - -: - - - - the -extent-itturrently ha~, so-that--progI amme packages were - - - - - -void,-givirig the -deceptive -visual impression -ufexaggerated - - - - - - - - - - more mono~ctional, resulting in insufficiently activated areas.
depth, mobility and asymmetry, making the circulation space the
,
focal poin~ and centre of the building.

400,000

The diagona l positioning of the entire

scheme results in a dynamit alignment
that is extruded upwards anid in the round,
thus forming intricate, three~dimensional
plans emerging from a comparatively
straightforward origin.
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Raffles City, Hangzhou, China,

due for completion 2012
The Raffles City project incorporates
housing. retai l, offices and hotel facilities
housed in two diagonally opposed towers
connected by a plinth.

-:0'"
( ._1

Unlike a tower with a twist that:, is located

some~here along its length, th~re is a
gradu~1 transformation of the e~tire volume.

______ ~}_~~__~_ RQ0)!_ ! ~ _~_C!~~~?J?pq~~C}_,__~~~_!9_

1-' _______________________ _

building
to sway
, with a turning plan appears
,
in a lis~om manner, seemingly ~rozen while
engagirg in a forceful dynamic.!
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: top, The street-tevet presence of the towers

, and view towards the nver create an

: organisallonat and format structure which
: twiSts, creating an "urban contrapposto'.

,,

---------------above: The Interconnected void spaces

enable extensive retail outlet Visibility
and Improved way finding. The intenor
Circulation spaces are connected to
exterior courtyards.

In ~e ~~per levels of the Raffies City project, the turning

plan typ~ ~ ~pplied in a real way. The two towers thus display a
slow-rrloWih~, elongated twist running over the entire elevation.
From tbt ~dint of view of the city, this gives the towers an everalterin$ ~p'p~arance. Unlike a tower with a twist that is located
somewhere along its length, there is a gradual transformation
/"',
of the ntit~ volume. Like a body in conlTapposto, the tall
buildi~~th a turning plan appears to sway in a lissom manner,
seemin~h, ftozen while engaging in a forceful dynamic.
__ _______ P~ ~_I ______ ---------------------------------- ___________ _
,
On the inside, the turning plan offers great variety;
practicilly: e~ch floor plate is different. In the Raffies City
constelia.tibd this benefits both the relationship between the
two to~cl :1nd that of the project as a whole with the city. By
turnini ~~ar from each other the two towers offer residents and
other userS of their facilities more privacy than if they had been
facing bakb. bther direcdy and immutably. The towers also take
in the tahbds aspects of the city, giving alternate views to its
best fdtM:~: the park, the river and the lake.
D __
In ilii~ Way, the turning plan, like the other models
________________________________________________ ~ ________________ ___ ~ _~-:-: ___,__ ~t~~Qr:.a,~~9~ ~J}~f~) _l! f9!l)P!~ jJ)~~~nt_ r:.l!the.L tAl!I1 A __________ _
,
reducti~~ t:yfe. It enables architectural gestures that cohesively
envelo~ ~ "Mde and differentiated range of issues and ambitions.
For that reason these instrumental types form the best way we
know tb ~6dnect the urban with the architectural. ID
................. ,... ,... ,... ,.. ............................................... -..........................................................................
Text C 2d l 1 Jbhh Wiley & Sons Ltd. Images: pp 6671 ,737 C UNStudio; p 72 C
Christian fli~ht)!~

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VIEWS

GREEN CONNECTION

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INTERNAl CIRCULATION

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lop : The void spaces in the plinth allow for
natural ventilation and smoke extraction
throughout the podium.

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iipove: The semi-enclosed courtyards

Sf'rve as green 'gateways' to the podium,
-rhile the positioning of the two towers
perpendicular to the main podium axis
creates an arrangement with maximum
i~tegration of programmatic elements.

77