'The Vertical Longtang', 2011
Lowell Morin & Lin Jia
At the cusp of the 21st Century, Shanghai is witness to a vast scale of urban growth. A specific aspect of growth involves the razing of the vernacular longtang or alleyway home. In its place, verticality and luxury rule the day at the cost of the communal fabric of the longtang, exurban sprawl and infrastructural strain.
As China’s most populous city of 20 million inhabitants, Shanghai bears both burden and opportunity in answering the call for architectural solutions for displaced residents as well as the demands for vertical density.
The Vertical Longtang, a modular, residential skyscraper, attempts a working response to these issues. Funded by the developer using monies originally allocated to buying out residents, the Vertical Longtang offers an efficient, affordable and cost effective solution--where longtang residents are provided a new home on site in the Vertical Longtang and where portions of the site are availed for commercial development. The ratio of savings to the developer in providing a Vertical Longtang unit versus buying out a family is estimated to be 1:18.
At 60 stories in height, the Vertical Longtang’s residential units are anchored by an elementary school at the ground level and a columbarium on its roof. The footprint and profile of the skyscraper is minimal to reduce disturbances to the existing longtang population. Using a concrete frame, prefabricated, light gauge steel modules are nestled within allowing modules to be slotted in phases as well as providing shear wall support. The central parti of the design provides a gradient of meandering quiet spaces at the edges of the Vertical Longtang and more vibrant public spaces and parks at the central core. The central core also houses wind turbines in efforts to offset the energy needs of the skyscraper. Coupled with waste water treatment plants in the circulation cores, the building conducts new infrastructure into the city fabric. Green walls flank the lontang. Once the Vertical Longtang is complete, open land is available for market-rate development that is cognizant of and works with any remaining, original longtang units on site.
Through this strategy of economy, adaptation and reenvisioning, longtang residents win by preserving the fabric of their social community. Developers win by employing new design ideas, which increase efficiency and reduce costs. The public wins by reducing the long-term costs of overburdened transit infrastructure, public assistance, and limited access to affordable housing.
The Vertical Longtang: win-win-win.
