zaha hadid: galaxy soho completed
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'galaxy SOHO' by zaha hadid, beijing, china
image © designboom
designboom attended the inauguration of the 'galaxy SOHO' by zaha hadid architects, a new 330 000m2 commercial icon in the
city of beijing (see designboom's coverage of the structure nearing completion here). composed of five independent concrete volumes
wrapped in insulated aluminum panels and connected by a series of stretched bridges, the fluid vernacular eliminates all corners
in an integrated seamless structure. taking cues from the chinese architecture, pockets of intimate courtyards create quiet internal spaces,
found also in the interior providing smaller private areas during the conceptual phase. the first three floors are allocated to retail
and entertainment functions, followed by the office clusters stacked on top, and bars, cafes and restaurants reigning at the highest level,
offering panoramic views of the greatest avenues in the city.
bridges connect the spherical masses
video © zaha hadid
bridges connect the spherical masses
image © designboom
image © designboom
the individual volumes are linked by stretched bridges
image © designboom
view down onto the promenades connecting the individual towers
image © designboom
the structure is clad in 3mm aluminium
image © designboom
image © designboom
the sinuous lines of the structure offer formal connection points between the towers
image © designboom
worm's-eye view
images © iwan baan
exterior views of the office and retail areas
image © designboom
one of the entrances into the 'galaxy soho'
image © designboom
D-2 tower display board on ground floor
image © designboom
linear lighting elements in the ceiling illuminate the space while also visually guiding visitors
image © designboom
image © designboom
image © designboom
the first three floors of the 'galaxy soho' are dedicated retail office and entertainment spaces
image © designboom
elevators and means of traffic flow through the building
image © designboom
lighting details highlight the flow of escalators throughout and add visual interest
image © designboom
image © designboom
commercial spaces
image © designboom
connecting hallway
image © designboom
workspace with windows facing out
image © designboom
image © designboom
green roof feature
image © designboom
bird's-eye view of the glass ceiling at night
image © designboom
image © iwan baan
from certain angles the curving structure appears very abstracted
image © iwan baan
images © iwan baan
general view of the 'galaxy soho' by night
image © designboom
model
image © designboom
model indicating the relation of the four volumes
image © designboom
image © designboom
project info:
design: zaha hadid with patrik schumacher
architect: zaha hadid architects
project director: satoshi ohashi
associate: cristiano ceccato
project architect: yoshi uchiyama
project team: stephan wurster, michael hill, samer chamoun, eugene leung, rita lee, lillie liu, rolando, rodriguez-leal, wen tao,
tom wuenschmann, seung-ho yeo, shuojiong zhang, michael grau, shu hashimoto, shao-wei huang, chikara inamura, lydia kim,
yasuko kobayashi, wang lin, yereem park, local design institute, biad beijing institute of architecture & design
plot area: 46,965 m2
total floor area: 332,857 m2
above ground: 4 towers 15 floors (12 office floors and 3 retail floors)
max height: 67 meters
below ground: b1 floor retail and b2, b3 parking (1275 cars), mep, retail floors, b1f,1f,2f,3f (90,000 m2)
materials skin: 3mm aluminium exterior cladding, insulated glass, stone
materials interiors: glass, terrazzo, grg, stainless steel, gypsum, board painted
structure: standard concrete structure (8.4m spans)
floor to floor heights: retail floors 5.4m, office floors 3.5m
aside from the one photo of the “swoopy” display board, this is a far more sophisticated and seamless aesthetic than much of her work
I finally appriciate a building from this practice ! it feel great….
As everything in China, totally empty. Not one single retail space occupied in the pictures, and the office tower directory looks empty as well.
looks amazingly similar to the infamous Watergate complex in Washington DC, though much more elegant and refined.
I was openning this Tuesday, and somebody was questioning why it is empty?
I hope this guy could be waken up soon~
i appreciate how zaha s renderings and end products look pretty close most of the time. thats not easy to do.
LIKE. Will it be filled?
I am a harsh critic of Zaha’s phylosophy, but this time I have to admit it is beautiful.
Sadly for China soho, after so many years, it still does not have a strong brand (not even a roughly coherent brand image). Rather, it is known for a flamboyant CEO who kind of likes design but goes not much further than embracing star designer.
There are other developers who says much less and does much more. One of them world be Vanke, which had a health attempt at merging design with affordable housing.
i’m not a fan of zaha, but i have to admit this building is very nice (except the circular ventilation grilles in ceilings!)
i’m sure the empty commercial units will be filled soon coz SOHO is a sound brand in China.
I wonder why are people going gaga about this building? Looks like an out of scale product design besides being very plastiky. What are the curves helping besides over-emphasizing them in every space and all levels? What is especially and intelligently sustainable about this building? I’m sure it wouldn’t stand 10 minutes of sincere critique. has Architecture been reduced to only technology?
This is the best modern design in my life time
To provide some new info on part of the discussion above, I just visited Galaxy Soho yesterday and it is still completely empty save some rental offices. It felt almost like a ghost town with only a small number of people around: a few bored rental agents, maintenance workers washing windows, and maybe a dozen sightseers, if that. One of the maintenance staffers claimed the building “wasn’t open yet,” but with China’s economy rapidly decelerating and the neighborhood including a lot of old, low rent apartments nearby I would expect them to have trouble filling it up. The Russian Quarter is on the other side of the highway but I can’t see any businesses departing the critical mass of that district for Galaxy Soho which is a bit of a walk.